# President Palin or President Trump? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 14, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991 "2016-03-14T18:11:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/21 "2016-03-14T23:27:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As others have said, Palin would be the lesser evil. True enough, but we’re still voting for evil… But I agree, Palin probably would have the sense to know she was in over her head and listen to her advisers, while Trump…man, I just don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/22 "2016-03-14T23:28:53Z")
Palin. A former state governor, she has relevant experience. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/23 "2016-03-14T23:30:54Z")
Trump, because he’s not an idiot, and probably doesn’t actually believe his nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/24 "2016-03-14T23:31:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Nobody would be able to control what Palin would say, but they could very easily control what she signs. Palin as President would effectively be whatever Cheney type was pulling her strings as President. So really, we have to know who that puppeteer would be before answering the question. Yeah, this. It would be Dubya all over again, just a dozen IQ points or so lower. Palin is lazier than she is stupid, so I can’t see her seizing initiative. Still, it’s a question of shit sandwich on whole wheat or shit sandwich on white. I wanna get on the Metaphor Fun Car, too! ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/25 "2016-03-14T23:35:51Z")
Mugger: “Palin or Trump?” Me: (silence) Mugger: (menacingly) “Palin, or Trump?” Me: (shrugs) “Go ahead and shoot”. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/26 "2016-03-15T00:12:18Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > A former state governor, she has relevant experience. This is only an advantage if she learns from her mistakes. I fear that the one mistake she will have learned from is quitting the job. However, I still agree with Palin being better. Much better. As governor, I don’t believe her job performance was totally horrible. As for rhetoric, I suggest reading one of the GOP debates, and then [watch how Palin debates](http://www.c-span.org/video/?193920-1/alaska-republican-primary-gubernatorial-debate). She’s mostly normal. Trump’s mostly a demagogue. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/27 "2016-03-15T00:22:36Z")
Palin. Michael Palin. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/28 "2016-03-15T05:18:41Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Dammit, Scotty, I want that third option! Try this one on for size. Art Thompson, the current CEO of the John Birch Society. (He’s not ENTIRELY without political experience.) [http://www.jbs.org/about-jbs/art-thompson?ml=1](http://www.jbs.org/about-jbs/art-thompson?ml=1) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/29 "2016-03-15T05:30:50Z")
Palin. She’s at least been a governor and was pretty popular until she made the state the butt of jokes by trying to go national. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/30 "2016-03-15T14:42:18Z")
It’s easy to be popular in a state as socialist as Alaska. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/31 "2016-03-15T16:31:58Z")
Trump would fine a way to piss people off. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/32 "2016-03-15T16:34:16Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Trump would fine a way to piss people off. Every single day of his life. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/33 "2016-03-15T16:54:01Z")
For context, here is a [thread and poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=765324)of the same question I did a few months ago, back when it wasn’t conceivable that Trump could actually win the GOP nomination. Back then Dopers voted for Trump over palin by a margin of 4 to 1, and I think I agreed with them, but now I think I would lean toward Palin. Since the previous thread, Trump’s campaigning style has had all the hallmarks of an honest to god fascist. I shudder to think what he would do if he were in charge. Palin, on the other hand, would probably end up just doing what other people tell her while she sits back and enjoys the perks of office. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/34 "2016-03-15T16:54:59Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Try this one on for size. > > Art Thompson, the current CEO of the John Birch Society. (He’s not ENTIRELY without political experience.) > [http://www.jbs.org/about-jbs/art-thompson?ml=1](http://www.jbs.org/about-jbs/art-thompson?ml=1) Ah, the good old John Birch society – I thought they had disappeared with Goldwater! It’s refreshing to glance over their agenda – get the dang gubbermint out of education so kids don’t get lib’rul indoctrination; global warming is a conspiracy (they have a marvelous video to prove this featuring Lord Monckton, mostly known for the fact that he is clinically insane); North American free trade agreements are a conspiracy to merge the US with Canada and Mexico (but the JBS blocked it, thank God, at least for now); the US must get the hell out of the UN, because it’s a conspiracy to create a socialist world gubbermint, etc. etc. Actually nothing new there. Actually, remarkably like the Trump-Cruz-Rubio platform in basic spirit, really, though Trump’s is marketed with a new twist that makes it hugely popular not just with wingnuts but with the all-important racist bigot demographic. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/35 "2016-03-15T17:50:24Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Palin. She’s at least been a governor and was pretty popular until she made the state the butt of jokes by trying to go national. How hard is it to govern Alaska? Collect tax on oil exports, give residents a cut, spend the rest of the money to run the state. Alaskans are basically parasites that the rest of us support. ---
**Author:** ![nicky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f0a364/32.png) [@nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicky)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/36 "2016-03-15T18:19:58Z")
Trump, because hes selfish and lazy, which is less dangerous than True Belief. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/37 "2016-03-15T18:41:12Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Actually, remarkably like the Trump-Cruz-Rubio platform in basic spirit, really, though Trump’s is marketed with a new twist that makes it hugely popular not just with wingnuts but with the all-important racist bigot demographic. Always a delicate point with the JBS. There has long been a schism in American conspiracy-theorizing between those CTs who are and are not anti-Semitic, and the JBS has generally been careful to hew the latter line, which has led to some conflict with dissenters. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/38 "2016-03-15T19:00:35Z")
I think you have to consider how much being elected President would change the person. Trump is used to power, such as his is. Is his. I think he’d mostly stay the same, not that that’s a good thing, but at least a known quantity. But an unrestrained Sarah Palin? If you give Palin that much power, business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/39 "2016-03-15T19:00:39Z")
Since “A Diseased Yak” wasn’t an option, I’d have to go for Palin. As dumb and annoying as she is, when she debated Biden she actually could recite real facts and explain policy. Trump is just an unbelievable imbecile. Every question he is asked is answered by re-stating the question, only with angry emphasis, and then just saying, “And I’ll fix that. We’ll have the BEST \ you’ve ever seen. I guarantee it!” Then he smiles smugly. Palin actually was a decent governor, with high approval ratings and some credibility as a reformer who got rid of some cronyism and such - before she apparently started taking crazy pills. Trump’s record is pure flim-flam, and he shows no remorse whatsoever for the millions he’s bilked out of desperate people with shady products and over-the-top promises. As a politician, he strikes me as Mussolini without the brains. He’s a dangerous man to have anywhere near the power of the Presidency. But then there’s that diseased Yak, which is looking better all the time. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991/40 "2016-03-15T19:44:01Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > But then there’s that diseased Yak, which is looking better all the time. Well, depends on what disease we are talking about here. Something non-communicable? Yeah, go with the yak. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-palin-or-president-trump/748991.md?page=3)