# Republicans, help me understand the thinking (of Trump) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 14, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421 "2015-12-14T15:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/21 "2015-12-14T20:19:33Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > An analogy. McDonalds makes alot more money than KFC. Why doesn’t KFC stop selling fried chicken and start selling Big Macs? Because people who want Big Macs will go to McDonalds even if KFC sells them too and people who want fried chicken will have no place to go. > People who are moderates will flirt with the moderate and then vote for whom the media tell them to. Meanwhile the conservatives will have no one to vote for. In 2000 the media and moderates had a love affair with McCain. I remember many people who said I don’t normally vote Republican but McCain is exactly the type of politician I would support. Then he gets nominated in 2008 and suddenly he has lost his mind and is now a crazy old man who no one could support in good conscience. > The same thing happened to Romney. Before he ran the conventional wisdom was he was exactly the kind of moderate technocrat whom moderates would love to see as President but was not conservative enough to be nominated. He then gets nominated and he is an out of touch plutocrat who would ruin the country. > If Rubio is nominated, by election day your ilk will be proclaiming him a dangerous nut job. It’s a poor analogy. A restaurant chain can do a good business by filling a second place niche. But there’s no second place in running for office. The voters had a choice between McCain and Obama and Romney and Obama - and they picked Obama both times. As you pointed out, McCain and Romney’s opponents painted them as being arch-conservatives just as Obama’s opponents painted him as being an arch-liberal. And people chose the supposed arch-liberal over the supposed arch-conservatives. How many more lost elections will it take for the GOP to wake up? At some point, the Republicans have to realize that the voters aren’t electing conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/22 "2015-12-14T20:20:53Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Oops, sorry missed it. I didn’t intend that as a criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/23 "2015-12-14T20:23:48Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Why does anyone vote for someone who can’t win? > > Why did folks vote for Nader in 2000? > Why did folks vote for Perot in 1988? People who voted for Perot in 1988 [_definitely_ wasted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1992) their votes! ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/24 "2015-12-14T20:26:47Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > In Nader’s case, they were trying to get enough of the popular vote to secure federal funding for the Green Party in future elections. And since Gore had a lock on my state anyway, there was little risk. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/25 "2015-12-14T20:28:07Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Any Republican is going to be called an extremist by yellow dog Democrats. You can’t tell anything about the relative extremism of a GOP candidate from what liberals call him. And any Democrat is going to be called a socialist. That’s the way political campaigns work. You have to step back and see what works. If the majority of voters are true conservatives, then calling a Republican candidate a extremist wouldn’t hurt him. Republican candidates would be saying _“Damn right, I’m an extremist. I’m the most conservative guy running. I’m so far to the right, I think Barry Goldwater was a hippy.”_ and then ride the landslide into the Oval Office. But, as you said, it doesn’t work that way. Sticking the “too conservative” label on a candidate hurts him. So how do you reconcile that with the belief that losing Republican candidates should have been more conservative? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/26 "2015-12-14T20:36:13Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Yes, this, obviously. > > On the SDMB, any Republican who is running for President is the most extreme, out-of-touch, dishonest, unethical politician of all time. And the closer he gets to the White House, the more extreme, out-of-touch, dishonest, and unethical he becomes. > Any Republican is going to be called an extremist by yellow dog Democrats. You can’t tell anything about the relative extremism of a GOP candidate from what liberals call him. > > Regards, > Shodan That’s a broad brush, innit? I never considered McCain extreme (much less the most extreme), dishonest (much less the most dishonest), or unethical (much less the most unethical). I did consider him out of touch, but only after the Palin debacle. After all, who in their right mind would willingly select her …although, to be fair, I did read somewhere that McCain’s hand was forced with regard to Palin. I don’t know how true that was. My point is you are not correct in your assertion. The issue is every one of the current crop of candidates in both parties has at least one of the attributes you listed. Hillary is dishonest to a degree, and I suppose you could say Sanders is a little out of touch. The challenge for the Republicans is most of the current candidates have some combination of 3 of 4 of your attributes. Perhaps Kasich, Gilmore, and Graham have just 2 of 4. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/27 "2015-12-14T20:38:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The voters had a choice between McCain and Obama and Romney and Obama - and they picked Obama both times. As you pointed out, McCain and Romney’s opponents painted them as being arch-conservatives just as Obama’s opponents painted him as being an arch-liberal. And people chose the supposed arch-liberal over the supposed arch-conservatives. > > How many more lost elections will it take for the GOP to wake up? At some point, the Republicans have to realize that the voters aren’t electing conservatives. The voters had a choice between Bush and Gore and Bush and Kerry … fill in the rest. How long did it tale the Democrats to realize that the voters aren’t electing liberals? A: they never did and Obama was elected twice. There’s always a lot of other things going on, and the fact that you’ve lost a couple of elections doesn’t mean you go out of business and become the other party. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/28 "2015-12-14T20:52:38Z")
There was an article, I think it was Washington Post or a link from 538, that I read where Trump supporters worry about “electability” least out of 5 or 6 reasons why they’re supporting him. The thinking is, the establishment told them that Romney and McCain was electable, but they lost, so this time, they’re going to support who they want and forget about the electability nonsense. As a liberal, I say good! Keep that fighting spirit! When Clinton is elected, maybe the Donald can come back in 2020 as an encore to cement her 2nd term! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/29 "2015-12-14T21:00:20Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > The voters had a choice between Bush and Gore and Bush and Kerry … fill in the rest. How long did it tale the Democrats to realize that the voters aren’t electing liberals?.. Not to put too fine a point on it, but more people voted for Gore than voted for Bush. Credit where credit is due, one cannot forget the gracious humility with which Bush accepted his “victory”. You know, that speech where he emphasized that his win was technical and marginal, and in no way reflected a mandate. You remember that one, right? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/30 "2015-12-14T21:06:07Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > …(at last not a Kenyan)… A Keynesian Kenyan, the worst kind! Poppa-ooo Mau Mau, Poppa-ooo Mao Mao Mao! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/31 "2015-12-14T21:41:47Z")
Thread title changed for clarity. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/32 "2015-12-14T21:46:38Z")
The fact that so many people were amazed by a pie chart, you wonder why even more troglodytes didn’t sway towards Perot with [THIS guy.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKpX-5jQjQ0)😃 Sadly, over 18 million did! ---
**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:** [December 14, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/33 "2015-12-14T21:48:38Z")
The fact is that both McCain and Romney _did_ run to the center in the primaries and to the right in the general election. This is an idiotic move, and it’s not at all clear just why they did it, but the fact is, they did. Is Rubio going to do the same thing? Well, it’s possible. I don’t know why he would, but then, I don’t know why McCain and Romney did, either. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/34 "2015-12-14T21:55:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The fact is that both McCain and Romney _did_ run to the center in the primaries and to the right in the general election. This is an idiotic move, and it’s not at all clear just why they did it, but the fact is, they did. This is not a “fact” and is completely untrue. In fact, Romney got in big trouble because of his campaign manager’s “etch-a-sketch” remark, in which he was candid about Romney’s intention to pivot back to the center after the primaries. What may make it _seem that way_ is that in the primaries these people were being contrasted to other Republicans while in the general election they were being contrasted with Democrats. (Similarly, at this time Hillary Clinton is the more conservative candidate in her race, while she will be the more liberal in the general election.) But in actual fact both moved towards the center after the primaries were over, as do all candidates. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/35 "2015-12-14T22:00:04Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > The voters had a choice between Bush and Gore and Bush and Kerry … fill in the rest. How long did it tale the Democrats to realize that the voters aren’t electing liberals? > > A: they never did and Obama was elected twice. > > There’s always a lot of other things going on, and the fact that you’ve lost a couple of elections doesn’t mean you go out of business and become the other party. In a sane country, Obama would be hailed as the most conservative president since Eisenhower. But because he’s a Democrat, he must be a Kenyan Marxist. Nevermind his actual policies, or his actual positions. Nope, he’s an extreme Saul Alinsky-style radical who secretly hates America. As someone who used to vote Republican a lot of the time, Obama is exactly the sort of politician who should appeal to moderate conservatives. But that can’t happen, because conservatism isn’t about ideas anymore, it’s about identity politics, and since Obama isn’t part of the movement he’s destroying America. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/36 "2015-12-14T22:03:08Z")
You left out the part about him being black. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/37 "2015-12-14T23:02:03Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > An analogy. McDonalds makes alot more money than KFC. Why doesn’t KFC stop selling fried chicken and start selling Big Macs? Because people who want Big Macs will go to McDonalds even if KFC sells them too and people who want fried chicken will have no place to go. > People who are moderates will flirt with the moderate and then vote for whom the media tell them to. Meanwhile the conservatives will have no one to vote for. In 2000 the media and moderates had a love affair with McCain. I remember many people who said I don’t normally vote Republican but McCain is exactly the type of politician I would support. Then he gets nominated in 2008 and suddenly he has lost his mind and is now a crazy old man who no one could support in good conscience. > The same thing happened to Romney. Before he ran the conventional wisdom was he was exactly the kind of moderate technocrat whom moderates would love to see as President but was not conservative enough to be nominated. He then gets nominated and he is an out of touch plutocrat who would ruin the country. > If Rubio is nominated, by election day your ilk will be proclaiming him a dangerous nut job. I’ll assert it right now. Acceptance of the idea of a Republican presidency is nutty and dangerous, after all; hence, any Republican who seeks or accepts the nomination is, by definition, a dangerous nutjob. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/38 "2015-12-14T23:20:19Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > But because he’s a Democrat, he must be a Kenyan Marxist. Nevermind his actual policies, or his actual positions. Nope, he’s an extreme Saul Alinsky-style radical who secretly hates America. In a 2013 poll, 13% of respondents thought Obama was “the antichrist”, while another 13% were “not sure”. That’s 26% who think Obama might be, or definitely is “the antichrist”. You don’t negotiate with the antichrist. He is the literal embodiment of evil walking upon the earth. He wants nothing less than the entire destruction of the entire human race, for all eternity. This is how polarized politics has become in the United States today. You can’t get more polarized than this. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/39 "2015-12-14T23:21:56Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’ll assert it right now. > > Acceptance of the idea of a Republican presidency is nutty and dangerous, after all; hence, any Republican who seeks or accepts the nomination is, by definition, a dangerous nutjob. Whoops, I lost sight of the fact that the question was directed at Republicans, of which I am not one. On that basis alone\*, I invite you to disregard the above post. \*The factual validity of the content is not really subject to cavil. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421/40 "2015-12-14T23:28:05Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > In a 2013 poll, 13% of respondents thought Obama was “the antichrist”, while another 13% were “not sure”. That’s 26% who think Obama might be, or definitely is “the antichrist”. > > You don’t negotiate with the antichrist. He is the literal embodiment of evil walking upon the earth. He wants nothing less than the entire destruction of the entire human race, for all eternity. > > This is how polarized politics has become in the United States today. You can’t get more polarized than this. This is apparently untrue. As I noted in a previous thread which discussed the poll you reference, 5% of _Obama-voters_ believed he is the anti-Christ . (8% of people who described themselves as “very liberal” believed this, as did 9% of African-Americans.) So apparently the “Obama is the anti-Christ” belief is not that polarizing at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-help-me-understand-the-thinking-of-trump/740421.md?page=3)