# Slate article--“Trump, Carson, or Cruz” **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 19, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858 "2015-12-19T17:33:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [December 19, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/1 "2015-12-19T17:33:24Z")
> [@](#): > > I have a game I like to play with my friends. It’s called “Trump, Carson, or Cruz.” > > Here are the rules: You have to pick one of these men—Donald Trump, Ben Carson, or Ted Cruz—to be president. You’re not picking the Republican nominee. You’re picking the president. No, you can’t have any of the Democrats, or any of the Republicans you “could live with.” You have to pick one of these three guys. Whichever one you pick will be president for the next four years. > **[Pretend Trump, Carson, and Cruz Were Your Only Choices for President. Who...](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/12/pretend-trump-carson-and-cruz-were-your-only-choices-for-president.html)** > > I have a game I like to play with my friends. It’s called “Trump, Carson, or Cruz.” It will be interesting to see how many people agree with the reasoning. I would pick Cruz, because I think he’s both principled and willing to learn. Trump is a demagogue, pure and simple. Carson is principled, but he doesn’t seem interested in learning a lot of the things he would need to learn to be a good president. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/2 "2015-12-19T17:54:24Z")
Trump. I have a feeling Carson actually believes the kool-aid he’s selling; of the three, he strikes me as the most delusional. Cruz scares me the most - I think he could do the most damage to the US in 4 or 8 years. Trump is, of course, godawful, but I could see him surrounding himself with at least marginally competent advisers, and not having much bite behind the bark. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/3 "2015-12-19T18:17:06Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > I would pick Cruz, because I think he’s both principled and willing to learn. True on the first, wrong on the second, and we usually call his kind of “principled” “fanatical”. Cruz is a true believer, someone who actually agrees with the nonsense most Republicans only use to get votes. His government shutdown bullshit alone proves that. He has no interest in governing, only in running an insurgency, and we can’t have an insurgent in the White House. The President needs to be able to negotiate and compromise. Among the three, I’d pick Carson, because he seems the most tractable. He seems like someone who’d let the advisers do most of the work, which would likely be bad but not catastrophic. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/4 "2015-12-19T18:18:52Z")
Trump, same reasons as \*\*Octrine. \*\*I am also half-convinced all the shit he’s spouting is some sort of performance art, and once he gets the nomination he’s going to turn around and yell at everyone who embraced the crazy for being insane and anti-american. (Sure, I’m a delusional optimist, I know.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/5 "2015-12-19T18:46:28Z")
Og… not sure I can even pick one of those. But, I don’t think the author of that article is correct in his assessment of Carson. He seems to think that Carson’s crazy statements reflect ignorance rather than malice and that he’s amenable to having his ignorance fought. I don’t believe that for a second. He seems immune to persuasion, and comfortably confident that he’s come to the right decision about everything. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/6 "2015-12-19T19:09:45Z")
Trump, for the same reasons as **Octarine**. I think Cruz might be a terrible human being, and Carson seems utterly immune to reason, and Trump might have a tenuous connection to reality. I don’t think Trump believes everything he says. Trump’s terrible, of course, just the least terrible of these three. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/7 "2015-12-19T19:24:48Z")
Trump. He is a competent intelligent businessman. Neither Cruz nor Carson have any redeeming qualities. As a matter of fact I wish he was running as a Democrat and had never gone down the crazy path. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/8 "2015-12-19T19:29:55Z")
Trump is not insane – the other two are. The things you could say about Trump are the things you could say about a schoolyard bully: a blustering blowhard, cunningly self-promoting but basically not very smart, very insecure and a complete asshole and probably dangerous, but not actually crazy (as far as we know). So, yes, I suppose Trump, but if those were the only three options I’d be seriously inclined to pick Option 4: assuming it wasn’t possible to leave the planet, I’d pick accommodations someplace deep underground in Australia with its own food, water, and air supply. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/9 "2015-12-19T19:33:16Z")
Carson, very reluctantly, because 1) he strikes me as basically honest, not-evil, and not a fascist in the making; and 2) more pragmatically, I think he’d be less likely to be _re_-elected than either of the other two, being neither an experienced politician nor a charismatic demagogue with an army of faithful supporters. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/10 "2015-12-19T19:35:37Z")
Trump’s ideas are by far the most terrifying and un-American of any of these three, but he’d also be the least successful in pushing them through even a Republican-majority Congress. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/11 "2015-12-19T19:45:14Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Trump is not insane – the other two are. The things you could say about Trump are the things you could say about a schoolyard bully: a blustering blowhard, cunningly self-promoting but basically not very smart, very insecure and a complete asshole and probably dangerous, but not actually crazy (as far as we know). > > So, yes, I suppose Trump, but if those were the only three options I’d be seriously inclined to pick Option 4: assuming it wasn’t possible to leave the planet, I’d pick accommodations someplace deep underground in Australia with its own food, water, and air supply. I’m with you 100% on this—all of the above. DT is essentially full of shit. He talks the talk and makes all sorts of threatening promises, few of which he would ever actually carry out. Or someone would block him, if it came to that. Cruz is cunning and sneaky, a smarmy, oily, self-righteous bastard whose own family has to be coached to say nice things about him: [http://gawker.com/watch-the-most-deeply-uncomfortable-moments-of-the-ted-1746198836](http://gawker.com/watch-the-most-deeply-uncomfortable-moments-of-the-ted-1746198836) Carson…Sigh. Delusional, ignorant, not very bright, and I’m not convinced he’s a real doctor. Also, his kids-with-brain-tumors analogy regarding war on ISIS is the worst attempt at an analogy I’ve ever heard: [https://badgop.com/2015/12/17/ben-carson-equates-killing-children-to-brain-surgery/](https://badgop.com/2015/12/17/ben-carson-equates-killing-children-to-brain-surgery/) ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/12 "2015-12-19T19:56:27Z")
Trump, the other two would be much much worse. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/13 "2015-12-19T20:01:33Z")
Trump for similar reasons already mentioned. Trump only cares about Trump. He is a jerk and a blowhard. He’d be an embarrassment to us all. But he is not motivated by an honest intention to accomplish any agenda other than to service his ego. Carson has the most honest agenda of the three, and one that frightens me. Cruz may only be a bit less insincere and opportunistic than Trump but he is more committed to staying in character and following through. The damage that would be done by a President Cruz coupled with a GOP dominated congress would dwarf the harm that Trump would inflict. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/14 "2015-12-19T20:14:48Z")
Trump’s presidency would be far funnier than that of the others, and I often support the more entertaining candidate. Won’t always vote for them, but if I have to listen to someone for four years, I might as well enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/15 "2015-12-19T20:51:49Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > {…} Delusional, ignorant, not very bright, and I’m not convinced he’s a real doctor. {…} Surgeon is to medicine as plumber is to architecture. Not to disparage surgeons, but, “_cut that, sew this_” isn’t really that complicated. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/16 "2015-12-19T23:24:29Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Surgeon is to medicine as plumber is to architecture. > > Not to disparage surgeons, but, “_cut that, sew this_” isn’t really that complicated. > > CMC fnord! You are grossly misinformed about the medical profession. Beyond that, Carson is not just a run of the mill surgeon. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/17 "2015-12-19T23:54:57Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Trump’s ideas are by far the most terrifying and un-American of any of these three, but he’d also be the least successful in pushing them through even a Republican-majority Congress. This is the right answer. No one likes or agrees with Trump in the Republican establishment. He couldn’t get enough support for any of his ideas to get them through congress we would essentially have 4 years of nothing but him trying things and being slapped down by Congress and the Supreme Court. Cruz has a fair bit of support from the Tea Party and could find ways to make deals palatable to a majority. Carson is similar in that there are enough religious nutjobs that they could get stuff done. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/18 "2015-12-20T00:13:46Z")
Trump is only saying straight up what the rest of the GOP says with code words and dog whistles, he is not worse than them he just speaks more plainly. Edit: he also obviously means absolutely none of it. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/19 "2015-12-20T00:16:22Z")
Trump has said some super lib things, though he talks out of both sides of his mouth. At least he’s not a theocrat like the other two. Not seeing much of an argument. At least it’s not the “fuck, marry, kill” game. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858/20 "2015-12-20T00:50:23Z")
I too would have to say Trump, but I’d be willing to let the office go vacant and see what happens. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slate-article-trump-carson-or-cruz/740858.md?page=2)