# The BBC summarises the Republican losers **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 14, 2016, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748 "2016-05-14T08:31:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/21 "2016-05-15T06:19:14Z")
The donor class never dropped a substantial ad-bomb on Trump. The New York vulgarian didn’t exactly sneak up on the GOP, given that he announced his candidacy in June. I thought there were many viable candidates. But the GOP electorate consistently showed 60-70% support for outsider candidates, with Trump pulling in only about half of that for long periods of time. That was new: outsiders only took about 15% during the 2012 GOP clown car primary. Some argue that Trump was _sui generis_, a fluke. Others say that he was just a talented demagogue and that demagogues can rise at any time, even if they usually flame out in the end. But that doesn’t explain the residual support for outsiders from the GOP electorate. Again during the fall Trump’s [take of the outsider vote](http://wm40.inbox.com/index.aspx?_cu=AmY55CnzyP1syvBCRBP-uSlRLTdkvM8LkiDI4czAL87uZl8LWhBGK84LUSJE7nNI-EMe2_ahzCpmfspIHp4QY#m_ph) was consistently less than 60%. Something was different this year. I wouldn’t call it anger: reporters write about voter anger during every Presidential election. I perceive it as a cumulative effect of the [nonsense debt and hate debt](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/gop-overwhelmed-by-debt) that the GOP and conservative media have been racking up for years. But that is merely the best hypothesis on offer. I can’t help but think there might be better ones. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2016, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/22 "2016-05-15T09:31:57Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > So I wonder what Hilary’s piece is going to read like come November. 😃 That’s _President-elect_ Hillary, if it’s not too much trouble. Also if it _is_ too much trouble. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2016, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/23 "2016-05-15T09:55:10Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > You mistake the cause for circumstance. The wide range of candidates was the reason Trump won, perhaps more than anything else. Very few people saw Trump coming, or as a serious threat, until it was too late. We effectively had 15 candidates racing for the same group of votes, and Trump went around grabbing support from people who don’t normally vote in primaries if at all. This. It’s like saying “Neither Gore nor Nader was able to beat Bush.” ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/24 "2016-05-15T10:07:56Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Actually I’d rate Rubio the biggest loser of the year. This was really the only year Jeb could have run, next time he’d have been too old. Rubio could have had a future had he just resisted this time out. Now he’s out of the Senate, got humiliated in the race, and at a young age knows he’ll never have another shot. He’s such an empty suit that it might not have happened for him in any event, but what chance he ever had at being the nominee is gone for good. Rubio’s badly wounded but I wouldn’t say it’s over just yet. If the republicans suffer a disastrous defeat this year then he can be the safer candidate in 2020. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/25 "2016-05-15T10:11:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There was a gap of several months between “didn’t see him coming” and “too late to stop him”. > > I think a better explanation is that none of the Republican candidates seemed to have presidential stature. Sure, Trump was the worst of the lot but all of the others had terrible flaws as well. If the Republicans had had a few good candidates there wouldn’t have been a void for Trump to step into. Republicans have been courting uneducated voters for years and it finally caught up with them. The question now is whether Hillary can inspire enough opposition in November. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2016, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/26 "2016-05-15T10:44:39Z")
Opposition to the idea of another Republican presidency, ever? ISTM that there’s plenty of that already. But we could always use a little more, sure. GO HILLARY! ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/27 "2016-05-15T13:53:14Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Rubio’s badly wounded but I wouldn’t say it’s over just yet. If the republicans suffer a disastrous defeat this year then he can be the safer candidate in 2020. Heck, Perry ran again this year. And with the glasses, everyone forgot how stupid he sounded last time around 😛 Maybe Marco just needs a pair of horn rims and a pocket protector. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/28 "2016-05-16T17:47:38Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Heck, Perry ran again this year. And with the glasses, everyone forgot how stupid he sounded last time around 😛 Given that Perry never made it past the kiddie table debates, I’d say the public forgot everything about him, not just his past stupidity. Which, granted, was still a step up from 2012. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/29 "2016-05-17T00:15:09Z")
Rubio didn’t lose because he isn’t a potentially strong candidate – he still has potential if the republican party doesn’t destroy itself. His problem, as I see it, was that he was pushed into the race a little too soon. In 2013, he was going to be the Republican Obama. But as the Trump phenomenon revealed, the party didn’t want their own Obama. They wanted their anti-Obama. I can’t take credit for that observation but I forgot where I read that. It seems pretty spot-on though. Even if Donald hadn’t run, Ted Cruz probably would have pushed Rubio aside. He had laid down an extremely impressive ground game, and he was the one guy who actually landed a few blows to Trump’s chances. Had Ted not been so aggressive in plucking delegates when everyone wasn’t looking he might still have blocked Trump before Cleveland. Rubio simply wasn’t prepared for the kind of fight that Cruz and Trump were going to give him. Maybe, just maybe, Trump and the Republicans get beaten handily and maybe, just maybe, that leads to some reflection - the kind that should have taken place after 2012. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/30 "2016-05-17T13:07:57Z")
If I lived in the land of Jeremy Corbin, I’d be too embarrassed to comment on other countries’ politicians. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/31 "2016-05-17T13:51:49Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > If I lived in the land of Jeremy Corbin, I’d be too embarrassed to comment on other countries’ politicians. Because one bigot invalidates the points of view of anyone else who happens to share the same citizenship. Ri-ight. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748/32 "2016-05-18T12:44:30Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > If I lived in the land of Jeremy Corbin, I’d be too embarrassed to comment on other countries’ politicians. The author of the article is an American who lives in America. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-summarises-the-republican-losers/754748.md?page=1)