# The Republican national Convention **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 18, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729 "2016-06-18T21:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 35
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/681 "2016-07-20T14:03:27Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Well, let’s see. So far The Donald, a rank political newcomer, has mopped the floor with 16 other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination That just shows how low the party has fallen, like how Sparta’s reputation was such that even Alexander the Great didn’t even try to challenge them, and then a few decades later some guy whose name I’d have to look up online marched in and conquered the place. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/682 "2016-07-20T14:03:43Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I think the strongest take-away in all this is that there is no longer any such thing as a “Republican power broker” Actually I misspoke. I was really thinking of Republican strategists not power brokers; the guys who have to figure out how to get the Republican candidate they’ve been landed with into office. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/683 "2016-07-20T14:15:44Z")
I feel you can’t overlook the role that having totally crap opposition played in Trump winning the nomination. I’m no Republican and maybe I’m no judge of these things but none of the other candidates seemed like solid centre right guys who you could have a beer with. They seemed like extreme right religious (or similar) wackos who would make average Joe’s skin crawl if he had to have a beer with them. I feel like Trump started out none too serious but then realised much to his surprise that the other candidates were so hopeless he might actually have a shot, and so he ran with it. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/684 "2016-07-20T14:23:37Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I feel you can’t overlook the role that having totally crap opposition played in Trump winning the nomination. I’m no Republican and maybe I’m no judge of these things but none of the other candidates seemed like solid centre right guys who you could have a beer with. They seemed like extreme right religious (or similar) wackos who would make average Joe’s skin crawl if he had to have a beer with them. To the extent that there are _any_ “solid centre right guys” left in the Republican Party… Several less wingnut candidates were in the primaries – Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich come to mind. Both Bush and Rubio were seen as the anointed ones by party leadership at one point or other, but none of them could get any traction, especially once Trump started sucking the oxygen out of the room. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/685 "2016-07-20T14:31:54Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I’m no Republican and maybe I’m no judge of these things but none of the other candidates seemed like solid centre right guys who you could have a beer with. Kasich was the most moderate of the final crop. He could not win against Trump probably because he has the charisma of an accountant. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/686 "2016-07-20T14:38:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Donald Jr. wanted to make him an offer nonetheless: Did he have any interest in being the most powerful vice president in history? > > When Kasich’s adviser asked how this would be the case, Donald Jr. explained that his father’s vice president would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy. > > Then what, the adviser asked, would Trump be in charge of? > > “Making America great again” was the casual reply. This sounds plausible to me. Trump doesn’t care about the details of government policy. He wants to get off Air Force One, meet with world leaders, and make “big deals.” He just wants to be the most powerful person in the world and have the prestige that comes with it. So we could end up with Pence, a homophobe with a worldview out of the 1950s, effectively running the country. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/687 "2016-07-20T14:44:58Z")
Hey, it worked for Cheney! ---
**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:** [July 20, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/688 "2016-07-20T14:47:55Z")
The belief that Hillary Clinton will be indicted, tried, convicted and incarcerated comes pretty darned close to meeting the criteria for a “shared delusion” It marks them as extremist at best, nutcases at worst . American voters usually don’t go for folks from those categories. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/689 "2016-07-20T14:53:56Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Well, let’s see. So far The Donald, a rank political newcomer, has mopped the floor with 16 other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, most of whom were established and seasoned politicos. He’s thwarted numerous attempts by the Republican establishment to block or undercut his delegate count or otherwise deny him the nomination. He just officially achieved the Republican nomination at the convention. And he accomplished all this while playing the media like a violin to his advantage and spending hardly any money relatively speaking on his campaign. What he’s accomplished is not just amazing but phenomenal. > > And yet to you guys he’s stupid but criminally incompetent because his wife’s speech didn’t get properly vetted and because people left the convention hall after the big/interesting (i.e., family) names had already spoken. > > We should all be so stupid and incompetent. And corrupt, and unabashedly fraudulent, and single-mindedly self-aggrandizing, self-centered, and power-grabbing, and completely lacking any knowledge of let alone respect for the truth, and woefully ignorant. Yes, we should all be that way. We wouldn’t have to worry about such silly little things as democracy or personal responsibility or wisdom. Matter of fact, we wouldn’t have to worry about being a superpower, because we wouldn’t be. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/690 "2016-07-20T14:55:14Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > Kasich was the most moderate of the final crop. He could not win against Trump probably because he has the charisma of an accountant. Kasich is [no moderate](http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/18/moderate-john-kasich-myth-column/31917851/), except in tone. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/691 "2016-07-20T15:03:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Yes, we should all be that way. We wouldn’t have to worry about such silly little things as democracy or personal responsibility or wisdom. . It comes down to magical thinking. Facts, experts and plans are for losers, we just have to believe in our guy and he’ll make America Great Again! This article is from the American Conservative, but it makes a good point that the actual machinery of politics is so far removed from people’s reality that it may as well be magic. > **[The Politics of Magical Thinking](https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-politics-of-magical-thinking/)** > > The longterm decline in local government and civil associations is an important piece of the "why Trump?" puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/692 "2016-07-20T15:03:58Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Kasich is [no moderate](http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/18/moderate-john-kasich-myth-column/31917851/), except in tone. Kasich is the most moderate compared to the other knuckle dragging, God-bothering subhumans who were running. On an absolute scale, he’s still a right-wing ideological nutcase. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/693 "2016-07-20T15:36:46Z")
Kasich is a conservative ideologically, but he is also a good man who is not on board with the hate-and-fear club that has taken over the Republican Party. Kasich vs Clinton would have been a fascinating election, one Kasich would probably have won. But that’s not what today’s Republicans want. Fox News and the Becks and Hannity’s of the world have convinced them we need a Trump. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/694 "2016-07-20T15:44:36Z")
If they have “taken over” the Republican Party, then they _are_ the Republican Party. Which brings up, yet again, the question: if the Republican Party splits between the moderate “business” party and the batshit baboons, who gets the “brand name”, Republican? ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/695 "2016-07-20T16:07:45Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Illinois, Arkansas, or New York? i was wondering this as well. the past few elections have had people who have lived in more than one state. one could add d.c., as the clintons have also lived there for quite some years. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/696 "2016-07-20T16:22:27Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Really? Please cite any broadcast or cable regulation, FCC rule, voluntary code of conduct, or any other documented rule, regulation, or ethical standard that prohibits this particular “malpractice” … > [@SlackerInc](#): > > Yeah, I was like “Is this a joke?” There, there. Please kiss and make up. It’s easy to confuse the dictions of lawyers and comics: many legalisms do seem like mumbo-jumbo or snark. \*\*[Off-topic example] \*\* Yesterday in a Thread Games thread, we learned that in 1985 the [Supreme Court forced the Federal government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Maine) to cede control of Block Island Sound to Rhode Island _ **because Long Island is not an island.** _ :eek: (Nevermind where the “vs Maine” in the case name comes from.) Long Island isn’t an island because the East River had to be dredged to be navigable at low tide. This dredging, from the 1700’s and earlier, somehow affected the 1985 legal status of Block Island Sound, _which is more than 100 miles away from the East River._ :smack: So, although the Board’s Esquires may disagree, I have no problem with the conflation of legal jargon with comical snark. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/697 "2016-07-20T16:41:43Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > The belief that Hillary Clinton will be indicted, tried, convicted and incarcerated comes pretty darned close to meeting the criteria for a “shared delusion” It marks them as extremist at best, nutcases at worst . American voters usually don’t go for folks from those categories. Jeff Flake took some time out from mowing his lawn[to say the GOP had “jumped the shark” on that meme.](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/flake-clinton-prison-jumping-shark) So, two days down and we’ve already had rampant plagiarism, outright laziness, poor planning, a floor fight, primal anger and hatred, demands that the opposition candidate be jailed without a trial (if not outright killed), and naked fascism on parade. What’s next? Forced reeducation for gays? Putting Muslims in internment camps? Trump demanding that the delegates pay him for his expenses flying to NYC and back every night? I wouldn’t be surprised if someone calls for the Purge to be legalized. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/698 "2016-07-20T16:47:50Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Notice that he did not say that when we elect Trump, he’ll begin to make America great again or he will do things to make America great again. No, he said that when we elect him, American WILL HAVE been made great again. Of course. The minute he gets sworn in he’d all of a sudden realize that the stock market is at an all-time high, unemployment is low, and the dollar is strong. See, America’s great again! (I’m neglecting the fact that if the idiot did get elected the Dow would plunge.) ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/699 "2016-07-20T17:04:56Z")
So do we expect any “convention bounce” out of this farce? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/701 "2016-07-20T17:11:05Z")
[Stolen speech update:](http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-staff-writer-takes-responsibility-for-melania-speech-controversy/ar-BBuz7Q9?ocid=ansmsnnews11) Speechwriter takes the fall, says Melania read her the words over the phone but it was her responsibility to check to make sure they were original. WTF? I’m sorry, but if the Trumpette is the one giving the quotes, then it’s the Trumpette’s responsibility, isn’t it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=34) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=36)