# 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:** 63
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1242 "2016-07-22T06:04:33Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I think Ivanka is really attractive. I don’t mean in a lustful sort of way, but she just seems very confident, intelligent, and competent. Don’t get me wrong, she is a babe, but she has a certain quality about her. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > This is my secret shame. (Well, not secret any longer.) There is something really attractive about her, beyond her looks. That quality you guys are responding to is called “charisma”. And she’s got it in spades. She’s also poised, dignified, intelligent, a multi-tasker and a leader in her own right. It wouldn’t surprise me if she doesn’t wind up president herself one day. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1243 "2016-07-22T06:06:19Z")
As I said before, that might actually be what Donald is going for with this race. To increase Ivanka’s national profile, as well as get the GOP base more interested in her brand of politics, which are not necessarily conservative. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1244 "2016-07-22T06:16:09Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > He knows what he is talking about, but straight talker? Obama’s obsession with messaging, spin, and non-transparency are pretty well established and the media has harped on it quite a bit. The only thing that makes him somewhat refreshing is that when other people do it, he describes it perfectly, such as when he responded to Liz Warren by observing that “She’s a politician just like the rest of us.” and dismissing his previous opposition to trade deals as “campaign talk”. Generally politicians are like magicians, they won’t talk about how the spin and messaging get done, or outright admit that they lie to sell policies. **Heck, people close to Obama have twice bragged about how they fooled the public, once on health care and once on the Iran deal.** So I guess that’s sorta change, the curtain has been pulled away a little by this administration. Really - can I have a cite on them “bragging” that the “sold a lie” to the public? Personally I don’t see it with Obama - I see him as a thoughtful, intellectual President who’s able to highlight and describe the benefits of a policy… Anyway - I doubt you and I will see eye to eye on the matter - after all, His “you didn’t build that” and “you can keep your doctor” are both, to me, accurate representations… ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1245 "2016-07-22T06:20:35Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > As I said before, that might actually be what Donald is going for with this race. To increase Ivanka’s national profile, as well as get the GOP base more interested in her brand of politics, which are not necessarily conservative. Yeah, from time to time I’ve had a suspicion that he’s either trying to set her up for a career in politics or perhaps set up all his kids for careers in politics. The potential is there for them to become sort of a right-wing Kennedy clan. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1246 "2016-07-22T06:22:08Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Now of course the bureaucratic stuff only interests me, but Bill Clinton took it seriously enough, because by doing so and making a public show of doing so he increased voter confidence that he was serious. Voters may not care that this or that process was streamlined, but they do like to hear that the guy they are paying to make all this stuff they find boring actually work is doing his job. Instead, since Clinton, Presidents have been just as bored and disconnected from internal government workings as the public. But that means things don’t work like they should, and when they don’t, guess who gets blamed? Bullshit. No one gets this pissed off because Biden didn’t break an ashtray on The Late Show. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1247 "2016-07-22T06:24:08Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Yeah, from time to time I’ve had a suspicion that he’s either trying to set her up for a career in politics or perhaps set up all his kids for careers in politics. The potential is there for them to become sort of a right-wing Kennedy clan. A dynasty of outsiders; makes as much sense as anything else they’re peddling. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1248 "2016-07-22T06:25:45Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That’s actually true though. She intends to go further than Obama’s legally questionable policy and has said zilch about border security. Amnesty is her entire policy. Clinton’s immigration policy may be weak, but “zilch about border security,” at least, is the correct value. “Border security,” in the present context, is a fantasy. The United States is already past the point of diminishing returns on physical-interdiction spending on the southern land border. The more any current politician invokes “securing the border” as a meaningful step in their immigration policy, the less serious that policy is. Trump’s Wall is the ultimate expression of the bullshit–vastly expensive and almost irrelevant in real added effect–but _all_ calls for increased Border Patrol are similarly ignorant. Obama has maintained near-record staffing and funding levels despite dramatic decreases in illegal immigration since he entered office. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1249 "2016-07-22T06:31:05Z")
Come to think of it, at 70 Trump may be thinking he won’t want to do 8 years and that if he does a good enough job with the presidency it would position Ivanka very well to be elected president in 2020. If such were the case we could all breathe a lot easier about his presidency. He’d be striving for popularity and approval, rather than utilizing shoot-from-the-hip impulse and engaging in the sort of harshness that would entail torture, going after terrorists’ families and things like that. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1250 "2016-07-22T06:31:06Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > I’m just catching part of this. What problem doesn’t The Donald fix? Build a wall, cut taxes for everyone, college kids get taken care of, veterans go to any hospital they chose, Obamacare repealed and replaced so everyone gets the doctor they want, kids will all have great schools better than public ones, eliminate waste, build all the infrastructure needed to be upgraded in America, appoint justices to the right of Scalia, renegotiate all trade agreements, etc. There was more but net net he all but promised everyone in America a pony. You missed “the crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end.” ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1251 "2016-07-22T06:34:24Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > That quality you guys are responding to is called “charisma”. And she’s got it in spades. She’s also poised, dignified, intelligent, a multi-tasker and a leader in her own right. It wouldn’t surprise me if she doesn’t wind up president herself one day. Quick question from a non-local : is she definitely eligible? It may be silly, but I read a throwaway comment somewhere else that said she wasn’t as her mum wasn’t a citizen when she was born - what’s the dope? Ta. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1252 "2016-07-22T06:34:44Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Come to think of it, at 70 Trump may be thinking he won’t want to do 8 years and that if he does a good enough job with the presidency it would position Ivanka very well to be elected president in 2020. If such were the case we could all breathe a lot easier about his presidency. He’d be striving for popularity and approval, rather than utilizing shoot-from-the-hip impulse and engaging in the sort of harshness that would entail torture, going after terrorists’ families and things like that. Part of me wants to believe that. But he’s such an egotistical, self-aggrandizing narcissist that I can’t see him being altruistic, even for his family. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1253 "2016-07-22T06:40:27Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It’s the general attitude. What Trump supporters hate most is immigration and trade, prime examples of where all over the world elites have acted without much public input or consent, and when they have sought it, have often disregarded the very real costs to such policies. And I say that as someone who is in favor of liberal trade and immigration policies. Sorry, but I think you’re wrong here. What Trump supporters hate most is the feeling of not being able to exert real control over their lives. Trump just helps them out by directing their anger and frustration (to where it will do him the most good, natch) and let’s face it, ‘the other’ has been a compelling bogeyman for all of human history. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1254 "2016-07-22T06:41:42Z")
> [@Aro](#): > > Quick question from a non-local : is she definitely eligible? It may be silly, but I read a throwaway comment somewhere else that said she wasn’t as her mum wasn’t a citizen when she was born - what’s the dope? Ta. Yes, she’s definitely eligible. The idea that US-born children of non-citizens are ineligible was invented by white supremacists within the last eight years. It was the backup theory after Obama released the second copy of his birth certificate. (The comment might have also been meant as a joke. Her father was the most high-profile birther for a while, and by one of that movement’s theories she is ineligible. So, actually, is he. Although I don’t think he personally ever advanced any theory except that Obama wasn’t born here.) ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1255 "2016-07-22T06:44:44Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > I’m just catching part of this. What problem doesn’t The Donald fix? Build a wall, cut taxes for everyone, college kids get taken care of, veterans go to any hospital they chose, Obamacare repealed and replaced so everyone gets the doctor they want, kids will all have great schools better than public ones, eliminate waste, build all the infrastructure needed to be upgraded in America, appoint justices to the right of Scalia, renegotiate all trade agreements, etc. There was more but net net he all but promised everyone in America a pony. Trump is a guy who’s extremely skilled at making the seemingly impossible happen. The fact that he’s now the Republican nominee for president is evidence enough of that. I agree with Harry Reid that underestimating him rarely works out well, and that if anybody could pull all that off, my opinion is that Trump could. The big question for me is, will he actually attempt it, given that none of us really has any idea what he’ll do once in office. > [@Superdude](#): > > Part of me wants to believe that. But he’s such an egotistical, self-aggrandizing narcissist that I can’t see him being altruistic, even for his family. My opinion is that most of that is just an act. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1256 "2016-07-22T06:47:09Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > You missed “the crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end.” [Vox did a nice job](http://www.vox.com/2016/7/22/12254026/donald-trump-rnc-acceptance-speech) of showing what a con this is, although I wish they had resisted the temptation to gild the lily by starting the overall US murder graph at 4 to make the current rate look even more dramatically low than it is. The other graph, showing the murder rate in big cities, though, more honestly starts at 0 and you can see that 17% jump that #whinylittlebitch Donald Trump described. It’s there, but it’s also laughable in the larger context. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1257 "2016-07-22T07:00:43Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Is Baron tall or is Trump short? Kid is only NINE. Wait, he named one of his kids after his [publicist](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/03/21/the-amazing-story-of-donald-trumps-old-spokesman-john-barron-who-was-actually-donald-trump-himself/)? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1258 "2016-07-22T07:03:08Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Wait, he named one of his kids after his [publicist](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/03/21/the-amazing-story-of-donald-trumps-old-spokesman-john-barron-who-was-actually-donald-trump-himself/)? Maybe his “publicist” is the real father… ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1259 "2016-07-22T07:03:56Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Come to think of it, at 70 Trump may be thinking he won’t want to do 8 years and that if he does a good enough job with the presidency it would position Ivanka very well to be elected president in 2020. If such were the case we could all breathe a lot easier about his presidency. He’d be striving for popularity and approval, rather than utilizing shoot-from-the-hip impulse and engaging in the sort of harshness that would entail torture, going after terrorists’ families and things like that. It’s amazing the rationalizations that Trumps fans will go to to explain why he won’t do exactly what he’s said he’s going to. He’s the first politician to court votes from people who hope he’ll break his promises. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1260 "2016-07-22T07:06:11Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > My opinion is that most of that is just an act. If so, then Trump has been running a con longer than anyone believed possible. It’s not just recently that he’s been that way. Watch the old Phil Hartman characterization of Donald Trump; it’s evident there. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1261 "2016-07-22T07:09:16Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > If so, then Trump has been running a con longer than anyone believed possible. It’s not just recently that he’s been that way. Watch the old Phil Hartman characterization of Donald Trump; it’s evident there. Link? I loved Phil Hartman (sigh), but I don’t remember this. Here’s another nice graph that shows immigrants are less violent than native-born Americans: [x.com](https://twitter.com/SteveRattner/status/756315282491203584) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=62) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=64)