# Trump, or American citizen selected at random? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 26, 2016, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-american-citizen-selected-at-random/755728 "2016-05-26T07:06:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [June 4, 2016, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-american-citizen-selected-at-random/755728/81 "2016-06-04T12:42:34Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > But to whom would the high school dropout delegate? One of the reasons I’d favor Trump (and hate myself for it) is his rolodex. Should he ever decide to look for help or advice or information instead of relying on his “very good brain,”\*\* Trump actually knows people who could provide semi-competent help. It is possible that some of the people he’ll surround himself with will know something about the things that a president’s advisers should know.\*\* > Random Citizen’s chances of knowing someone who has a clue about governing on a federal level is close to nil. People will pop out of the woodwork to help - but it’ll take months before RC even learns their names, much less establishes a working relationship with them and learns who to trust on which issues. > Plus the reasons mentioned earlier in the thread. > > Horrible choice. Have you seen how his campaign has been run? ---
**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:** [June 4, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-american-citizen-selected-at-random/755728/82 "2016-06-04T13:24:33Z")
The Trump experiment with American democracy has been both fascinating and horrifying. It’s horrifying to know that so many people can vote for someone who is so blatantly flawed and disqualified for office, and that they would actually assume that someone with Hillary Clinton’s career track is somehow a worse choice. It shows me that it’s not just the system that’s corrupt, but the average voter is also becoming more and more corrupted. I had held out some hope that, were he to somehow win the presidency, he might be able to demonstrate the ability to show more discipline and maturity. It’s been a month or so since he effectively clinched the nomination, and not only has he failed to demonstrate that he can be a more nuanced and reflective statesman, he in fact appears to be regressing. Trump lies so often that he can’t even tell when he’s telling the truth. He’s the very definition of a pathological liar and a narcissist. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-american-citizen-selected-at-random/755728/83 "2016-06-04T22:40:02Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > But to whom would the high school dropout delegate? One of the reasons I’d favor Trump (and hate myself for it) is his rolodex. Should he ever decide to look for help or advice or information instead of relying on his “very good brain,” Trump actually knows people who could provide semi-competent help. It is possible that some of the people he’ll surround himself with will know something about the things that a president’s advisers should know. > Random Citizen’s chances of knowing someone who has a clue about governing on a federal level is close to nil. People will pop out of the woodwork to help - but it’ll take months before RC even learns their names, much less establishes a working relationship with them and learns who to trust on which issues. I disagree, but I’m glad you brought this up. It will be easy for Random Person to find people, because they will show up. The RNC will send them there. The difficult part would be _choosing_ people. Random Person will essentially have to delegate that job as well. I don’t think Trump’s rolodex will help him too much. When he released his list of judges, they didn’t look like people he had met. And check this out. Trump [promised](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/03/where-donald-trumps-foreign-policy-team) a foreign policy team for months without being able to deliver. He said basically that [he is his own team](http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2016/03/trump-foreign-policy-advisers-speaking-with-myself). When he finally released the list, they were [3rd and 4th raters](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/donald-trump-foreign-policy-advisers-221058). This isn’t surprising as Trump’s foreign policy ideas are basically a throwback to Andrew Jackson: there isn’t a conservative, liberal or moderate school that aligns with his nonsense. So as weird as this is (and it is very very weird) random person would do better. Because random credentialed foreign policy advisor would beat Trump’s choices. This is a strange thought experiment. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-american-citizen-selected-at-random/755728/84 "2016-06-05T02:33:11Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I can’t accept those as being my only choices. > > Cancel the poll, please, and repost it with a guarantee that the random citizens are not Republicans. > [@Velocity](#): > > Nope, not everything goes your way. Deal with it. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > What a crock of shit. I will deny to my dying breath that I am implying **Siam Sam** ’s post was related to **Velocity** ’s response to me. But I DO like the way they sequence… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-american-citizen-selected-at-random/755728/85 "2016-06-05T15:33:04Z")
It’s getting a little knee-deep in here. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-american-citizen-selected-at-random/755728/86 "2016-06-06T23:07:28Z")
Definitely random person. This could be just the break my campaign has been waiting for!😉 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-american-citizen-selected-at-random/755728/87 "2016-06-24T15:08:53Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I never said he’d be a competent president. He is an empty suit spouting empty rhetoric that appeals to the primitive part of our brain that desires an alpha male. But he is more competent than Joe blow off the street. At the very minimum, I’d rather have a Wharton graduate than a high school graduate running the nation. But which Wharton graduate? Trump is not a randomly chosen successful businessman with a degree. He is, specifically, Donald Trump. If you chose a random successful businessman with a degree to be President, the odds are that person would engage in a good faith effort to help the United States of America and its people be better off. Donald Trump, specifically, does not care about the people of the United States of America, and would not, as President, make a good faith effort to help them. He would let a million Americans be killed by a terrorist nuclear explosion if it meant he would somehow get richer or appear more powerful. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-american-citizen-selected-at-random/755728/88 "2016-06-24T20:17:51Z")
> [@LonghornDave](#): > > Trump as any level headed person should think. Trump is horrible, and I won’t vote for him. Having said that, have you people never spent time in public? Likewise, who wants to be tried by a jury of 12 randomly-selected people? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-american-citizen-selected-at-random/755728.md?page=4)