# Trump or Palin? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 22, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770 "2016-11-22T22:43:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/1 "2016-11-22T22:43:56Z")
A friend of mine tossed out this question last night, and I couldn’t come up with an answer. If your only choice - no write-ins, no alternatives - for President of the United States was Donald Trump or Sarah Palin, who would you choose? ---
**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:** [November 22, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/2 "2016-11-22T22:46:48Z")
Can’t answer without knowing who her VP would have been-she’s a whiney quitter. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/3 "2016-11-22T23:01:06Z")
I’ve said before that Palin in the debates didn’t seem to be unthinkingly blurting out whatever damn fool idea popped into her head in real time, whereas Trump – did. All else being equal, I’d vote against the one who seems to have no impulse control. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/4 "2016-11-22T23:11:46Z")
There’s some chance that Trump has a spine on social issues that he recently decided to become a Republican on. Some small chance. There’s no chance with Palin, and you get the same level of nonsense. I would hold my nose with both hands and vote for Trump. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/5 "2016-11-22T23:12:16Z")
Palin, for sure. What, this isn’t one of those “Ginger or Mary Ann” questions. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/6 "2016-11-22T23:18:58Z")
Palin. She’s a very dum bulb, but she managed to observe (more or less) ordinary political norms in Alaska and get elected as governor. In any real comparison between politicians, she’s toast, but next to Trump she’s Margaret Thatcher. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/7 "2016-11-22T23:20:48Z")
Palin. She’d be out of her depth, but she’d know it. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/8 "2016-11-22T23:23:35Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Palin. > > She’d be out of her depth, but she’d know it. And quit. So who the second-in-command is would have a bearing on my decision. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/9 "2016-11-22T23:25:39Z")
Yeah, Palin. I see no signs that she’s a sociopath, just a garden variety narcissistic politician. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/10 "2016-11-22T23:26:47Z")
Palin was anti-Russia and also had gubernatorial experience. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/11 "2016-11-22T23:38:41Z")
Reading so many people writing “I’d rather have Palin than the current POTUS” feels quite surreal. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/12 "2016-11-22T23:45:52Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Reading so many people writing “I’d rather have Palin than the current POTUS” feels quite surreal. I’m glad I’m seated. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/13 "2016-11-22T23:47:19Z")
[Link to previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=787080). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/14 "2016-11-23T00:31:59Z")
I am in entire agreement with friend **Bricker** on this matter. Now, please excuse me, I must go lie down for a moment. Some shut-eye. Shot of bourbon. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/15 "2016-11-23T01:31:22Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Palin. > > She’s a very dum bulb, but she managed to observe (more or less) ordinary political norms in Alaska and get elected as governor. > > In any real comparison between politicians, she’s toast, but next to Trump she’s Margaret Thatcher. She was elected governor by running against Frank Murkowski, the 49th least popular incumbent in the entire US. The only one with a lower rating was a guy under indictment. She is willfully stupid and devoid of original thought. I’m afraid I’d have to go with the Big Cheeto. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/16 "2016-11-23T03:16:59Z")
Palin. Both are unqualified morons. But Palin isn’t a sociopathic narcissist with authoritarian tendencies and dripping with revenge fantasies. Also the level of crime and corruption under Palin would be far less. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/17 "2016-11-23T04:36:28Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > [Link to previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=787080). Whoops, never saw that one. For the sake of the hypothetical, let’s say it’s Trump/Pence or Palin/Pence. I was leaning Palin, but then I remembered hearing that she believes the earth is only 6000 years old, and that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. A government full of anti-science fundies seems even scarier than our current dickbag. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/18 "2016-11-23T12:54:14Z")
If I could play devil’s advocate in support of Trump (strictly in this hypothetical example), I would point out that Trump has one significant advantage over Palin and that is that he is mentally tougher. Yes, he’s impulsive on Twitter and in front of cameras, but to survive a grueling 15 month political meat grinder requires at least something out of the ordinary. By contrast, Sarah Palin is a quitter who storms off in a huff whenever someone challenges her – she couldn’t even complete her term as governor of Alaska FFS. I obviously wish neither had gotten involved in politics, but if you had to say which one had the character to withstand the scrutiny of public life and public office, I’d say, objectively speaking, it’s Trump, regardless of whatever other faults he might have. Of course, some might argue that Palin’s lack of grit in this particular circumstance is a blessing and not a course, and I’m open to that line of argument. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/19 "2016-11-23T12:58:28Z")
I’d cast my vote for Trig Palin over Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770/20 "2016-11-23T13:33:18Z")
50 mile wide meteor from space. Just fucking put us out of our misery as a species if it ever came to that. Anything we’d do afterwards would simply be like shuffling the shuffleboard discs around on the deck of the Lusitania. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-or-palin/772770.md?page=2)