# Trump vs Clinton in the General Election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 17, 2016, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989 "2016-05-17T13:19:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/41 "2016-05-17T20:51:10Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Oh, he’s got whole months to come up with a replacement? No problem then. One problem: Presidents can’t repeal legislation as far as I know. Congress can, and a president who knows how to use the Bully Pulpit can get it done, and one who doesn’t can’t get anything done. Do you just want Hillary to be president, or do you want what’s best for this country? If Hillary is best for this country she has to convince the voters to come out and vote for her. Simply yelling “Trump is a poopy-head” ain’t gonna do that. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/42 "2016-05-17T20:56:49Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Some perspective is in order- in 2008 Hillary stayed in the race long after she had no prayer of catching Obama. She then turned into an active supporter of his and most of her supporters returned to the roost and voted for Obama. She may be underperforming in the polls right now since when Sanders supporters are polled, they may express doubt about supporting Hillary or may even claim to back Trump, but after the hug fest at the convention Democrats will come together and give that short-fingered vulgarian the sound whipping he so richly deserves. Problem is, this works both ways. All those Republicans who are vowing not to vote will eventually accept Trump as their candidate (it’s already happening) & rally behind him with a big group hug at the convention. > [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Seriously? Have we been watching different primary campaigns? Trump would be the absolute worst thing to happen to the Oval Office EVER. The man is a proven egomaniac with skin thinner than the finest gossamer who has not the slightest clue how to govern, let alone compromise, and a mouth that goes off without anything resembling a connection to his brain. Are you kidding me? I KNOW, but somehow he is THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE for POTUS! He is dangerously close to sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom & I can’t figure out how we got here. He offends Muslims, his numbers go up, he offends women, his numbers go up, he offends American war heros…then everyone says nope, now he’s gone too far. But somehow magically his numbers continue to rise. I do think I’ve been watching different primary campaigns than the rest of the voting public, because this makes no sense to me. ---
**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, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/43 "2016-05-17T20:58:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I can see you’re a Hillary supporter because any criticism of her is evil. Give me a break. You’re acting like she does. If she can’t take the heat then the kitchen is no place for her, or you. Who you like or don’t like doesn’t determine the outcome of the election. Criticism? Are you kidding me? You’re setting standards for ‘giving’ her your vote as if she had to be Albert fucking Schweitzer. And now you’re falling back on deliberately misconstruing what I said. Please quote to me exactly where I even _implied_ your POV is evil. It’s completely unreasonable and unrealistic, but again, there’s nothing I can do about it. Nothing I say will convince you of anything. So go ahead, don’t vote for Hillary. But don’t blame her (or anyone but yourself) when you end up with something infinitely worse. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/44 "2016-05-17T21:01:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Criticism? Are you kidding me? > > You’re setting standards for ‘giving’ her your vote as if she had to be Albert fucking Schweitzer. > > And now you’re falling back on deliberately misconstruing what I said. Please quote to me exactly where I even _implied_ your POV is evil. It’s completely unreasonable and unrealistic, but again, there’s nothing I can do about it. Nothing I say will convince you of anything. So go ahead, don’t vote for Hillary. But don’t blame her (or anyone but yourself) when you end up with something infinitely worse. That’s utter nonsense. I’m giving my opinion on what she needs to do to win the election. You don’t have to convince me, you have to convince about 5 million other people. You’re not doing a very good job so far. ---
**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, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/45 "2016-05-17T21:05:58Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > Problem is, this works both ways. All those Republicans who are vowing not to vote will eventually accept Trump as their candidate (it’s already happening) & rally behind him with a big group hug at the convention. > > I KNOW, but somehow he is THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE for POTUS! He is dangerously close to sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom & I can’t figure out how we got here. He offends Muslims, his numbers go up, he offends women, his numbers go up, he offends American war heros…then everyone says nope, now he’s gone too far. But somehow magically his numbers continue to rise. I do think I’ve been watching different primary campaigns than the rest of the voting public, because this makes no sense to me. Remember, that was in the Republican echo chamber. He’s a demagogue who used all kinds of hate speech to rouse the Republican rabble who, let’s face it, have always been more vulnerable to that kind of thing, and he’s exploiting their discontent at just the right time. I have a fair amount of faith that he won’t win, but I’m not going to take a chance. Matter of fact, once we get to the general I’m going to be working to canvass Dem voters and get them to turn out, not that I think it’s necessary. Here in CA, it’d be a miracle for it not to go blue. But I want to see The Donald beaten as badly as humanly possible. Maybe it will rub off on the Pubbies. We can only hope. ---
**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, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/46 "2016-05-17T21:07:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > That’s utter nonsense. I’m giving my opinion on what she needs to do to win the election. You don’t have to convince me, you have to convince about 5 million other people. You’re not doing a very good job so far. OK, now your unreasonable expectations are on me. Btw, see my previous post. I _will_ be doing my part. How about you? What are you going to be doing this fall? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/47 "2016-05-17T21:09:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Congress can, and a president who knows how to use the Bully Pulpit can get it done, and one who doesn’t can’t get anything done. Do you just want Hillary to be president, or do you want what’s best for this country? If Hillary is best for this country she has to convince the voters to come out and vote for her. Simply yelling “Trump is a poopy-head” ain’t gonna do that. I doubt she’ll just be yelling “Trump is a poopy head” and it’s pretty clueless to suggest that’s her plan. She’s given plenty of detail oriented interviews and statements. She displays a grasp of the issues. You may disagree with her take on the proper direction but it’s frankly ludicrous for you to suggest she plans to just roll in the mud with Trump and let the chips fall where they may. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/48 "2016-05-17T21:13:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > OK, now your unreasonable expectations are on me. > > Btw, see my previous post. I _will_ be doing my part. Good for you. But Hillary is still using the same losing strategy that Carter and Gore had. Now are you interested in discussing this or just going “Rah rah rah I want Hillary”? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/49 "2016-05-17T21:13:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Or to wait until the convention, either, and I really hope Sanders doesn’t drop out until then. Yes, but once the June 7 primaries are over, and Hillary has a majority of delegates, then the convention is just a party to nominate Clinton. Yes, it is technically possible that Bernie could hypnotize all the superdelegates into voting for him. But why would they do that? It would be one thing if Hillary was behind Bernie in the popular vote and primary/caucus delegate count, and only the superdelegates were putting her ahead. But that’s not the case. Hillary has had more votes than Bernie, and accumulated more delegates. And so there is no case for the superdelegates to abandon Hillary and support Bernie. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/50 "2016-05-17T21:17:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Good for you. But Hillary is still using the same losing strategy that Carter and Gore had. Now are you interested in discussing this or just going “Rah rah rah I want Hillary”? Hillary still hasn’t sewn up the nomination yet. You want her to start fighting Trump now? How about she wins the nomination first? To win the nomination she needs 51% of the delegates and she doesn’t have that yet, and won’t until June 7th. After she has a majority of delegates and is the presumptive nominee then she can start the general election. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/51 "2016-05-17T21:19:38Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I keep hearing this stated as though in case such an event, the election automatically goes to Trump. At the same time, I keep hearing what a stone Hawk Mrs. Clinton is, and how undesirable _that_ trait is. Could someone make sense of this seeming contradiction for me? Clinton has a lot of credibility on the terrorism issue, and I obviously say that as someone who is not the biggest fan. I don’t think it’s the case that a terrorist attack automatically helps Trump, in fact it could hurt him. But it would give him an opportunity, because he’ll call for doing some rather rash things(like ban Muslim immigration) that Clinton just won’t do. So he’d have a new opportunity to make a case for himself over Clinton with terrorism front and center. Clinton is also handicapped a bit by tieing herself to the President’s ISIS policies, which are too timid to most voters: [http://pollingreport.com/isis.htm](http://pollingreport.com/isis.htm) It should be noted that pretty much no one thinks the President has been too aggressive. Which means that if she backs his policy 100%, then she is at risk of seeming to be too timid despite her history of hawkishness. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/52 "2016-05-17T21:23:38Z")
If there was a terrorist attack she simply wouldn’t just blindly “back his policies”. She’d go into hawk mode and say how she would be firm and relentless and not a big blathering dummy about it. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/53 "2016-05-17T21:23:44Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Good for you. But Hillary is still using the same losing strategy that Carter and Gore had. Now are you interested in discussing this or just going “Rah rah rah I want Hillary”? Clinton is Clinton, and no matter how good or bad her strategy I think whether or not she becomes President has never really been in her own hands. She is “generic Democrat”, and was always going to be at the mercy of the fundamentals and the quality of her opponent. She’s never been a person who can just seize a moment and make it hers the way her husband did in 1992. Fortunately, she’s up against Donald Trump so a cautious strategy is probably her best bet. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/54 "2016-05-17T21:25:22Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > If there was a terrorist attack she simply wouldn’t just blindly “back his policies”. She’d go into hawk mode and say how she would be firm and relentless and not a big blathering dummy about it. If she doesn’t break with Obama’s strategy harsh rhetoric won’t help her. She’d have to explicitly call for a tougher strategy with specific proposals, like more troops, air strikes against targets currently off limits, etc. Trump will be loaded with specific ideas, most of them ill considered, but he’ll at least look like he’s got a plan and he’ll be tough. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/55 "2016-05-17T21:28:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > If she doesn’t break with Obama’s strategy harsh rhetoric won’t help her. She’d have to explicitly call for a tougher strategy with specific proposals, like more troops, air strikes against targets currently off limits, etc. Trump will be loaded with specific ideas, most of them ill considered, but he’ll at least look like he’s got a plan and he’ll be tough. You think that with the increase in drone strikes as well as US involvement in Syria that Obama has a weak strategy?? 😕 And I think Clinton could easily make her own mark while still supporting Obama’s over all strategy. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/56 "2016-05-17T21:36:00Z")
Not to mention that “Trump will be loaded with specific ideas” is the clowniest clowning I’ve seen in a while. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/57 "2016-05-17T21:41:07Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Hillary still hasn’t sewn up the nomination yet. You want her to start fighting Trump now? How about she wins the nomination first? To win the nomination she needs 51% of the delegates and she doesn’t have that yet, and won’t until June 7th. > > After she has a majority of delegates and is the presumptive nominee then she can start the general election. Quite the opposite. I want her to stop fighting Trump, now and after the conventions. I want her to give the people who haven’t already decided to vote for her a reason to vote for her. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/58 "2016-05-17T21:53:57Z")
Seriously? You don’t seriously think that. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/59 "2016-05-17T21:59:26Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Seriously? > > You don’t seriously think that. Did you read my posts? I said it explicitly. ---
**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, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989/60 "2016-05-17T22:06:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Good for you. But Hillary is still using the same losing strategy that Carter and Gore had. Now are you interested in discussing this or just going “Rah rah rah I want Hillary”? I really don’t see what’s left to discuss. You stated your viewpoint, I stated mine. I don’t see there being any kind of meeting of the minds coming, so what’s the point? And I’m still waiting for an answer to my previous question. But let me add to it a little bit. What are you going to be doing this fall to get involved in politics (other than voting), in terms of action? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-vs-clinton-in-the-general-election/754989.md?page=4)