# Trump's Republican primary campaign **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 3, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828 "2015-09-03T18:00:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 129
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2565 "2016-03-16T16:17:48Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Trump has announced he will skip next Monday’s FOX-sponsored debate to make a “major” speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). > > [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/16/donald-trump-will-skip-upcoming-fox-debate-for-major-speech-before-jewish-group/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/16/donald-trump-will-skip-upcoming-fox-debate-for-major-speech-before-jewish-group/) So it’ll just be Cruz and Kasich on the stage? Sounds boring. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2566 "2016-03-16T16:20:34Z")
Kasich says he won’t be there if Trump isn’t. Does that show of submissiveness mean he’s angling for Running Mate? ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2567 "2016-03-16T16:22:57Z")
With that, I am becoming increasingly of the opinion that Trump is doing everything he can think of to try to alienate as many people as possible without making it seem like he’s actively doing so, which might lose the attention of those in his thrall. He doesn’t want to be President, he’s just building his brand. He seems to be trying very very hard to make sure that a majority of the population will absolutely never support him. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2568 "2016-03-16T16:48:27Z")
[Trump Predicts ‘Riots’ If He Loses Contested Convention.](http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-16/trump-predicts-riots-if-he-loses-contested-convention) > [@](#): > > Hours after he collected several big primary wins that put him well on the path to securing the Republican nomination, Donald Trump warned the GOP away from attempting a coup at the convention in July. > > “I think you’d have riots,” Trump predicted on CNN Wednesday morning, describing what he thinks would happen if he was thrown over at a contested convention in Cleveland, Ohio in July. Nice convention you have there. Be a shame if something happened to it. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2569 "2016-03-16T17:11:55Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Kasich says he won’t be there if Trump isn’t. > > Does that show of submissiveness mean he’s angling for Running Mate? Yea, that seems insane. Kasich easily has the lowest name recognition of the candidates. He should be desprately trying to get more time infront of the cameras, not less. Though the whole Kasich campaign at this point seems like a longshot ontop of a longshot. So who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2570 "2016-03-16T17:19:43Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Trump Predicts ‘Riots’ If He Loses Contested Convention.](http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-16/trump-predicts-riots-if-he-loses-contested-convention) I can’t say they would be unjustified. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2571 "2016-03-16T17:20:26Z")
Will FOX go ahead if Cruz is the only guy on the stage? No idea. I’ve heard more than enough of these mooks anyway. Whatever happens, no way am I missing the next ep of _Better Call Saul_. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2572 "2016-03-16T17:24:35Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > **Will FOX go ahead if Cruz is the only guy on the stage? No idea.** > > I’ve heard more than enough of these mooks anyway. Whatever happens, no way am I missing the next ep of _Better Call Saul_. He could talk to an empty lectern. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2573 "2016-03-16T17:30:01Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Trump Predicts ‘Riots’ If He Loses Contested Convention.](http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-16/trump-predicts-riots-if-he-loses-contested-convention) > > Nice convention you have there. Be a shame if something happened to it. I am shocked, _shocked_, to see how Trump and his supporters are violating the First Amendment rights of the Republican leadership by threatening violence if the convention doesn’t go their way. Clearly Trump et al. are trying to preemptively silence any opposing views through these statements. I’m sure all the people who were previously concerned that anti-Trump protesters were violating _his_ 1A rights will likewise come out and condemn this attempt at political extortion. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2574 "2016-03-16T17:35:49Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Trump Predicts ‘Riots’ If He Loses Contested Convention.](http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-16/trump-predicts-riots-if-he-loses-contested-convention)… > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I can’t say they would be unjustified. Maybe there’ll be riots if he wins, too. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2575 "2016-03-16T17:38:27Z")
It’ll be real interesting to see what Trump says to AIPAC instead of appearing at the Faux debate. It’ll be bombastic & combative for sure. But will it be aimed at those nasty AYE-rabs or at the Sheldon Adelman’s of the world? His base is probably equally annoyed with both sides. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2576 "2016-03-16T17:44:04Z")
Here’s an interesting thought. The Bernie Sanders Show is just about over. His failure is leaving a lot of rejectionist Sanders supporters in the lurch. To be sure Sanders supporters and Trump supporters have a lot of differences. But they also have a lot of commonalities, as has been said by many here in many different threads. How much can we expect to see Trump make an explicit play for the angry folks left high & dry by Sanders imminent defeat / surrender? My bet is a lot. And that won’t be a play he can make during a Fox-run debate. But he can sure make it in ther venues. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2577 "2016-03-16T17:45:05Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > He could talk to an empty lectern. Latest from WaPo sez the debate’s been cancelled: [QUOTE=Washington Post] The Republican presidential debate scheduled for Monday in Salt Lake City has been canceled after front runner Donald Trump and John Kasich said they would not attend. [/Quote] So that’s that. > [@Gyrate](#): > > I am shocked, _shocked_, to see how Trump and his supporters are violating the First Amendment rights of the Republican leadership by threatening violence if the convention doesn’t go their way. Clearly Trump et al. are trying to preemptively silence any opposing views through these statements. I’m sure all the people who were previously concerned that anti-Trump protesters were violating _his_ 1A rights will likewise come out and condemn this attempt at political extortion. Now, now, he’s not making any threats. He’s just saying his supporters are _passionate_. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2578 "2016-03-16T18:03:56Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Maybe there’ll be riots if he wins, too. I can’t say they would be unjustified. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2579 "2016-03-16T18:05:20Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Kasich says he won’t be there if Trump isn’t. > > Does that show of submissiveness mean he’s angling for Running Mate? Meh. It’s not submissive so much as realistic. If the frontrunner isn’t doing it then what’s the point. The number of debates is so ridiculous anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2580 "2016-03-16T19:23:17Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > All true, but what you are overlooking is that a Duke endorsement (even if repudiated by the candidate) can draw a **lot** of votes from 2) and 3) and, with racial tensions running as high as they are this cycle, even some from 1) – and that all of that **does** say something about the candidate (even if he repudiates, etc.). There is no way that a Duke endorsement is not something that matters or is not newsworthy, the way a CPUSA endorsement would not be. This makes no sense whatsoever. There is so much wrong here it’s hard to know where to begin. > [@](#): > > All true, but what you are overlooking is that a Duke endorsement (even if repudiated by the candidate) can draw a **lot** of votes from 2) and 3) No way. Those in group 2 either do not know or care much about Duke, or have heard the spiel and rejected it. There is a\* lot\* more to Duke’s ideology than anti-black racism, including intense hatred of Jews, apology for the Nazis, denial of the Holocaust, and allusions to day-of-the-rope aspirations. This kind of stuff is a total turnoff to most people, whether they would rather their daughters married white dudes or not. Many of them have family members who fought Nazis, and don’t have any patience at all for a traitor like Duke. If they have any feeling at all about Duke’s supporters it will be to see them as weirdo losers. Duke is far less meaningful to these people than he is to the media, which uses him as a prop to sensationalize, and to people who argue on left leaning message boards. The people in group 3 for some reason or another do not support Duke. There is a ton of conspiratorial mindset within this group. Often they do not support Duke because they buy into one of the theories by one of his competitors that he is a mole, plant, false-flag operation, secret Jew, or something along those lines. A Duke endorsement of Trump likely reinforces this view in their minds. It is likely to _drive away_ more potential voters from group 3 than it garners. Regardless, this is a very small group of people with little influence. > [@](#): > > with racial tensions running as high as they are this cycle, even some from 1) A publicized Duke endorsement is not going to help Trump gain votes from a group that finds Duke’s views abhorrent. To those who fall for the story lines associating Trump and Duke, it is far far more likely to cause people who would otherwise vote for him, because they imagine that he might be sympathetic to his views, to abandon him. > [@](#): > > and that all of that **does** say something about the candidate (even if he repudiates, etc.). No, it does not say a lot, it says something. It says that they agree with one or more of Trump’s views. What it says is that there aren’t any viable candidates that run on white racialist platforms, so the people in these groups have to settle for what they can find, which is often someone who strongly advocates even one position they consider important. Being strongly opposed to illegal immigration, or being strongly opposed to Israel, is enough to garner their support. The theory that Trump was slow to repudiate the endorsement because he expected it to benefit him relies on some preposterous assumptions, and has crazy impossible to believe implications. In order to fall for this line, you have to imagine that Trump, with all his media genius, decided somewhere along the line that an endorsement by Duke would bring him more votes from people sympathetic to Duke than he would lose from people disgusted by Duke. This is absurd. Just look at who is pushing the story. Are Trump supporters promoting the endorsement? Is Trump? No, his opponents are the ones promoting the endorsement, in a blatant campaign to discredit him. That alone tells you that everyone on both sides knows that the endorsement is a yuuuge net negative asset. If Trump really thought that it was a popular, winning position, he would own the fuck out of it. He doesn’t hesitate to stand by his other positions that are unpopular in the media and the establishment, like his strong anti-illegal/Muslim-immigrant stances. He is very open and forthcoming about controversial positions, usually doubling down when confronted about them. Not so with the Duke endorsement, which alone is enough to show that the accusations that he waffled on the repudiation because he considered it valuable to be giant steaming piles of bullshit, regardless of how conveniently they fit the narrative his detractors are frantically trying to assemble. As for Duke, it is also clear that he is not trying to help Trump win. He knows as much as anyone that his endorsement is poison. If he genuinely wanted to help Trump win he would have endorsed one of Trump’s rivals. His endorsement is a move calculated to cause the predictable media storm that has ensued, in which Duke’s name is repeated hundred or thousands of times daily in mainstream media, so Duke can ride on the coattails of the controversy to significant personal benefit. The media knows this, but they are addicted to eyeballs, and can’t keep themselves from helping Duke any more than they can stop themselves from helping Trump. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2581 "2016-03-16T19:42:47Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > If Trump really thought that it was a popular, winning position, he would own the fuck out of it. He doesn’t hesitate to stand by his other positions that are unpopular in the media and the establishment, like his strong anti-illegal/Muslim-immigrant stances. As usual Trump does a neat trick, claim that is position is a popular one among all Americans when it is just mostly popular among Republicans. > **[Polls: American Support For Trump's Muslim Ban Is High -- Or Low](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-muslims-ban_n_566b5998e4b0e292150dfe86)** > > It depends on how you ask the question. > [@](#): > > Donald Trump’s latest work of demagoguery – a proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. – doesn’t seem to have hurt his standing in the polls. But is the idea completely out of the mainstream? > > Four new surveys this week – from YouGov, NBC News/The Wall Street Journal, CBS and Bloomberg Politics/Purple Strategies – asked about the ban, but didn’t do much to clarify things, showing everything from widespread opposition to a nearly even split. And so it is with the equivocations regarding Racists, Trump may in the open sound that it is against the racists, but in reality he has to act and toss bones like this to then in the open and then his clarifications are less reported in their bubble of information, because Trump does know that the support coming from them may be small, but it has been significant in many elections for the Republicans, and this election is no different. [http://www.wsj.com/articles/confederate-flag-loyalists-line-up-behind-donald-trump-ted-cruz-1455740814](http://www.wsj.com/articles/confederate-flag-loyalists-line-up-behind-donald-trump-ted-cruz-1455740814) > [@](#): > > South Carolina’s political class would rather talk about anything other than the Confederate flag, which was removed from the Statehouse grounds last summer after a racially charged mass shooting and now lies locked in a museum closet. > > Yet out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind for many supporters of GOP primary front runners Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. > > At least 16 of the 23 legislators who voted to keep the flag flying say they support Mr. Trump or Mr. Cruz, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal. > > Some 70% of Trump supporters and 62% of Cruz supporters oppose the flag’s removal, according to a poll released Tuesday by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. That compares with 32% for supporters of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a candidate viewed as more centrist, and 33% for neurosurgeon Ben Carson, the lone African-American candidate in the race. > > The meaning of the flag, and its presence at the state’s most symbolic public building, was the subject of fierce debate since the standard of the Civil War’s Confederate army was raised above the State House during the civil-rights era. Supporters of the flag say it represents southern history and heritage; opponents say it symbolizes bigotry and the effort to preserve slavery. > > A half-dozen protesters who recently waved Confederate flags in front of the GOP debate here Saturday night said they supported Mr. Trump. So did many of the people who stopped and cheered them. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2582 "2016-03-16T20:50:39Z")
Trump lost three delegates in Illinois, apparently because voters didn’t like the [foreign sounding names of his delegates](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trump-voters-aversion-to-foreign-sounding-names-cost-him-delegates/): > [@](#): > > Illinois Republicans hold a convoluted “loophole” primary: The statewide primary winner earns 15 delegates, but the state’s other 54 delegates are elected directly on the ballot, with three at stake in each of the state’s 18 congressional districts. Each campaign files slates of relatively unknown supporters to run for delegate slots, and each would-be delegate’s presidential preference is listed beside his or her name. > > … > > Of the seven Trump delegate candidates with minority or foreign-sounding names, all seven were among the dozen worst-trailing Trump candidates in the state: Sadiq, Fakroddin, Tolbert, Alonso, Uribe, Sandra Yeh and Rolando Arellano. The 47 Trump delegate candidates with Anglo-sounding names tended to garner far more votes. Would it be too much to hope for that Trump falls three votes shy of the 1237 needed at the convention? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2583 "2016-03-16T20:54:31Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Trump lost three delegates in Illinois, apparently because voters didn’t like the [foreign sounding names of his delegates](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trump-voters-aversion-to-foreign-sounding-names-cost-him-delegates/):Would it be too much to hope for that Trump falls three votes shy of the 1237 needed at the convention? I’m picturing the party leadership in states with future primaries scrambling to get every last Arab-American GOP functionary onto the slate of Trump delegates. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2584 "2016-03-16T21:00:01Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As usual Trump does a neat trick, claim that is position is a popular one among all Americans when it is just mostly popular among Republicans. > > [Polls: American Support For Trump's Muslim Ban Is High -- Or Low | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-muslims-ban_us_566b5998e4b0e292150dfe86) > And so it is with the equivocations regarding Racists, Trump may in the open sound that it is against the racists, but in reality he has to act and toss bones like this to then in the open and then his clarifications are less reported in their bubble of information, because Trump does know that the support coming from them may be small, but it has been significant in many elections for the Republicans, and this election is no different. > > [http://www.wsj.com/articles/confederate-flag-loyalists-line-up-behind-donald-trump-ted-cruz-1455740814](http://www.wsj.com/articles/confederate-flag-loyalists-line-up-behind-donald-trump-ted-cruz-1455740814) “As usual Trump does a neat trick, claim that is position is a popular one among all Americans when it is just mostly popular among Republicans.” I wonder how many of “these tricks” are all Trump ideas , I be he has an army of people brainstorming ideas for him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828.md?page=128) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828.md?page=130)