# 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:** 57
**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:** [December 16, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1123 "2015-12-16T14:50:17Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > This is only true if he wins the general election, or (to a lesser degree) if he comes close. If he gets wiped out like Goldwater, McGovern, or Mondale, the result is just the opposite: a total repudiation that makes the American people look pretty good. Well, maybe. The more rational observer will still note that Trump drew 40% (or whatever) of the popular vote (Mondale won 40.6%). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1124 "2015-12-16T16:52:54Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Add to that a gross ignorance of what the nuclear football does and the less I would want to see him getting close to it. How close did you want him to get to it before last night? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1125 "2015-12-16T17:02:21Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Soundly repudiating Trump salvages something on the international stage, but I don’t think it undoes all the harm. Especially not within the country, among all the people seeded with his notions, who will have stoked those ideas for months. Trump being thrashed next November maybe chastens them some, but it doesn’t dispel. Quoted for truth. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1126 "2015-12-16T17:14:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, right now it is solely a contingency plan. I neither want to nor plan to leave. I have roots here. I’m just saying that if enough voters pull the handle for Trump the critical mass of decent people who keep this country mostly nice will obviously be in the minority. In other words, Trump will be the symptom, not the cause. I am truly sorry you feel this way at all and I wish I knew better what to do to curb the rising anti-immigrant, anti-muslim, anti-ethnicity tide in this country. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1127 "2015-12-16T17:20:16Z")
Every election there are people threatening to leave the country and after every election they’re still living here. Empty threats are empty. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1128 "2015-12-16T17:28:14Z")
Trump’s latest nonsensical claim - [tens of thousands of terrorist sympathizers are sneaking across the Mexican border with "cell phones with ISIS flags on them](http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/12/15/3732652/donald-trump-isis-flags/)". ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1129 "2015-12-16T17:32:23Z")
What kinda coverage do they get? Data caps? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1130 "2015-12-16T17:33:03Z")
> [@GrandWino](#): > > Every election there are people threatening to leave the country and after every election they’re still living here. Empty threats are empty. I do not think that RNATB is like Alec Baldwin in this regard, but I appreciate your input. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1131 "2015-12-16T17:33:29Z")
As I pointed out in my original post, I wouldn’t be leaving in protest. I didn’t leave when Bush was reelected (nor threaten to do so), and I won’t leave if Rubio, Cruz, or any other Republican candidate wins the election. I would be leaving because of a genuine fear of violence because of Trump’s - and only Trump’s - anti-Muslim rhetoric. > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I am truly sorry you feel this way at all and I wish I knew better what to do to curb the rising anti-immigrant, anti-muslim, anti-ethnicity tide in this country. Cross your fingers and hope it’s a fad, I guess. There was a wave of anti-Muslim (though mostly anti-Sikh because racists are stupid) violence after 9/11 but it blew over relatively quickly. Hopefully this too shall pass. The funny thing is I’m not even Muslim (or Sikh); I just look enough like one to get stopped at airports. I can only imagine how worried _they_ are. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1132 "2015-12-16T17:38:07Z")
I’m with those who view the rise of Trump as a terrifying demonstration of ugliness in the American psyche. It isn’t a repudiation if he loses. He’s already here. He’s already shown it, and gotten a following. He is the white supremacists’ candidate and he has not been sent packing in shame and defeat. I used to think it was just kind of funny, because he’s such a buffoon. Now I see that when the buffoon says “That minority group is evil. Hurt them,” a whole group of people says yes. This is not refreshing honesty. This is not harmless goofiness. This is an outlet for the worst, most xenophobic and racist tendencies in the American public. Even if he is not ultimately elected, or the candidate, he has increased the level of fear, hatred, and despair in this country. There’s no repudiation for that. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1133 "2015-12-16T17:42:43Z")
Its not him, as such, he didn’t make the wave, he’s riding it. Somewhere roughly in the ten percent to twenty percent of America is full 'tard, knuckle walking maroons. We have met the enemy, and he is us. On the other hand, what better candidate to light a fire under the asses of the modestly liberal but unmotivated voter? ---
**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:** [December 16, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1134 "2015-12-16T18:27:37Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Its not him, as such, he didn’t make the wave, he’s riding it. Somewhere roughly in the ten percent to twenty percent of America is full 'tard, knuckle walking maroons. We have met the enemy, and he is us. > > On the other hand, what better candidate to light a fire under the asses of the modestly liberal but unmotivated voter? This. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, maybe. The more rational observer will still note that Trump drew 40% (or whatever) of the popular vote (Mondale won 40.6%). There just aren’t that many rational observers out there, in politics or in appreciating percentages and probabilities (take, for instance, the widespread belief that if it rains on a day when only 10% chance of precipitation was predicted, the forecast was “wrong”). Getting back to politics, who remembers Dukakis’s 46% as a strong showing? McCain’s similar numbers in 2008? Even Kerry tends to be remembered as a pathetic loser who blew the Democrats’ chances to retake the WH, despite the fact that he came within less than 100,000 votes in Ohio of winning in the Electoral College (and I personally believe he came close to maxxing out the bell curve of possibilities for a Democratic nominee that year). I have serious doubts that Trump would crack 40%, and I don’t think very many people would be impressed (or horrified) by that showing. This would be a case where the average person’s innumeracy would be a good thing. > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Um no. See the debate thread for more details, but TRUMP was quite smart not to nitpick over such a ridiculously specific question like the nuclear triad (about an obvious “It’s a trap!” for the TRUMP as the late, great Admiral Ackbar would have put it as suddenly getting online messages from an ultra hot looking 15-year old suggesting to “meet up”) and he thoroughly demonstrated to the world what an incompetent, entitled pathetic loser Jeb Bush was and is using FACTS like him destroying the fake Floridian, fake Latino, fake Catholic 41-3 in the polls. I thought both Jeb and Trump got some good shots in on each other. I do think the “you can’t insult your way to the presidency” line sounded weak, whiny, butthurt. It was some other contradictions Jeb caught Trump in that seemed to score points IMO. [Here is that section of the debate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGhRZunT8lQ&feature=youtu.be&t=228), three minutes starting at 3:48. You might call it a draw, as Jeb scored early but Trump wriggled around, changed the subject to the Mexican border, and Jeb faded by the end. However, I felt like Trump was hurt more by the exchange, maybe in part because Jeb was already pretty far down on most of the things Trump dinged him on. And this clip starts off on a topic I can’t believe hasn’t gotten more attention. I follow politics pretty closely, and I had never heard about Trump’s proposal to kill ISIS bombers’ families, something I consider far more extreme than any of his immigration proposals (even the one barring Muslims from entry). When it was brought up at the debate, I was shocked that he didn’t bat it down as a misunderstanding or something. [Here is another clip](https://youtu.be/usSTahEUSJo?t=164) I found about it, with Rand Paul circling back to the issue. It should be queued to the correct time (2:44), and then watch for 34 seconds, until 3:18. What. The. Actual. Fuck. Rand Paul accuses you of favoring a Nazi-like policy, and your response is to shrug and say “the terrorists do it, why can’t we?”?!? And in that exchange with Jeb, he defended it by saying something like “they don’t care about their own lives, but they do care about their families’ lives, believe it or not”. Okay, this is a trope from “24”: but Jack Bauer was faking it! Even Jack Bauer wouldn’t actually do something that heinous. Jesus. I did think Trump was masterful in dealing with Cruz. However, I think the media are misunderestimating even that. Trump didn’t just “make nice” with Cruz. He absolutely kneecapped him with a smile, or maybe emasculated him is a better way to put it, and Cruz had to take it with a smile as well, all the while (I assume, because Cruz is a very intelligent guy) cringing and seething on the inside. The first part of it is [here](https://youtu.be/1dYuwIL2Jfo?t=155), from 2:34 to the end of the clip at 3:10. Then [watch the imagery after that, while Cruz is talking:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za2t01FjIfU) Trump is standing there like a daddy, an overseer, nodding and acting superior. The nonverbal message seems clear: Cruz is his bitch, and Trump has magnanimously granted him a reprieve from the doghouse, so long as Cruz “heels” and genuflects appropriately. This is so, so far from a Trump apology to Cruz. Again: it’s a reprieve, not an apology. Important distinction I think the media missed but I think the GOP voters got. Trump is the dom, Cruz is the sub. I also think Trump’s “pledge” to be committed to the GOP (which comes later in the same clip as the Cruz stuff just above) is a great political ploy, and another thing the media are taking way too seriously. If he continues to win, he’s committed. If he loses, there must have been sabotage, and all bets are off. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1135 "2015-12-16T18:39:35Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > … > This is not refreshing honesty. This is not harmless goofiness. This is an outlet for the worst, most xenophobic and racist tendencies in the American public. Even if he is not ultimately elected, or the candidate, he has increased the level of fear, hatred, and despair in this country. There’s no repudiation for that. > [@elucidator](#): > > Its not him, as such, he didn’t make the wave, he’s riding it. Somewhere roughly in the ten percent to twenty percent of America is full 'tard, knuckle walking maroons. We have met the enemy, and he is us. … Agree with both. But … We’re not unique in that. The UK has the UKIP, France has the National Front, etc. Even civilized 21st century countries contain a lot of 19th century thinking in the darker nooks and crannies. I agree wholeheartedly that the wrong thing to do is to glory in that, or to encourage it. But it’s equally foolish to pretend it doesn’t exist. As demonstrated by the backlash we’ve seen in other rapidly modernizing countries, regardless of government system or of culture, the limitations of the backward-most citizens does set a speed limit on how fast the forward-most citizens can move things forward. If that nebulous speed limit is exceeded big enough for long enough, the backward-most simply stop playing along. And they’re usually numerous enough to knock the whole system for a loop. The strong socio-economic stratification in this country makes matters worse. Darn near every rural white supremacist lives surrounded by only like minded people. As does nearly every urban progressive. The rich associate only with the rich, and the poor only with the poor. The presidential selection process, all 24 months of it, is the only time we have a coherent national-scale conversation that embraces everybody and crosses all the geographical and socio-economic boundaries. It’s kinda like going to the DMV to renew your driver’s license. It’s one of the few times you really get to see a fair cross-section of your fellow citizens. And it’s often a chastening experience. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1136 "2015-12-16T18:41:42Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > His opposition in both parties is also at fault, because he should not be the only one talking about certain issues like immigration in a non-bullshit way Nonsense. He is certainly talking _in a bullshit way_. The Mexico fence and mass deportations aren’t going to happen. There is more chance that Bernie’s free college and single-payer will occur. Never mind the bigoted nonsense he blubbers. Why not take a moment to see if your position is in any way reflective of the universe where we live before posting it? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1137 "2015-12-16T19:27:11Z")
Well, both sides do it. That’s the important thing here, that both sides do it. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1138 "2015-12-16T19:38:31Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I truly hope you are correct. But imagine this: he wins the nomination- not too far fetched at this point. Then say in early October there is a major terrorist attack perpetrated by Muslims. I’m talking say 100+ killed. Suddenly a lot of people are going to rationalize by saying something like “of course I don’t hate all Muslims, but Trump is right that we can’t trust them.” Can this win the election? I don’t care to find out. That might make people hate muslims more but it would reduce Trumps chances of winning. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1139 "2015-12-16T19:44:42Z")
How so? The final bin Laden video helped to swing the 2004 election. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1140 "2015-12-16T20:03:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > How so? The final bin Laden video helped to swing the 2004 election. A real threat wouldn’t drive people to vote for a joke candidate. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1141 "2015-12-16T20:04:13Z")
… they voted for _Bush_. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1142 "2015-12-16T20:09:04Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > A real threat wouldn’t drive people to vote for a joke candidate. A real threat will certainly make a lot of the stay-at-home haters and fearfuls get out and vote. Turnout is everything; ideology is nothing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828.md?page=56) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828.md?page=58)