# 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:** 97
**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:** [February 10, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1925 "2016-02-10T15:45:42Z")
Well, it’s certainly going to cause him to lose support. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1926 "2016-02-10T16:21:24Z")
[The New York Daily News showers Trump with love again.](http://crooksandliars.com/2016/02/ny-daily-news-cover-tomorrow-brutal) ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1927 "2016-02-10T16:37:19Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Here is support for my argument: [PolitiFact | Graham said the "seed of Islam" passes through the father to Obama. We found widespread disagreement.](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/aug/26/franklin-graham/graham-said-seed-islam-passes-through-father-obama/) > > This is my last post on the topic in this thread. Apologies to all for contributing to the hijack. When the people in your link say “if he’s a Muslim or not” they mean if he has claim to be one from birth. He can’t be forced to be a Muslim. As said before, religion is not genetic. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1928 "2016-02-10T16:54:28Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > I think Trump just said he was going to stop heroin from coming into the country. > > That might be the craziest thing he has said yet. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, it’s certainly going to cause him to lose support. “Go **Trump!** Yeah! Make America great again! Law and order! **Build** that wall! Keep the . . . wait, what?!” :eek: ---
**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:** [February 10, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1929 "2016-02-10T17:16:28Z")
I was thinking more along the lines that only people under the influence of strong intoxicants could be supporting Trump at this point. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1930 "2016-02-10T18:04:07Z")
One might use strong intoxicants to stem the panic at the prospect that this screaming idiot might actually hold power some day. One might. ---
**Author:** ![Scandic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Scandic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scandic)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1931 "2016-02-11T01:01:02Z")
Now Trump is turning into Gordon Gekko. He want’s to be greedy for America - to make America great ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1932 "2016-02-11T03:45:35Z")
[Trump says he can force China to assassinate Kim Jong-Un.](http://bipartisanreport.com/2016/02/10/derp-alert-donald-trump-just-threatened-to-assassinate-this-world-leader/) ---
**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:** [February 11, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1933 "2016-02-11T11:50:16Z")
I come to the conclusion that Trump has figured it all out. He understands the reality of the political / governance system versus the high school Civics version . And he’s willing to play the game with real hardball, not the pulled-punches version most politicians of both parties usually do. Here’s my thesis: 1. How many of us have ever said something like “Politician’s lie to get elected. Their campaign promises don’t mean much.” Answer: all of us. We’ve said or thought it with varying degrees of vehemence or cynicism, but we all agree the idea has at least a grain of truth inside our varying-sized snowball of rhetoric. 2. Other than in very extreme actually illegal cases, how much recourse do we voters have if someone governs differently than they campaigned? Approximately zero. The standard answer is: “If you don’t like a pol’s actions, vote him/her out next time.” An unstated implication is that the fear of losing re-election is a constraint on a pol’s behavior during his/her current term. IOW, they have to service what they sell AKA deliver some decent fraction of what they promised. Putting these two ideas together, we see that a campaigning politician is selling pure vaporware, and there is absolutely no guarantee or warranty. Once you’ve bought it, you’re stuck with it for the whole term; however well or bad it performs as long as it remains (mostly) legal. Trump plans to be a one term President. And he’s taking the pure huckster approach to campaigning. There is zero need for what he says to be true, doable, consistent, fair, internationally acceptable, or any other conventional measure of political merit. The one and only thing it needs to do is peg the applause meter today for the crowd he’s in front of today. So they vote for him in each primary as they happen and in November. It’s the pure content-free campaign. And by being utterly free of any of those constraints, it’ll run rings around anyone running a conventional campaign on the conventional combo of optimistic but plausible promises and mostly-factual assertions with careful hedge words surrounding the sharpest bits. We know pretty girls sell beer. I’ve been buying beer for 40 years now and not once has a pretty girl popped out of the six-pack. But still the ads are full of pretty girls and my hope springs eternal each time I reach into the fridge. Advertising works. What sells a product is not the attributes you’re actually buying. It’s the ones you wish you could buy. Trump is simply the best (or most scruple-free) advertiser in this years’ campaign. IMO it will work up to November. It’s got a decent chance to work past that. That’s not my preferred outcome. But it the one I think the facts lead us to. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1934 "2016-02-11T15:28:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Here’s my thesis . . Right. I think this has been pretty obvious for a long time now, and I’ve been saying it here for just as long. His con game is as American as Apple pie, from Professor Harold Hill to Lyle Lanly. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1935 "2016-02-11T15:32:24Z")
I agree with your entire thesis except this. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Trump plans to be a one term President. Gods forbid, should he become president, he can campaign in two years on another approach. “You didn’t really know me in 2016, but you took a chance, and look what I’ve accomplished in the last year and a half.\*” \*Assuming the 2020 campaign starts in 2018. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1936 "2016-02-11T23:31:46Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > I think Trump just said he was going to stop heroin from coming into the country. > > That might be the craziest thing he has said yet. Nah; not even close. [Trump likes his steak well done.](https://munchies.vice.com/en/articles/donald-trump-is-being-trolled-at-rallies-for-ordering-well-done-steak) ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1937 "2016-02-12T00:34:42Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Nah; not even close. > > [Trump likes his steak well done.](https://munchies.vice.com/en/articles/donald-trump-is-being-trolled-at-rallies-for-ordering-well-done-steak) A well done ribeye? The man’s a philistine! No wonder he lost Iowa. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1938 "2016-02-12T01:22:29Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I agree with your entire thesis except this.Gods forbid, should he become president, he can campaign in two years on another approach. “You didn’t really know me in 2016, but you took a chance, and look what I’ve accomplished in the last year and a half.\*” > > \*Assuming the 2020 campaign starts in 2018. To be sure he’d rather be a two-term president. My point was that 2020 is our first opportunity to change horses if he doesn’t deliver what we want. IOW, he’d get 4 years with zero requirement to deliver anything. It’s only if he wants 8 that he needs to deliver something. But that something could itself be a lot of smoke, mirrors, and entertainment rather than governance and leadership. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1939 "2016-02-13T02:26:30Z")
[Trump threatens to sue Cruz about his birthplace if Cruz won’t stop saying mean things about him.](http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/12/politics/donald-trump-ted-cruz-dishonest/) ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1940 "2016-02-13T03:35:37Z")
[Trump accuses the Pope of coming to Mexico in order to support illegal immigration into the US.](http://bipartisanreport.com/2016/02/12/donald-trump-proves-dumber-than-ever-with-new-conspiracy-theory-about-pope-francis/) ---
**Author:** ![y7xzh1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e9c0ed/32.png) [@y7xzh1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/y7xzh1)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1941 "2016-02-13T13:00:05Z")
guys,i am the chinese in china , i dont know about your election and politics but i know ,when it was many years before , the movie called harry poter : the Goblet of Fire reach screen boys ,girls happy ,they come to the cinema to see the film. those days ,there is a unknown person ,in a internet forum ,message me ,he said , he is from the future with time machine ,and i question him ,who is president of usa in your time . he says , trump and now i know there is really a trump there ,just know it somedays before . ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1942 "2016-02-13T13:53:28Z")
> [@y7xzh1](#): > > guys,i am the chinese in china , > i dont know about your election and politics > but i know ,when it was many years before , > the movie called harry poter : the Goblet of Fire reach screen > boys ,girls happy ,they come to the cinema to see the film. > those days ,there is a unknown person ,in a internet forum ,message me > ,he said , he is from the future with time machine ,and i question him ,who is president of usa in > your time . he says , trump > and now i know there is really a trump there ,just know it somedays before . Well I’m convinced. Thank you for your message from the future. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1943 "2016-02-13T14:00:17Z")
> [@y7xzh1](#): > > guys,i am the chinese in china , > i dont know about your election and politics > but i know ,when it was many years before , > the movie called harry poter : the Goblet of Fire reach screen > boys ,girls happy ,they come to the cinema to see the film. > those days ,there is a unknown person ,in a internet forum ,message me > ,he said , he is from the future with time machine ,and i question him ,who is president of usa in > your time . he says , trump > and now i know there is really a trump there ,just know it somedays before . Oh, that was just a time travel robo-post. All the candidates do that. I got one from Kim Kardashian for the 2024 election just last week. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1944 "2016-02-13T15:12:40Z")
> [@y7xzh1](#): > > guys,i am the chinese in china , > i dont know about your election and politics > but i know ,when it was many years before , > the movie called harry poter : the Goblet of Fire reach screen > boys ,girls happy ,they come to the cinema to see the film. > those days ,there is a unknown person ,in a internet forum ,message me > ,he said , he is from the future with time machine ,and i question him ,who is president of usa in > your time . he says , trump > and now i know there is really a trump there ,just know it somedays before . Nah, that wasn’t from Trump. That was just Joe Biden screwing around again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828.md?page=96) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828.md?page=98)