# Was it a mistake for Trump to run? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 29, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250 "2016-09-29T23:00:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/21 "2016-09-30T03:11:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **BeepKillBeep** : > > Nobody really cared but now they do. The people who worked for him and never got paid cared. The people who paid tuition for Trump University and got nothing for their money cared. The people who loaned him money and were left empty-handed when he went bankrupt cared. And those are the people who are behind the lawsuits and such. Right now, we’re watching all of the lurid details unfold as they happen, but even if he weren’t making his foray into politics, if he were found guilty of fraud or tax evasion, we’d all still hear about it then, and learn the gory details in retrospect. EDIT: What does a werehouse (and an undead werehouse, at that) turn into during a full moon? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/22 "2016-09-30T03:12:19Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > The guy is 70 years old and his whole life has been an insecure, narcisstic attempt to prove to the world that he was great and worthy of attention. His evisceration of Establishment and Tea Party candidates alike in the primary was to a great extent facilitated by a mistake many in America made: Not taking him seriously. Donald J. Trump’s lifetime big beef, as I see it is in that for all his fortune and his influence, he did not feel sincerely respected either by the old big money types on his right, nor by the cultural/intellectual mavens on his left. He felt he was being an alpha male at the dealmaking table but kept being mere tabloid fodder for public consumption. The “short-fingered _ **vulgarian** _” with the succession of trophy wives, the gaudy showing off of wealth, the plastering of his name in big capital letters on whatever he lent it to, treated like a professional celeb instead of a business titan,. Well, he sure has shown them. He has shown them all. HE will go down in history. His name will not meet oblivion. He will influence the next candidacies in the GOP. People already rue the day they thought him a bad joke. And if he loses it’s not like his children will be ruined by whatever damage he does the brand. They’ll still be quite wealthy and from all visible signs, probably more able to live a decent life of just being normal rich businesspeople. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/23 "2016-09-30T03:24:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The people who worked for him and never got paid cared. The people who paid tuition for Trump University and got nothing for their money cared. The people who loaned him money and were left empty-handed when he went bankrupt cared. And those are the people who are behind the lawsuits and such. Right now, we’re watching all of the lurid details unfold as they happen, but even if he weren’t making his foray into politics, if he were found guilty of fraud or tax evasion, we’d all still hear about it then, and learn the gory details in retrospect. > > EDIT: What does a werehouse (and an undead werehouse, at that) turn into during a full moon? Well, when I say nobody I mean the figurative nobody not the literal nobody. So I mean the public-at-large didn’t really care. I think before running Trump was just another rich… uhhh… let’s go with jerk. But not the public-at-large is looking at him. And his political opponents or those that support them are looking at him. So if you’re right does that mean, that this is just bad luck from the Republican perspective? That they happened to pick a candidate just before all of his shady dealings came to light? As for the riddle, if you had said house I would have said a “warehouse”. But I don’t know, what does a werehouse (I’m assuming the spelling is a clue) turn into during a full moon? ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/24 "2016-09-30T03:26:19Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And if he loses it’s not like his children will be ruined by whatever damage he does the brand. They’ll still be quite wealthy and from all visible signs, probably more able to live a decent life of just being normal rich businesspeople. And could they maybe even be better off? Could this be the beginning of a Trump political dynasty, even if it just a fringe alt-right dynasty? I guess only time will tell if any of his children run for office, but I think they could create a good message by saying they want to pick up where their father left off. By the way, I liked the rest of your post. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/25 "2016-09-30T03:48:16Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > His evisceration of Establishment and Tea Party candidates alike in the primary was to a great extent facilitated by a mistake many in America made: > > **Not taking him seriously**. > > Donald J. Trump’s lifetime big beef, as I see it is in that for all his fortune and his influence, he did not feel sincerely respected either by the old big money types on his right, nor by the cultural/intellectual mavens on his left. He felt he was being an alpha male at the dealmaking table but kept being mere tabloid fodder for public consumption. The “short-fingered _ **vulgarian** _” with the succession of trophy wives, the gaudy showing off of wealth, the plastering of his name in big capital letters on whatever he lent it to, treated like a professional celeb instead of a business titan,. > > Well, he sure has shown them. He has shown them all. HE will go down in history. His name will not meet oblivion. He will influence the next candidacies in the GOP. People already rue the day they thought him a bad joke. > > And if he loses it’s not like his children will be ruined by whatever damage he does the brand. They’ll still be quite wealthy and from all visible signs, probably more able to live a decent life of just being normal rich businesspeople. And this is still the case. People are still underestimating him. He is neck and neck in the polls. The very fact that it is true, that a a steaming pile of horseshit is still so close in the polls means that there is a very good chance of him winning. Stop treating him as a joke. People still are, and that helps him. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/26 "2016-09-30T04:05:46Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > He’ll be popular in Russia. He may actually move there to work with Putin and/or Putin’s cronies. Or maybe a despot from a third world country with billions to spend. I’m serious about this as a possibility. Trump is a useful patsy to Putin, while he’s in the US causing havok in the US political system. Trump in Russia wouldn’t be particularly useful to Putin anymore. When Trump loses Putin will lose all interest in him. However maybe the Trump brand will still be valuable in Russia, its the kind of tacky bling that appeals to the thuggish new money elites of Russia. So yeah maybe he’ll just do a lot of Trump branding projects on condos in Russia. One thing is for certain, he’s severely diminished the value of his brand in the Middle East and China, both of which would have been massive potential markets for Trump branded condos or hotels. Too bad, so sad. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/27 "2016-09-30T04:12:12Z")
Trump should just be thankful he didn’t win the Reform Party nomination in 2000. At 70, his businesses don’t matter as much to him. He can turn everything over to Ivanka and retire. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/28 "2016-09-30T07:00:28Z")
Big Orange has yet to prove to me, _in the slightest_, that he has the fortitude, attention span, and hey! emotional stamina! to effectively perform in the pressure-cooker environments that these final two rounds will provide. Sure, town hall will be “looser” (but only barely so?) - regardless - that bloated, mouth-frothing, orange-tipped mega-pustule will still find a way to pant-dump, spearheading what will eventually be, I’ll bet, the unequivocal end of the Donald Trump Presidential Story. Despite the fact that it was a mistake for Trump to run, I would find great solace in his post-Presidential-bid-flub (because it was _rigged_) that he explore more options than just the aforementioned Russian real estate wheelin and dealin, or reality tv resuscitation, and, say, maybe follow up on Roger Hodgson’s repeated pleas to get their stalled SUPERTRUMP project off the ground, or replace the Trivago guy, or team up with David Miscavige, Dick Cheney, Martin Shkreli, and Lindsay Graham for some wierd, yet-to-be-fleshed-out, diabolical, cabal-like entity, like a Bohemian Grove II, but smaller and wierder. queuing “Eric in '34” Breitbart posts in 3…2…1… ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/29 "2016-09-30T07:09:54Z")
No even if he loses (as he probably will), Trump will have succedeed beyond anybody could have forseen in summer 2015 when he first announced. He has brought forth an entirely new ideological trend in the Republican Party and even if he loses will do so fairly narrowly considering a Hillaryslide looks unlikely now. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/30 "2016-09-30T07:16:54Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > No even if he loses (as he probably will), Trump will have succedeed beyond anybody could have forseen in summer 2015 when he first announced. He has brought forth an entirely new ideological trend in the Republican Party and even if he loses will do so fairly narrowly considering a Hillaryslide looks unlikely now. This is the frightening realization: that someone with absolutely no knowledge nor experience in government could actually become President. That foreigner, Arnold Swarzenegger, would have been a hundred times better pick. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/31 "2016-09-30T07:18:16Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > And this is still the case. People are still underestimating him. He is neck and neck in the polls. The very fact that it is true, that a a steaming pile of horseshit is still so close in the polls means that there is a very good chance of him winning. > > Stop treating him as a joke. People still are, and that helps him. What this says about Republican voters is the truly frightening thing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/32 "2016-09-30T07:20:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > . > > EDIT: What does a werehouse (and an undead werehouse, at that) turn into during a full moon? The perfect place for a bunch of skeletons ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/33 "2016-09-30T09:05:34Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > No even if he loses (as he probably will), Trump will have succedeed beyond anybody could have forseen in summer 2015 when he first announced. He has brought forth an entirely new ideological trend in the Republican Party and even if he loses will do so fairly narrowly considering a Hillaryslide looks unlikely now. But he hasn’t. There have been no successful Trump-style Senate or Congressional primary winners. Traditional conservatism still rules the day. This movement has no legs outside of Trump’s celebrity and will be homeless again if he loses. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/34 "2016-09-30T09:17:35Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > . Traditional conservatism still rules the day. This movement has no legs outside of Trump’s celebrity and will be homeless again if he loses. Unfortunately I fear that one of his children will take up the mantle and try and rope in his remaining supporters for another run. Most likey Eric Trump as he seems to genuinely be as racist and repugnant as his father. I get the feeling that Ivanka is actually a lot more of a reasonable person and is somewhat embarrassed by her father but is of course going along for the sake of appearances. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/35 "2016-09-30T09:28:29Z")
Ivanka has a political future if she wants one, but she’s too smart to go for the Presidency right off the bat. And I see no evidence that she shares many of her father’s views, or even that she’s a Republican. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2016, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/36 "2016-09-30T09:34:32Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I remember a few months back an evengelical conservative who did say that when Trump was going to become the Republican nominee he thought that that was going to be a big mistake; because trump did not have just a few skeletons in his closet, _ **but werehouses full of them** _. Funnily enough, over here people actually like that. Just look at [Alan Clark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Clark), [Boris Johnson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Johnson), etc etc… ---
**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:** [September 30, 2016, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/37 "2016-09-30T10:02:57Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > We’ll find out in five weeks’ time. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, is going to be severely embarrassed if he gets elected. The thought of seeing her having to crawl and grovel in abject apology to him is delicious. I’m curious as to why you think Sturgeon would have to “crawl and grovel in abject apology to him” if he gets elected. She doesn’t strike me as the type . I’m also curious as to what happens to the Trump empire once Donald Sr. dies, given the certain amount of reliance on personality and ratlike cunning needed to keep the shellgame of debt going. As noted above the increased publicity is causing a number of Donald’s wheezes to come under official scrutiny; even if he barely manages to keep it all together for a few more years, once he dies the whole thing is going to come tumbling down, with the kids (particularly the boys) squabbling over the remnants of the estate. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/38 "2016-09-30T10:24:37Z")
Trump forgot one thing. If he loses, he will forever be defined as an “unsuccessful” presidential candidate. I don’t know how well his ego will take his being defined as unsuccessful. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2016, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/39 "2016-09-30T11:00:59Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Trump forgot one thing. If he loses, he will forever be defined as an “unsuccessful” presidential candidate. I don’t know how well his ego will take his being defined as unsuccessful. Simple - “I would have won, but the election was rigged. I would have been the best president ever. Seriously - you would not believe how good I would have been.” ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/40 "2016-09-30T11:38:49Z")
I think Trump is a narcissist, and in the past, the best way to feed that was to make money and put his name on buildings. But being a serious contender for the presidency (and yes, I only mean that in the sense that his name is on the ballot; not that he has an ounce of decorum) dwarfs all that. Financially-speaking I’m sure he’d feel it’s worth it even if his brand struggles. But answering the title of the OP, no it was a big mistake, even just for him. If he loses, he’s a loser. If he wins, he spends the next 4 years obliged to do lots of stuff he hates, trying to make excuses why everything’s going so horribly wrong and why he can’t actually build a border wall. And that’s if we avoid an apocalypse. Lose-lose-oblivion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250.md?page=3)