# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/41 "2016-09-30T11:49:15Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > 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. Why wouldn’t he just claim that he actually built the border wall? And why bother to make excuses for why everything’s going horribly wrong, when he can simply note that everything is going right? He currently lies – what, once every 195 seconds? Every 159 seconds, at need? Why figure he’ll stop? Why figure he’ll slow down? Why not figure he’ll speed up? ---
**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, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/42 "2016-09-30T11:53:15Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > 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.” The OSCE (A European organisation) is planning to send 500 election monitors for the US elections, they only sent 50 in 2012. Of course Trump supporters will claim they’re biased but at least the dems will have some objective outside group monitoring things. [http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-election-observers-idUKKCN10Y08Z](http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-election-observers-idUKKCN10Y08Z) ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/43 "2016-09-30T12:06:36Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > He’s going to go down as a joke and the worst presidential candidate ever. It’s extremely hard for normal people to lose a presidential race, for a narcissist it would have to be much much worse to get rejected at the highest level. All the constant assurances about how he’s still going to be doing great if he loses should tell you exactly how he feels. He never expected to get this far and he won’t be able to handle losing. I think this is why it’s important for Clinton (and the country) to not only win, but to win in a way that makes an alternative recount result theory highly implausible. I doubt he has enough grace to walk off the stage on his own and I doubt he concedes in the manner that Romney or any of the previous candidates have. If the election comes down to 1-3 percent in a handful of states he’s going to claim the results are rigged, refuse to budge, and he’ll almost surely fire up his army of crazies. Winning isn’t enough. ---
**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, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/44 "2016-09-30T13:02:11Z")
Actually, if it’s close, all he has to do is claim that he did better than a lot of professional Republicans. Although that says more about Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump. ---
**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, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/46 "2016-09-30T13:09:49Z")
Why would football be on a live cricket site? Reported. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/47 "2016-09-30T13:43:21Z")
> [@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. It would _almost_ be worth the end of civilisation as we know it to see her doing that… ---
**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, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/48 "2016-09-30T14:16:09Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > The OSCE (A European organisation) is planning to send 500 election monitors for the US elections, they only sent 50 in 2012. Of course Trump supporters will claim they’re biased but at least the dems will have some objective outside group monitoring things. > > [http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-election-observers-idUKKCN10Y08Z](http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-election-observers-idUKKCN10Y08Z) Thanks for the link. Not sure how much of a bullet-proof reassurance the following passage is, but hopefully at least _somewhat_ a ray of sunshine? “The letter urged the OSCE to focus its resources on eight states in which it said ‘enhanced voter intimidation efforts’ were likely, including Pennsylvania and North Carolina, where the Nov. 8 contest between Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton is expected to be close.” It would be nice to avoid the debacle from 2000. > [@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. Can you provide a scenario in which she would have to somehow “grovel in abject apology to him”? You mean kow-tow? (which doesn’t _per se_ require any form of apologizing, no?) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/49 "2016-09-30T14:48:11Z")
It’s funny. Before he got the nomination, I didn’t know much about Trump. I suspected he was an asshole. Now I know for sure. Never been to a Trump casino, golf course, hotel, or anything else he is involved in as far as I know. Now, I will actively avoid them/him/and anything his family comes up with like the plague. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/50 "2016-09-30T15:12:37Z")
It was a mistake for Republicans, America, the world at large, my blood pressure, and common decency. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/51 "2016-09-30T15:56:27Z")
Mark Cuban predicts Trump will be personally bankrupt in 7 years. [https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/781587745579728896](https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/781587745579728896) “If @realDonaldTrump loses this election, im betting he personally goes bankrupt w/in 7 yrs. Thats how toxic his brand now is.” ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/52 "2016-09-30T16:27:38Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I think this is why it’s important for Clinton (and the country) to not only win, but to win in a way that makes an alternative recount result theory highly implausible. I doubt he has enough grace to walk off the stage on his own and I doubt he concedes in the manner that Romney or any of the previous candidates have. If the election comes down to 1-3 percent in a handful of states he’s going to claim the results are rigged, refuse to budge, and he’ll almost surely fire up his army of crazies. Winning isn’t enough. Trump is going to contest the results no matter how much he loses by. He needs to lose by a huge margin so that there’s no legitimacy to his claims of a rigged election. Even then, his most fervent supporters are probably still going to agree with him. Hillary could win by a 500 EV margin and Trump and his faithful will still be screaming “rigged!” What worries me is that this could be way more severe than just some whipped grumbling. It could be used to justify widespread resistance to Hillary’s agenda, or even violence (Trump helpfully let that train out of the station last month). Politico has a [good article](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/donald-trump-2016-rigged-election-214304) about this. The US doesn’t administer its elections in a non-partisan fashion. It’s genuinely scary how fragile the trust in the electoral system is, and Trump has been banging away at it with a sledgehammer. > [@](#): > > Even if Trump said in Monday’s debate that he would support Hillary Clinton “if she wins,” he and his supporters could very well be convinced in their own minds that she did not. Then what happens? Consider Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state and the one I worry most about this year, since it uses electronic voting machines without paper backup. Suppose that on Election Night, Pennsylvania’s secretary of state announces that Clinton has won the state, and with it the presidency, but Trump says, “Prove it.” The secretary of state responds, “That’s what the machines tell us.” Trump responds, “Well, how do I know that the machines weren’t hacked?” What is the secretary of state supposed to say then? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/53 "2016-09-30T16:29:00Z")
By 11.9.16 America will be so sick of Trump that his cries will fall on deaf ears. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/54 "2016-09-30T19:45:31Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > By 11.9.16 America will be so sick of Trump that his cries will fall on deaf ears. I don’t know…it’s not really just Trump that concerns me. Trump is not the disease, but the symptom of a larger disease. He has millions of people, many of whom are in highly influential congressional districts, who would surely urge him and the GOP as a whole party to contest the results. Nor do I think the fun ends even when the country begrudgingly accepts a Clinton presidency. I think there’s a fairly good chance (how much I can’t say) that congress will attempt to impeach her within the first year or so of office. Could be Bengazi, or could be something else after she’s elected. Only this time, I could see republicans actually succeeding in her removal from office. It sounds far-fetched, but I don’t think it is. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/55 "2016-09-30T19:48:18Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I don’t know…it’s not really just Trump that concerns me. Trump is not the disease, but the symptom of a larger disease. He has millions of people, many of whom are in highly influential congressional districts, who would surely urge him and the GOP as a whole party to contest the results. > > Nor do I think the fun ends even when the country begrudgingly accepts a Clinton presidency. I think there’s a fairly good chance (how much I can’t say) that congress will attempt to impeach her within the first year or so of office. Could be Bengazi, or could be something else after she’s elected. \*\*Only this time, I could see republicans actually succeeding in her removal from office. > \*\* > It sounds far-fetched, but I don’t think it is. How would they get to 67 in the Senate? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/56 "2016-09-30T21:55:03Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > How would they get to 67 in the Senate? Well crap – I got exposed. For whatever reason I was thinking it was a simple majority that was required to convict but you’re right: it does require fully 2/3 of the senate, which isn’t likely. That being said, I wouldn’t rule out the attempt at an impeachment at some point. I expect a bitterly partisan 4 years until the voters do something about it. I actually hope the senate and house remain in GOP control, as I think they’ll overplay their hands. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/57 "2016-09-30T22:17:08Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > How would they get to 67 in the Senate? They don’t have to actually \*convict \*her. Just have endless hearing after hearing after hearing and impeach her. After all, after November, the most important thing, the MOST IMPORTANT thing for congress to do to ensure the well being of the country will be to ensure that Hillary Clinton is a one-term president. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/58 "2016-10-01T12:55:11Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > They don’t have to actually \*convict \*her. Just have endless hearing after hearing after hearing and impeach her. > > After all, after November, the most important thing, the MOST IMPORTANT thing for congress to do to ensure the well being of the country will be to ensure that Hillary Clinton is a one-term president. She could be a one-termer regardless of what the GOP does. Question is, can Kaine succeed her or is it someone from the GOP? I fully expect the most partisan 2-year period in recent memory. I also think that the democrats could use it to their advantage. Let the republicans over-play their hand, let the public outrage grow, and let the civil war within the republican party finally get started in earnest and let them tear each other to pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/59 "2016-10-01T13:33:52Z")
PLEASE let them impeach her. We’ll regain the house. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/60 "2016-10-01T13:55:23Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > PLEASE let them impeach her. We’ll regain the house. I know it’s counter-intuitive and there’s always the possibility it might not work out the way I envision it, but I have gone from concern over a GOP congress and Clinton presidency to actually hoping that it happens. I think the only real hope of making progress is for the country to see the GOP at its absolute worst and I think that President Hillary will bring out the crazies in ways that even Barack Obama could not. Yet by virtue of a divided government we’re assured that there’s at least some measure of protection there. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250/61 "2016-10-01T15:14:06Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I know it’s counter-intuitive and there’s always the possibility it might not work out the way I envision it, but I have gone from concern over a GOP congress and Clinton presidency to actually hoping that it happens. I think the only real hope of making progress is for the country to see the GOP at its absolute worst and I think that President Hillary will bring out the crazies in ways that even Barack Obama could not. Their “worst” can sink even lower than many can imagine. Their appeal to the racists and other deplorables, with Tea Bagger influence shows who they are. > [@asahi](#): > > Yet by virtue of a divided government we’re assured that there’s at least some measure of protection there. For another 8 years of obstruction and treasonous behavior? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-a-mistake-for-trump-to-run/767250.md?page=4)