Here is what I don’t get about the whole Donald campaign.
He knows what skeletons are in his closet. After all, he stuffed them in there (or had people do it for him). So what could have been in his head when he said yep, gonna run? He knows that the candidates have released returns for the last 40 years. He knows that his foundation is run with …shall we say…some degree of irregularity. He knows his foundation’s money has been spent on portraits of himself, and the portrait hangs in one of his resorts. He knows his wife posed topless. He knows he called a woman Miss Housekeeping. He knows he cheated on his wives. He knows he has stiffed so many contractors that it’s not even funny. He knows he put out feelers on business in Cuba while we were under embargo.
And so, so much more. So what was he thinking? Im smarter than everyone so no one will find out? Or just “no one will care - make america great!”
I’m not surprised he thought he could do it. His ego is whopping. What surprises me is that Ivanka wasn’t able to talk him down. She seems more level-headed than the rest of the 80s movie villainry in that family, and she has to know that at his core, on a good day, her old man’s a cheating, lying scumbag, and that a presidential run would only expose that (and taint her family’s brand).
Why should she have to do any such thing? If he becomes President of the US, there won’t be that many occasions for any contact between them, and most of those would most likely be formally dealt with through the Ambassador. She’s still entitled to her opinions, and I doubt very much if she would resile from them.
Yes, it’s going to get ugly – no question about it. But a lot of people who are voting Trump, voting Republican, voting third party, and voting against Hillary (and Obama’s legacy) don’t realize that right now. In time, I have faith that they will, but that realization won’t come from people like you and me. Sometimes, people have to experience things and observe things for themselves. It’s unfortunate, and I wish it weren’t the case, but I’m afraid that’s where we’re headed.
Abut Nicola Sturgeon: I wondered if she had publicly promised to apologize to him in the even that he was elected, so I googled nicola sturgeon; donald trump; apologize. It seems that last December she stripped him of his role as business ambassador to Scotland, after he called for his ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
Evidently Quartz and Steophan have their own reasons for disliking her.
Trump is not popular in Russia, it’s more that Clinton is extremely hated. I would guess some of this is because of the close ties between Boris Yeltsin and the first Clinton Administration. (Russia has been trying to court Jill Stein as well, with some success). When they polled Russians about who they wanted to win the election, the results were like 34% Trump, 9% Clinton.
I agree. Before the election, I also didn’t know or care much about him. He was kind of a cartoon character in my head. Like Scrooge McDuck maybe. Instead of a batshit insane POS.
I knew of him mostly from The Apprentice series and him courting publicity in the 80s. He mainly seemed like an egotistical braggart at the time and someone who would occasionally announce he would run but never did. I didn’t realize he would turn into this racist blowhard
It’s been suggested he ran this time to get back at Obama for humiliating him at the White House Correspondents Dinner a few years back and to show all the rich folks who poo-pooed him that he could win the presidency. I’m not sure he really had any pure thoughts of service in running. I think it was all about revenge and payback, so his potential skeletons were probably just an afterthought. The guy has the biggest ego in the world, and that’s been obvious since the beginning of The Apprentice
Young and Rubicam (massive ad agency) does Brand research and they have reported a drastic decline in positives for the Trump brand since he started his campaign: http://www.riskeye.com/612/
The world according to Donald: “I’m the only real human; everybody else is a stupid automaton who will think whatever thoughts I plant in their heads.” Their world really is that simple.
Somebody with enough money (or power) can surround themselves with enough employees who act the role for a paycheck that pretty soon whatever small connection with reality the psychopathy permits will fade away completely.
Yeah, I don’t specifically dislike her because of anything she’s said to Trump - in fact, she’s probably right about him. But in general her, and all the Scottish separatists, are trading on the same fearmongering crap that led to Trump getting the nomination, Sanders almost getting it, Brexit and Corbyn being voted for, and all the other events in current politics that are attempting to replace perceived corruption and stagnation with demonstrable incompetence.
For Trump and the Republican party it was a mistake. For Hillary and the Democrats, and maybe everyone it was a godsend. I wish he’d done it 4 or 8 years ago since it has destroyed the foundation of the Republican party.
Could not agree more. As someone who has always despised braggarts and bullies, Trump likely the most visible of that ilk, I was very happy to see him become the nominee. I believed he would be soundly defeated in the general, and as a bonus, virtually destroy the Republican Party. I see no reason to change my beliefs despite the press attacking Hillary every time his numbers start their trip down to the 27% that will vote for him no matter what.
Now that the press is insulted, and some outlets are truly going after the truth of what he actually is, I only see him going down, down, down. Once that loser momentum is established, I don’t see any chance of his numbers turning around, with the exception of an October/November surprise.
Agree that Trump is all-but doomed. But I do not see Trumpism as fatal or even very harmful to Republicanism. Especially not to Republican Presidential hopes in 2020.
After the voting is over and Trump has lost decisively, Stein & Johnson are footnotes with <3% popular vote each, and the Rs do pretty well in Congress and state-level races this is what will happen:
The R party hierarchy will say “Wow; we sure let a goof hijack our primary process. Our bad. Never again!” They’ll amend the rules and the pre-primary skullduggery a bit to make good on their promise.
The Alt-right will continue voting Republican because in their opinion right is better than left.
The Tea party will continue voting Republican because in their opinion right is better than left.
The Country Club set will continue voting Republican because in their opinion right is better than left.
The Evangelicals will continue voting Republican because in their opinion right is better than left.
The mainstream cultural conservative white collar class will continue voting Republican because in their opinion right is better than left.
The right wing media will continue the fact-free echo chamber to keep all five of these groups happy. We may see three, four, or even five different Faux News equivalents emerge; one to cater to each worldview. They’ll be singing harmony in unison in their permanent strident denunciation of the left and all their evil America-destroying works even as they sing different melody lines to tune their individual favorable-to-our/R-side message to their individual audiences.
Bottom line: the lesson of this event for ordinary Republicans of almost all stripes is not that Republicanism is wrong and so they must join the Democrats. The lesson is that Trump’s a goof and some of the alt-right are not nice people. OK. On to 2020 and victory for our/R side!
Sure, but the lesson for everyone who is not already a 27%-er is, “Damn - these Republicans are a total embarrassment.”
The Republicans are not going to escape the stench of Donal Trump for the next ten years. Not with the fervor with which they’ve embraced him. It’s not just the Trump brand which is taking toxic damage-over-time. Fox News has given up all pretense of objectivity. The Tea Party is ready to start lynching people.
Donald Trump himself is not going to go quietly into the night on November 9th. He’s going to be giving speeches, calling Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, and tweeting endlessly about how he was robbed and how Hillary is an illegitimate leader. The Republican Party is not going to suddenly grow a pair and rebuke him. The media is not going to stop promoting Donald because he drives ratings. Republican politicians are not going to risk pissing off the feral Trump fan club - or more to the point - they’re not going to risk primary challenges by cooperating with President Clinton.
The more I look at this statement, the more pissed off I get. There is no group of “ordinary Republicans” who think Trump is a goof. Ordinary Republicans are Trump supporters. Ordinary Republicans like Trump’s message. Ordinary Republicans think the alt-right’s Hillary and Obama memes are hillarious.
“Ordinary Republicans” are the reason Trump’s polling numbers are in the 40’s.
It is factually incorrect to talk about “Ordinary Republicans” as if they are innocent victims in all this.
Don’t be so sure. There’s some collective amnesia when it comes to who ran the country during the GWB years. If Hillary wins Trump will be yesterday’s news inside a couple months. There will be spicy new narratives to cover.