# What's Trump's October Surprise? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 17, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544 "2020-07-17T03:13:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/344 "2020-10-28T23:36:38Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Haven’t people been expecting the Republicans to turn on Trump since the 2016 election results were in? I remember speculation that the Republicans would rapidly impeach Trump to put their man Pence in place, and that certainly didn’t happen. I’m not one of those people. > [@Nonsuch](#): > > Even an ex-president Trump is going to have a lot of influence in the Republican party. I don’t expect the bootlicking and kowtowing to abate significantly for a long while yet. That said, I’m not one of these people either. I feel that Trump’s influence in the Republican Party will last exactly as long as his term of office. If Trump loses next week, it will demonstrate that his 2016 win was a fluke. It will show that the Trump base isn’t big enough to win an election, even for Trump himself. And if that happens, the Republicans will stop taking Trump seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/345 "2020-10-28T23:41:39Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > They’re simply trying a do-over of the crap they pulled on Hillary in the two weeks before the 2016 election. Trouble is: The other problem for the Republicans is that in 2016, America was coming off of the eights years of the Obama administration. The country was well off and could afford to indulge in some silliness like listening to Donald Trump. It’s now 2020 and the country has been living under four years of Republican rule. Most people don’t want another four years like what we’ve just had. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/346 "2020-10-28T23:58:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If Trump loses next week, it will demonstrate that his 2016 win was a fluke. It will show that the Trump base isn’t big enough to win an election, even for Trump himself. And if that happens, the Republicans will stop taking Trump seriously. Republican politicians and Republican media outlets are already doing this. Trump may live inside a bubble where all the polls are “fake”, but they don’t. His crazed base will sink deeper into QAnon but those in power will regroup, move on, and conveniently forget he even happened. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/347 "2020-10-29T00:06:19Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Trump may live inside a bubble where all the polls are “fake”, but they don’t. His crazed base will sink deeper into QAnon but those in power will regroup, move on, and conveniently forget he even happened. As my wife is wont to say: From your lips to God’s ears. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2020, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/348 "2020-10-29T00:14:18Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Republican politicians and Republican media outlets are already doing this. Trump may live inside a bubble where all the polls are “fake”, but they don’t. His crazed base will sink deeper into QAnon but those in power will regroup, move on, and conveniently forget he even happened. Junior and Eric and Ivanka and Jared are in for a shock when the find out that not only is the Don’s money gone to debts and legal bills, but the usual wingnut welfare sinecures are not available to anyone whose very presence punctures the new “Donald _Who?_” right-wing bubble. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/349 "2020-10-29T00:17:04Z")
I hope they are reduced to pitching gold certificates, penis enlargers and “nutritional supplements” on right wing radio talk shows. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/350 "2020-10-29T00:18:21Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Why have an October surprise when you can have a November smackdown? With ACB on the SCOTUS, any GOP-led state whose numbers are even remotely contested might be able to give its electors to Trump, regardless of actual results. That’s my number-one guess on what they’ll try. This is what the entire _'the election is rigged, mail-in ballots are corrupt and fraudulent_’ claim advanced by Trump and his surrogates for months, has been leading up to. ‘_We have to give Trump all this state’s electors because of all the election fraud_’ will be the message that several GOP governors (supported by their GOP legislatures) will try to sell. The far-right SCOTUS will rubber-stamp any and all of it. The only real question is: will enough Americans meekly accept this coup, to keep businesses running and streets free of protestors? If protestors do hit the streets, will Trump order them gunned down? If businesses strike, will Trump order in National Guardsmen to take them over? We could escape all this if Biden’s lead is so commanding, by at least November 4, that none of the would-be authoritarians dare to try: none of the GOP governors nor legislators nor Justices nor right-wing cops nor right-wing National Guardsmen. If Biden’s lead is overwhelming, then they may feel their attempt would fail—and they won’t want to face the potential legal consequences of making it. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/351 "2020-10-29T00:32:24Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > they won’t want to face the potential legal consequences of making it. Legal consequences be damned. I want them to fear the potential consequences of swinging from a lamp pole if they try anything as treasonous as this. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/352 "2020-10-29T00:35:02Z")
Some good news, at least for now > **[Supreme Court won't expedite latest GOP challenge to Pennsylvania mail-in...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/28/politics/supreme-court-pennsylvania-mail-in-deadline-barrett/index.html)** > > Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in the consideration of the motion. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/353 "2020-10-29T00:41:48Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Junior and Eric and Ivanka and Jared are in for a shock when the find out that not only is the Don’s money gone to debts and legal bills I doubt we’ll ever know the facts. But my suspicion is Trump has pocketed away a lot of money in the last four years. I’m pretty sure he’s got more money now than he had in 2016. Of course, his kids may never see a cent of it. Trump’s usual pattern is other people give him money and he loses it. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/354 "2020-10-29T00:42:37Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > [@Sherrerd](#): > > > > they won’t want to face the potential legal consequences of making it. > > Legal consequences be damned. I want them to fear the potential consequences of swinging from a lamp pole if they try anything as treasonous as this. Emotionally, I’m in full sympathy with this. Practically speaking it would be an extremely bad thing to have happen (meaning for _all_ of us, not just the new streetlamp ornaments). This nation is home to thousands (at least) of idiots who are itching to go Full Civil War, carrying the banner of their obese obtuse Messiah. We have to find a way to deal with them _other_ than doing to them what they’d love to do to us. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/355 "2020-10-29T00:43:06Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The far-right SCOTUS will rubber-stamp any and all of it. This is where I hope the “worst case scenario” that we’ve all feared for a while will hopefully fall apart. Even the conservative SC justices, as biased and shameless as they are, must fear the consequences on an outright theft of the election by Trump. While Trump may adopt a scorched-earth strategy, the odds that he can get 5 justices to follow him into the fire are low. If the conspiracy runs that deep, we are surely doomed. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/356 "2020-10-29T00:46:49Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > Some good news, at least for now > > [https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/28/politics/supreme-court-pennsylvania-mail-in-deadline-barrett/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/28/politics/supreme-court-pennsylvania-mail-in-deadline-barrett/index.html) Everything I’m seeing about this says they left themselves a large loophole, which will permit them to re-visit the case AFTER the election: > [@](#): > > … The order was issued with no noted dissents, but in a statement accompanying the order, Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, said that it was too close to the election for the justices to step in. > “I reluctantly conclude that there is simply not enough time at this late date to decide the question before the election,” Alito said, but he left open the possibility that the court could still hear the case on a shortened schedule after the election. … [https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/28/politics/supreme-court-pennsylvania-mail-in-deadline-barrett/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/28/politics/supreme-court-pennsylvania-mail-in-deadline-barrett/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/357 "2020-10-29T00:51:17Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I hope they are reduced to pitching gold certificates, penis enlargers and “nutritional supplements” on right wing radio talk shows. Pillows. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/358 "2020-10-29T00:56:28Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Everything I’m seeing about this says they left themselves a large loophole, which will permit them to re-visit the case AFTER the election: > > > [@](#): > > > > … The order was issued with no not A concern. I did not know until a few days ago that Roberts, Kavanaugh and Barret were on Bush’s team in Bush v Gore. Did they not argue that votes should be counted after election day? Of couse they were lawyers putting their best case for their client, but would they be so hypocritical to reverse their position now? Kavanaugh probably. But didn’t the decision of the court then set a precedent? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/359 "2020-10-29T01:16:21Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Even the conservative SC justices, as biased and shameless as they are, must fear the consequences on an outright theft of the election by Trump. They wouldn’t consider it outright theft. The U.S. Constitution is vague enough that it is easy to convince yourself that it says what you hope it says. And both sides are vulnerable to that kind of thinking. Plus, there always will be a few plausible stories of fraud to justify what they would like to do. The original conception was that state legislatures could and probably would pick the electors. I would argue that my legislature agreed to the current Pennsylvania constitution, which states how the electors are chosen and gives the Pennsylvania Supreme Court the power to interpret those rules and lets our Democratic governor veto law changes. But it is easy to get into the weeds on this and convince yourself you are right. Or in this case, far right. P.S. If the consequences are something to fear, wouldn’t that make them brave to defy them? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/360 "2020-10-29T01:54:59Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > would they be so hypocritical to reverse their position now? BWA-HAHAHAHA! 🤣 Good one! ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/361 "2020-10-29T02:37:53Z")
Another one > **[North Carolina can count votes received 9 days after Election Day, Supreme...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/28/politics/north-carolina-supreme-court-nine-days/index.html)** > > The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the counting of ballots in North Carolina received up to nine days after the election as long as the ballots are postmarked by Election Day, a victory for Democrats in another key state. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/362 "2020-10-29T02:38:52Z")
Hate that framing. It’s a victory for the Republic, not for Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544/363 "2020-10-29T02:39:25Z")
Kavanaugh already has. But I don’t see Roberts ruling that votes should not be counted. Barret, well who knows? Anyone know if Gorsuch has ever ruled or writen on something similar? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-trumps-october-surprise/915544.md?page=19)