# Will the stupidity and incompetence of Trump hurt the GOP going forward **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 9, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367 "2017-02-09T01:26:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/61 "2017-02-11T13:12:03Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Are you sure? I saw a headline a couple days ago that said that Republicans aren’t really meeting or planning on the subject, and any repeal/replace might not happen until next year, at least. Their earlier “plan” was to pass Repeal now, to get their base happy, but not implement Replace until after the next election. That would allow them to blame the Democrats again, which is seemingly the only thing they know how to do. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/62 "2017-02-11T13:45:35Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > The stupidity and incompetence of Trump won’t hurt the GOP because the GOP is the party of the stupid and incompetent. > > Most people on the Left don’t get it. They assume that if they make logical and impassioned arguments or write articles demonstrating Trump or the GOPs stupidity, incompetence or brilliant competency at enacting laws that benefit corporate American and the wealthy 1% at the expense of everyone else, the general public will be outraged. > > The reality is (and I see this every time I travel out to the country to visit the inlaws), people in Rural America (defined as just a bit more than an hour outside any major city) are mostly gung-ho Fox News watching Republicans. They will always vote Republican because in their mind the Democrats represent minorities, whiney effete Liberals, ivory tower intellectuals, pretentious Hollywood hypocrites and Socialists. And they have Fox News constantly playing passively in the background and right-wing news sites actively pushing to their web feeds de-legitimizing the regular media for their biased, violent attacks on Trump like something out of some weird dystopian fiction novel. > > The most thinking they do on the subject is comment about when they might see Trump’s promised tax cuts or maybe nervously ask if we are anywhere near the protests in New York (like what the shit are you idiots talking about?) > > So if you are lucky, what will probably happen in 8 years is that enough people in the middle will be sick of Trump for one thing or another and will vote Democrat, just for “something different”. Up to the last sentence, I agree with the above. The rural voters are lost sheep but the good news is their share of the electorate shrinks every year. Most of these people have never voted Democratic in their lives and never will. What we can do is outvote them and outvote them we will. What we’re seeing now is like the Tea Party on steroids, but instead of hating a president because of lies and because they are racists, we hate one now because of truth and because HE is a racist. It isn’t going to take eight years, it will take two to take the Congress back and two more to reclaim the White House, and the whiny bitch in there now will be complaining about voter fraud until the day he dies and we all rejoice. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/63 "2017-02-11T15:33:26Z")
Assuming he goes first. From your lips to the Ears… ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/64 "2017-02-11T16:41:49Z")
Here’s the thing I’m having trouble understanding. So we have our esteemed colleague, here, Pearl. And he’s excited about how Trump got Intel to open a new factory in America. Except of course this has been in the works for years, and has nothing to do with Trump. I guess the takeaway here is that businesses are happy to let Trump take credit for stuff they wer already going to do, because it curries favor with Trump at no cost to them. They get Trump onside, which could literally earn some of them billions of dollars, all for no cost. And Pearl knows this, right? He knows it’s just a photo op? But he’s happy, because it means the rubes are going to continue to vote Republican? Is that it? And again, with the “the next terrorist attack will be blamed on the Democrats, because travel ban.” He mentions several terrorist attacks by American citizens, and is excited to be able to blame Democrats for the next terrorist attack by an American citizen. My point is, for what? I mean, here he doesn’t actual care about stopping terrorist attacks, right? So he’s not in favor of electing Republicans because they’ll stop terrorism. He’s not actually in favor of any sort of policy that Republicans might or might not enact. All that is irrelevant. What matters is that the Red Team scores a point. So why exactly does he care if Republicans get elected? It’s not jobs, Trump is just claiming credit for jobs. It’s not stopping terrorism, he admits that terrorism is going to happen and all he cares about is blaming it on Democrats. It’s not international respect, it’s clear that leaders around the world think Trump is an easily manipulated child. It’s not lowering taxes for himself, it’s clear that while Republicans are going to lower taxes that’s all going to be for the super-rich. It’s simple nihilism, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/65 "2017-02-11T16:51:52Z")
“…some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” ---
**Author:** ![Yersenia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e495f1/32.png) [@Yersenia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersenia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/66 "2017-02-11T19:52:13Z")
I’m still not 100% sure about anything changing in 2 years (unfortunately) - I still think there’s been enough gerrymandering and enough fox news brainwashing to give the GOP a pass in 2018 - I really hope i’m wrong… BUT, I think after 4 or 6 years of nothing happening to better the lives those same poor whites (that gave us Trump) plus the democratic base being as motivated as ever will cause serious GOP damage. Does anyone really think Trump will do anything to help the rust belt? How long can these people be fooled?! I also think that he will probably get somewhat desperate in a few years, after his stupid wall/tariffs on Mexico/tax cuts for the rich cause absolute no major economic gain and he will try to distract the public by invading some random country - who wants to make a bet its somewhere in the middle east? Nothing like a war to make people forget their own domestic woes… especially the dumbasses that elected Trump… ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/67 "2017-02-11T20:13:30Z")
The GOP is enjoying this dead cat bounce, but the fall in the next few years due to the convergence of demographics and Trump laying bare the necrotic center of their party is going to be fantastic to behold. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/68 "2017-02-11T21:07:14Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > It isn’t going to take eight years, it will take two to take the Congress back and two more to reclaim the White House, and the whiny bitch in there now will be complaining about voter fraud until the day he dies and we all rejoice. > [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The GOP is enjoying this dead cat bounce, but the fall in the next few years due to the convergence of demographics and Trump laying bare the necrotic center of their party is going to be fantastic to behold. I love predictions like this. Would you rate your confidence of winning back Congress in the next few years higher or lower than your confidence that HRC was going to win the last election? ---
**Author:** ![Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pearl_Clutching_Provocateur)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/69 "2017-02-11T23:46:22Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Here’s the thing I’m having trouble understanding. > > So we have our esteemed colleague, here, Pearl. > > And he’s excited about how Trump got Intel to open a new factory in America. Except of course this has been in the works for years, and has nothing to do with Trump. I guess the takeaway here is that businesses are happy to let Trump take credit for stuff they wer already going to do, because it curries favor with Trump at no cost to them. They get Trump onside, which could literally earn some of them billions of dollars, all for no cost. > > And Pearl knows this, right? He knows it’s just a photo op? But he’s happy, because it means the rubes are going to continue to vote Republican? Is that it? > > And again, with the “the next terrorist attack will be blamed on the Democrats, because travel ban.” He mentions several terrorist attacks by American citizens, and is excited to be able to blame Democrats for the next terrorist attack by an American citizen. > > My point is, for what? I mean, here he doesn’t actual care about stopping terrorist attacks, right? So he’s not in favor of electing Republicans because they’ll stop terrorism. He’s not actually in favor of any sort of policy that Republicans might or might not enact. All that is irrelevant. What matters is that the Red Team scores a point. So why exactly does he care if Republicans get elected? > > It’s not jobs, Trump is just claiming credit for jobs. It’s not stopping terrorism, he admits that terrorism is going to happen and all he cares about is blaming it on Democrats. It’s not international respect, it’s clear that leaders around the world think Trump is an easily manipulated child. It’s not lowering taxes for himself, it’s clear that while Republicans are going to lower taxes that’s all going to be for the super-rich. > > It’s simple nihilism, I guess. I recall Mitt Romney making the argument that keeping manufacturing in the USA was better for the environment because we have much stricter regulations. Trump is a true environmentalist unlike Obama. **Why Walmart’s $250 Billion Pledge Will Make US Manufacturing More Sustainable** “An estimated **1 million** new US jobs will be created through Walmart’s manufacturing initiative, according to the Boston Consulting Group.” > **[Why Walmart’s $250 Billion Pledge Will Make US Manufacturing More Sustainable...](https://www.environmentenergyleader.com/2017/01/why-walmarts-250-billion-pledge-will-make-us-manufacturing-more-sustainable/)** > > The Walmart US Manufacturing Innovation Fund has, to date, invested $10 million in projects that aim to make domestic manufacturing more cost-effective and sustainable. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/70 "2017-02-11T23:49:48Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > I recall Mitt Romney making the argument that keeping manufacturing in the USA was better for the environment because we have much stricter regulations. Trump is a true environmentalist unlike Obama. > **Why Walmart’s $250 Billion Pledge Will Make US Manufacturing More Sustainable** > > “An estimated **1 million** new US jobs will be created through Walmart’s manufacturing initiative, according to the Boston Consulting Group.” > > [https://www.environmentalleader.com/2017/01/why-walmarts-250-billion-pledge-will-make-us-manufacturing-more-sustainable/](https://www.environmentalleader.com/2017/01/why-walmarts-250-billion-pledge-will-make-us-manufacturing-more-sustainable/) Yes, this must be the reason that he is trying to gut the EPA. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/71 "2017-02-12T00:08:30Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > It isn’t going to take eight years, it will take two to take the Congress back Republicans defend eight Senate seats in the 2018 midterms; Democrats and independents defend 25. For your prediction to come true in the Senate, Democrats would have to hold \*every \*seat - \*\*ten **of them in Trump states** - \*and \*\*\*snatch 3 Republican seats. How confident are you in that? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/72 "2017-02-12T01:42:59Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Bear in mind that only six years after Nixon resigned after Watergate, the Republicans won a 44-state landslide in the 1980 election. And only four years after Mondale lost a 49-state landslide, the Democratic candidate Dukakis was leading Bush Sr. by a whopping 17 percentage points in the polls (before ultimately still losing.) Political parties are very resilient. Well, maybe the leadership. But in the electorate, Reagan’s coalition was different from Nixon’s. The Reagan coalition included a lot of Southern Democrats, and over time it has lost educated voters. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/73 "2017-02-12T01:51:16Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Republicans defend eight Senate seats in the 2018 midterms; Democrats and independents defend 25. > > For your prediction to come true in the Senate, Democrats would have to hold \*every \*seat - \*\*ten **of them in Trump states** - \*and \*\*\*snatch 3 Republican seats. How confident are you in that? If the Republicans continue to hold these disastrous town halls where they get booed off the stage and called out for lying like that moron in FL did for bringing up “death panels”, it’s going to be a cakewalk. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/74 "2017-02-12T02:54:15Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > As ham handed and clumsily administered as this immigration executive order has been, it’s a success for Trump politically. All the American people hear is that the Democrats are only worried about foreigners. When the next terrorist attack happens, Trump can blame those judges. I mean tried his best to keep them out, didn’t he? > [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Man, I always get a good laugh out of reading your fantasies. > > Democrats are worried about the American ideals that Trump is trampling into unrecognizability, all the while Republicans are doing their utmost to sell themselves out quicker than the next. Oh, I think PCP has a point. To many Americans, it’s got to be horrifying to see liberals chanting “Let them in!” when Trump is blocking Iranians & Libyans. We’ve been told for decades that those countries are our enemies. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/75 "2017-02-12T03:28:10Z")
The stupidity and incompetence of Trump should hurt the GOP going forward, but that didn’t seem to in November. Hillary got a boost in the polls after each debate when the voting public got to see them side by side. She got an especially big boost after the first debate. (Maybe she should have insisted on an expanded debate schedule or debates closer to the election.) His unfitness for office could not have been more obvious. But, just in case, he’s governing just as poorly. I am no longer optimistic about the reasoning ability of the American voting public. I suppose my answer is I don’t know. Maybe Trump’s bad governance will be noticed, but I wonder if the meth heads of his constituency are capable of that. We can hope. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/76 "2017-02-12T05:07:25Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The GOP is enjoying this dead cat bounce, but the fall in the next few years due to the convergence of demographics and Trump laying bare the necrotic center of their party is going to be fantastic to behold. Hard right parties do not go peacefully. They prefer not to go at all. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/77 "2017-02-12T14:20:20Z")
Regardless of the fortunes of the GOP, the right is still going to be just as strong as ever. If the GOP won’t deliver for right-wing voters, they’ll just elect Blue Dogs to get the job done. We can take over your party just as easily as we took over the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/78 "2017-02-12T15:21:12Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Regardless of the fortunes of the GOP, the right is still going to be just as strong as ever. If the GOP won’t deliver for right-wing voters, they’ll just elect Blue Dogs to get the job done. We can take over your party just as easily as we took over the Republicans. I would absolutely welcome a rationale realigning of the parties such that there is an honest left and an honest right. But, currently, “right wing” requires belief in the non-factual. If the right figures out a way to accept that say, evolution happened and that scientists who analyze climate data aren’t shills for Big Grant Money, then they might win me back. If they have ideas on crime rates or immigration or taxes or voting reform that don’t require faking the data, then I can take them seriously again. There is nonsense on the left to be sure, but it ain’t currently anything close to equal. I have no allegiance to party. I’ve been a member of both and neither. I have an allegiance to rationale thought. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/79 "2017-02-12T15:45:37Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > I recall Mitt Romney making the argument that keeping manufacturing in the USA was better for the environment because we have much stricter regulations. Trump is a true environmentalist unlike Obama. > **Why Walmart’s $250 Billion Pledge Will Make US Manufacturing More Sustainable** > > “An estimated **1 million** new US jobs will be created through Walmart’s manufacturing initiative, according to the Boston Consulting Group.” > > [https://www.environmentalleader.com/2017/01/why-walmarts-250-billion-pledge-will-make-us-manufacturing-more-sustainable/](https://www.environmentalleader.com/2017/01/why-walmarts-250-billion-pledge-will-make-us-manufacturing-more-sustainable/) I’ll take non responsive non sequitors for $200, Alex. ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367/80 "2017-02-12T16:56:25Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I would absolutely welcome a rationale realigning of the parties such that there is an honest left and an honest right. But, currently, “right wing” requires belief in the non-factual. If the right figures out a way to accept that say, evolution happened and that scientists who analyze climate data aren’t shills for Big Grant Money, then they might win me back. If they have ideas on crime rates or immigration or taxes or voting reform that don’t require faking the data, then I can take them seriously again. There is nonsense on the left to be sure, but it ain’t currently anything close to equal. > > I have no allegiance to party. I’ve been a member of both and neither. I have an allegiance to rationale thought. Dude, fix your usage. Rationale thought is what got us in this mess. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-stupidity-and-incompetence-of-trump-hurt-the-gop-going-forward/779367.md?page=5)