Countdown to Extinction: The 2016 Presidential Election

[Karl Henning]

Just misread a thread title as Amazing shortcomings in your election.

[North Star]

Just misread a thread title as Amazing shortcomings in your election.

And it's not a big stretch from that to an even more nauseating one. 

[drogulus]

     Donald Trump is repeating Syrian President Bashar Assad's talking points

     

     The airstrikes marked in red are mostly in territory held by the Syrian opposition to Assad. Only a few strikes have been launched against ISIS held territory. Is Trump unaware of this damning evidence of Russian intentions, or is he aware and untroubled by it?

[Zeus]

^^^  It kills me how much Trump just parrots Kremlin talking points. On Syria. On Ukraine. On NATO. On the European Union.  Et cetera.

Where did all the patriotic Republicans / Conservatives go ? ?

Hello !!!   Wake up !!!   It's time to stop believing what you want to believe and start paying attention to what your candidate actually says !!!

I'm all for a nuanced approach to foreign policy, but there's nothing nuanced about Trump's ignorance, indifference, and naivete.

Oh I forgot - Trump has already told us he knows more than the generals know. I guess that means we would be in safe hands.



You trust this guy??

[drogulus]

Where did all the patriotic Republicans / Conservatives go ? ?

     It's not their party any more. They fought and lost.

     The evangelicals have lost, too.

     Falwell Jr. Deepens Rift With Anti-Trump Liberty U Students 


     The Conservative Churches Resettling Refugees
     

     

[Zeus]

^^^ So true.

If Trump were a "normal" Republican, like, say, Kasich or Bush, then a protest vote against Clinton might be justifiable.

But with Trump being such a misanthrope, I would argue it is immoral to vote for the guy. If you vote for him, you are implicitly endorsing all that he represents.

[Parsifal]

Here is an opinion piece called "Burning Down the House" by Timothy Egan (the New York Times, which is evil, and part of the conspiracy to "rig" the election, of course).

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/opinion/burning-down-the-house.html

It makes the case that during this "unhinged" phase of Trump's campaign is is not simply damaging the Republican party, but the political fabric of the country.

[Karl Henning]

He's losing the Hop-Hop vote.

[Karl Henning]

"The media is out to get Trump." Really, we are still whining about this one?

[Karl Henning]

"The media is a lousy excuse, the last refuge of political losers."

[Karl Henning]

But then, we all know he lies, daily;  even those of us who will vote for him, no matter what.

Trump's claims about voter fraud are based on a lie

Only 0.000004375 percent of national votes were fraudulent from 2000 to 2014.

[Karl Henning]

And, in Other Reasons to Feel Really, Really Good About This Election . . .

About 1 in 5 voters think Trump made unwanted sexual advances, but are still voting for him

[Karl Henning]

Donald Trump's Bill Clinton strategy is going very poorly

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows people don't even think Bill Clinton's well-documented history of indiscretions and other allegations made against him are relevant to this campaign. And this is despite Trump's repeated efforts to raise them in recent weeks.

The Post-ABC poll asked whether people thought "Bill Clinton's treatment of women" is a legitimate issue. Just 31 percent of likely voters said it is, while two-thirds (67 percent) said it isn't. Even Republicans said by a 50-46 margin that it isn't a legitimate issue. (Emphasis mine.)

[Karl Henning]

The pattern of the 2016 race has been that Hillary Clinton is winning. Not to oversimplify or anything, but that's the pattern. Clinton gets the support of a bit under 50 percent of voters. Donald Trump gets the support of a bit over 40 percent.

[...]

He's got a core of support, made up heavily of white men without college degrees, and has at times managed to expand that outward. But those expansions tend to then contract as Clinton has a good convention or debate or Trump is caught on tape casually talking about sexual assaults. That sort of thing.

[Pat B]

It's not their party any more. They fought and lost.

The evangelicals have lost, too. 

For now. It's hard to see how a Trump loss will shake out. The Rs have largely ignored McCain and Romney after their general election losses, and Trump's could be more decisive. OTOH with Rupert Murdoch having given way to his sons, Trump News could replace Fox as the base's preferred source of fact and fiction, which could make him more influential than he currently is, especially with the party having no clear leader (Cruz has damaged his own brand to the point that he may face a serious primary challenge in 2018).

I've already predicted Tom Cotton as their 2020 nominee. He's a taller, less whiny Cruz, and he has laid relatively low this cycle, which now looks deft.

[Pat B]

^^^ So true.

If Trump were a "normal" Republican, like, say, Kasich or Bush, then a protest vote against Clinton might be justifiable.

But with Trump being such a misanthrope, I would argue it is immoral to vote for the guy. If you vote for him, you are implicitly endorsing all that he represents.

I consider Trump the worst major candidate of my lifetime, but I don't think this is fair. All of the candidates -- and I include Johnson, Stein, and Mcmullin -- are far from perfect. A vote for any of them is a judgment of their advantages and disadvantages relative to the others, not a full-fledged endorsement of every aspect of that candidate.

[North Star]

I've already predicted Tom Cotton as their 2020 nominee. He's a taller, less whiny Cruz, and he has laid relatively low this cycle, which now looks deft.

Seems that's about the only way in which Republicans can improve their candidates.

[(poco) Sforzando]

And, in Other Reasons to Feel Really, Really Good About This Election . . .

About 1 in 5 voters think Trump made unwanted sexual advances, but are still voting for him

Of course. Since Bill Clinton also made unwanted sexual advances (even though he's not running for president), Donald Trump's unwanted sexual advances are of no importance.

[drogulus]

     
     Trump behaves publicly towards women in a way that is grossly offensive. As for his behavior in private, there are numerous allegations against him. Just like with Bill Clinton, it's for the courts to decide, not partisan lynch mobs. Everybody OK with that?

[PerfectWagnerite]

The typical Trump supporter who calls up talk radio station always says he/she is really scared. He/she is really scared is Mexicans, Muslims, transgenders, and above all change.