2016 Election Thread

[formerly33]

 

OK well regardless of Turmp's supporters or his policies or net worth or anything else, when it comes to just speaking off-script (which I call "sharpness"), Trump does it 1000x better than anyone else in the field. His entire campaign is unscripted.

Rubio looks like a fool when he breaks script. So does Cruz.

Trump probably couldn't get much worse breaking script than he is at other times. I'd be hesitant to chalk that up as sharpness.

[Willihammer]

 

Nope.

Did you see the Christie exchange?

[Willihammer]

 

Trump probably couldn't get much worse breaking script than he is at other times. I'd be hesitant to chalk that up as sharpness.

He was the star of one of the most popular shows on TV. His debates are all unscripted, so are his pressers. He is leading the field.

He's good at it.

[formerly33]

 

He was the star of one of the most popular shows on TV. His debates are all unscripted, so are his pressers. He is leading the field.

He's good at it.

Anyone who has the ability to attract such a following as this man is obviously "good at it." Is this an adequate qualification to be the POTUS? Noooope.

 

If that's not the point you're trying to make, I'm sorry for assuming such. Because if anyone mistook me for a Trump supporter, I would not only be surprised but offended.

[Craig Arko]

 

He was the star of one of the most popular shows on TV. His debates are all unscripted, so are his pressers. He is leading the field.

He's good at it.

This sounds like a fair job description for doing improvisational comedy. I will concede him that role.

[Willihammer]

 

Anyone who has the ability to attract such a following as this man is obviously "good at it." Is this an adequate qualification to be the POTUS? Noooope.

 

If that's not the point you're trying to make, I'm sorry for assuming such. Because if anyone mistook me for a Trump supporter, I would not only be surprised but offended.

I dunno. Being able to think and speak on your feet seems like it would be an excellent skill to have in any kind of bilateral negotiation.

 

And I'd say if you went down the line the past 20-30 years, the candidates who speak best off-script are the ones American voters prefer.

 

As discussed upthread, intangibles like "sharpness" (or whatever you want to call it) seem to weigh more heavily in the decisionmaking for lots of voters (myself included) moreso than policies or resume, etc.

[formerly33]

 

I dunno. Being able to think and speak on your feet seems like it would be an excellent skill to have in any kind of bilateral negotiation.

Oh, I don't disagree. But it's certainly not going to convince me to vote for someone I don't like. Also, to tell the truth, I don't consider chanting "Make America great again" to be overly sharp ... but it's all a matter of opinion. And if you really want to vote for the best speaker of them all, I'd recommend Hillary. But nothing would bring you to vote for her, I suspect.

[DaveW]

 

He was the star of one of the most popular shows on TV. His debates are all unscripted, so are his pressers. He is leading the field.

He's good at it.

Mike the Situation and Snookie were the stars of one of the most popular shows on TV. Not sure what that has to do with anything.

Also, make no mistake, his presser/rallys etc are very much scripted. He just isn't smart enough to actually come up with saying anything worthwhile, anytime he is backed in a corner he just resorts to petty name calling and making grandiose claims. The same people who watch reality TV constantly are the same people who eat that **** up.

[Squirrel]

I dunno. Being able to think and speak on your feet seems like it would be an excellent skill to have in any kind of bilateral negotiation.

 

And I'd say if you went down the line the past 20-30 years, the candidates who speak best off-script are the ones American voters prefer.

 

As discussed upthread, intangibles like "sharpness" (or whatever you want to call it) seem to weigh more heavily in the decisionmaking for lots of voters (myself included) moreso than policies or resume, etc.

I'm not sure I'd qualify the hate and vile that comes out of his mouth as thinking. And anyone in this day of age who condones support from the KKK is just plain evil. And anyone who supports that person is equally horrible.

[USAFChief]

 

I'm not sure I'd qualify the hate and vile that comes out of his mouth as thinking. And anyone in this day of age who condones support from the KKK is just plain evil. And anyone who supports that person is equally horrible.

I'm no Trump fan--in fact I still don't think he'll be the R nominee--but in fairness, he in no way condoned, or endorsed support from the KKK.

 

He was asked a question about support from David Duke out of the blue.  It's unfair to any candidate, including Donald Trump, to expect him to know names like Duke off the top of his head.  Hell, I follow politics to some degree, and I have the memory of an elephant, and I didn't remember who David Duke was at first.  

 

There are a million and one legitimate reasons to bash Trump.  I don't think we need to invent more.

 

 

[stringer bell]

Thinking on one's feet might be a good quality for a candidate, but says precious little about ability to do the job. I thought the same about Jesse Ventura.

[Squirrel]

I'm no Trump fan--in fact I still don't think he'll be the R nominee--but in fairness, he in no way condoned, or endorsed support from the KKK.

 

He was asked a question about support from David Duke out of the blue.  It's unfair to any candidate, including Donald Trump, to expect him to know names like Duke off the top of his head.  Hell, I follow politics to some degree, and I have the memory of an elephant, and I didn't remember who David Duke was at first.  

 

There are a million and one legitimate reasons to bash Trump.  I don't think we need to invent more.

I still think his responses to support from those entities in our country is extremely telling. And while you might not remember who David Duke is, I would expect him to. The vile Trump spews has only emboldened those who now feel justified in causing harm.

[Squirrel]

Further, he wasn't just questioned about David Duke, he was questioned about David Duke AND the KKK, to which he claimed to not know enough about the group to disavow any support.

[DaveW]

I'm no Trump fan--in fact I still don't think he'll be the R nominee--but in fairness, he in no way condoned, or endorsed support from the KKK.

 

He was asked a question about support from David Duke out of the blue. It's unfair to any candidate, including Donald Trump, to expect him to know names like Duke off the top of his head. Hell, I follow politics to some degree, and I have the memory of an elephant, and I didn't remember who David Duke was at first.

 

There are a million and one legitimate reasons to bash Trump. I don't think we need to invent more.

They have him, on tape, talking crapaboit David Duke back in the early 2000's.

 

He knows exactly who David Duke is, just like anyone else in this country

[twinsnorth49]

 

He was the star of one of the most popular shows on TV. His debates are all unscripted, so are his pressers. He is leading the field.

He's good at it.

Says more about Trump's supporters than it does about Trump.

 

Repeatedly spewing obnoxious garbage louder than everyone else does not make someone "good at it".

 

He's good at jingoism I'll give him that, it helps that his supporters are the laughable segment of the American public that eat that **** up.

[biggentleben]

 

Thinking on one's feet might be a good quality for a candidate, but says precious little about ability to do the job. I thought the same about Jesse Ventura.

 

That said, Ventura had a successful start to his time in office. He got into office and surrounded himself with some of the brightest political minds in all of Minnesota (yeah, yeah, jokes aside). Then he started getting good national press on the job he was doing, and he started to get a big head about those press clippings, believing it was about him, not about those he was listening to, and he stopped listening to those advisors, and the rest of his time in office was less than pleasant, to say the least.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Trump is not a good orator. He appeals to the stupidest of us with insults and by feeding off misdirected anger from dumb, angry white people (who mostly built the bed they're currently sleeping in but it's easier to blame immigrants and other people).

 

Donald Trump famously said "I know words, I have all the best words." last year.

 

If that's because he goes off script, well then he should probably have someone write him a script and stick to it because that statement is ****ing hilarious. A gifted orator would never say something that absurd and just... wrong. It's a butchering of the English language and doubly so because he's speaking about his own (obviously enormous) vocabulary (words, the best ones).

 

All one has to do is listen to the clown for a few minutes and his weird, stilted, fourth grade speech to see he isn't a good orator. He's good at riling up a small segment of incredibly stupid people but that's a long way from being a gifted orator.

[Willihammer]

 

Mike the Situation and Snookie were the stars of one of the most popular shows on TV. Not sure what that has to do with anything.

Also, make no mistake, his presser/rallys etc are very much scripted. He just isn't smart enough to actually come up with saying anything worthwhile, anytime he is backed in a corner he just resorts to petty name calling and making grandiose claims. The same people who watch reality TV constantly are the same people who eat that **** up.

I'm sure his campaign writes something for him, bullet points probably, but his speech is very clearly unscripted most of the time.

[Willihammer]

 

 

Trump is not a good orator. He appeals to the stupidest of us with insults and by feeding off misdirected anger from dumb, angry white people (who mostly built the bed they're currently sleeping in but it's easier to blame immigrants and other people).

 

Donald Trump famously said "I know words, I have all the best words." last year.

 

If that's because he goes off script, well then he should probably have someone write him a script and stick to it because that statement is ****ing hilarious. A gifted orator would never say something that absurd and just... wrong. It's a butchering of the English language and doubly so because he's speaking about his own (obviously enormous) vocabulary (words, the best ones).

 

All one has to do is listen to the clown for a few minutes and his weird, stilted, fourth grade speech to see he isn't a good orator. He's good at riling up a small segment of incredibly stupid people but that's a long way from being a gifted orator.

Nobody thinks Trump is anything but low-brow but hey I like Doritos and Mountain Dew as much as steak and red wine. What I don't like are lima beans and that's what the rest of the R field is like.

[formerly33]

 

Nobody thinks Trump is anything but low-brow but hey I like Doritos and Mountain Dew as much as steak and red wine. What I don't like are lima beans and that's what the rest of the R field is like.

There's a big difference between lowbrow and idiocy, my friend. Idiocy doesn't belong in the WH any more than soft drinks belong in the WHCA Dinner.

[Willihammer]

 

There's a big difference between lowbrow and idiocy, my friend. Idiocy doesn't belong in the WH any more than soft drinks belong in the WHCA Dinner.

Trump is not dumb though.

******* and moron? Sure.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Trump is not dumb though.

******* and moron? Sure.

I think he's pretty smart, actually. And that's what is most horrifying about this situation.

 

He knows what he's doing and pulling all the right strings to do it. In this case, it means he's being the very definition of a demagogue. His entire campaign is emotion-based with little to no logic behind it.

 

Trump knows this but his followers are too damned dumb to realize it.

[Squirrel]

I think he's pretty smart, actually. And that's what is most horrifying about this situation.

 

He knows what he's doing and pulling all the right strings to do it. In this case, it means he's being the very definition of a demagogue. His entire campaign is emotion-based with little to no logic behind it.

 

Trump knows this but his followers are too damned dumb to realize it.

It's the ultimate in reality television and that's exactly how he's playing this. It's all a game to him to feed the ego. And people watch that crap rabidly and buy into it and quality falls by the wayside.

 

He might be smart, but to spew what he does with no care or concern for what happens and who he riles up, he is NOT a good person, not by a longshot.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

He might be smart, but to spew what he does with no care or concern for what happens and who he riles up, he is NOT a good person, not by a longshot.

Being smart and realizing what he's doing only makes him a worse person.

[Brock Beauchamp]

"CNN’s exit poll has Trump at 40 percent in Georgia, followed by Cruz at 24 percent and Rubio at 23 percent."

 

The GOP base continues to pull the trigger of the shotgun pointed at its own foot.

 

Yeesh.

[Brock Beauchamp]

If Trump wins the nomination, what does the GOP do with that?

 

I can't see governors and Congresspeople lining up behind the guy with any kind of enthusiasm.

 

This is going to be a catastrophe and I have to admit there's a morbid side of me that can't wait to see it play out.

 

Except the part where, when traveling abroad, I have to tell people I'm an American. That'll be even more embarrassing than usual.

[Craig Arko]

[stringer bell]

Cruz won Texas for the Repubs. Strangely, this is good news for Trump. It pretty much assures that Cruz will stay in to keep the non-Trump vote divided.

 

Rubio's moment of truth will come in Florida. Results between now and then will determine how desperate Rubio will be.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Cruz won Texas for the Repubs. Strangely, this is good news for Trump. It pretty much assures that Cruz will stay in to keep the non-Trump vote divided.

 

Rubio's moment of truth will come in Florida. Results between now and then will determine how desperate Rubio will be.

 

Cruz winning in Texas keeps him in the race which all but guarantees that Trump takes it.

[Hrbowski]

 

If Trump wins the nomination, what does the GOP do with that?

 

I can't see governors and Congresspeople lining up behind the guy with any kind of enthusiasm.

 

This is going to be a catastrophe and I have to admit there's a morbid side of me that can't wait to see it play out.

 

Except the part where, when traveling abroad, I have to tell people I'm an American. That'll be even more embarrassing than usual.

Romney will run as an Independent.