Trump

[tufty]

just because he seems certain to lose.

I really don't think it's that. For a start, I'm far from sure he's going to lose, a thought that terrifies me to the core.

I think what it is, is that he's not only alienated a huge part of the voting population from the start of the campaign, but he now seems hellbent on making sure that they will not only not be voting for him, but they will never be voting for any other GOP candidate, anywhere, ever again.

Unfortunately, this little clip is sideways, but it features a very concise statement from Trump himself.



[edit] that would have worked better if I'd included the clip. Belm.

[Darkflame]

They cant remove Trump because some people have already voted.
Early voting started already.

That said, given the campaign has been mostly negative, replacing Trump might not have been so bad. His die hards would revolt, certainly, but I suspect the majority of his voters would accept any 3rd option that stands a chance. They have the "not as bad a hillary" as their mental mantra that excuses voting for trump. As deluded as they are, its a "lesser evil" situation for them.

[gravy]

They cant remove Trump because some people have already voted.
Early voting started already.

That's not a barrier, it's a horrible complication.

[fritx]

Lol at the Beta Leftists ITT. Did the nasty Donald say some mean things? Show me on the doll where he hurt your feely-weels.

[phattslagg]

Ooh - do we have a troll? How quaint.

[pogo]

They cant remove Trump because some people have already voted.
Early voting started already.

There are ways. Mostly they need to get Trump out of the race, as if he was assassinated (now there‘s a thought...) or collapsed with a heart attack. Then they can substitute someone else, e.g. Pence who so impressed in the VP debate.

But if Trump is not going to go willingly they are stuck. They could in theory declare him unfit but on what grounds? Or if he is unfit now (which he is) then what’s different from three months ago when they made him candidate at their convention?

And anyway even if they somehow manage it it’s too late. Putting Pence in charge just creates a new set of problems, not least that Pence has to pivot rapidly away from his support for Trump, being associated more than anyone else with Trump and his policies. And an unknown number of Republican voters, motivated primarily by their support for Trump, would stay away or vote Libertarian.

It’s easier if they wait until November. Let the election run its course then Trump drops out and Pence the VP/VP designate takes over. But that only makes sense if they have a chance of winning in November, it does not help them at all with their current unelectable candidate.

[pogo]

[zip accident]

It seems to me there might be a comparison to Saville to be made.

[merman]

Trump apologised for the words, not the actions.

I'm not sure what more he could do. Fundamentally he's apologizing for being a cock. And he is a cock. Nothing will change that. Not even an apology.

He could apologise for sexually assaulting women, perhaps?
Using his fame to take advantage?
Being a misogynistic, racist bell-end?

I mean, to have to have Farage defend your actions is ridiculous.

It wasn't locker room banter. It was disgusting boasts about attacking women.

[gumboot]

Trump apologised for the words, not the actions.

I'm not sure what more he could do. Fundamentally he's apologizing for being a cock. And he is a cock. Nothing will change that. Not even an apology.

He could apologise for sexually assaulting women, perhaps?
Using his fame to take advantage?
Being a misogynistic, racist bell-end?

Well, we can't assume that he actually committed sexual assault just because he says he did, can we (and it's not exactly assault if there's consent, even if that consent is for a really lame reason).

But if he did apologise for those things, what would it fix?

[Jamesac]

This is actually a legal nightmare for the GOP. Pence is only eligible for the office of the president if Trump is first elected and is then removed from office. He isn't actually an option for presidential candidate, though. To replace Trump the Republicans would have to re-do the primaries, select a candidate, and sell him to the American public in under a month. That's not actually possible, so the train wreck just keeps on rolling.

This is a disaster for the Republicans that's going to take a long, long time to recover from, assuming it's actually possible to recover. Remember, Trump is the candidate that the people the Republicans have been chasing after for their base selected by a large margin. These people aren't going away, so the odds of anyone better going through next election are tiny. In 2012 the Republican selection of candidates during the primaries seemed like some kind of bad joke, and in 2016 it was even worse. I have no idea how this would be corrected for 2020. The odds of nominating someone equally non-electable seem high. Still, they've got four years to sort it out, and have thrown in the towel on 2016 so can get to work effective immediately.

[KlaxonCow]

Pence is absolutely no rational substitute.

Trump put him on the ticket to court the religious vote. And, accordingly, he's very much a delusional mad man of the highest order.

Pence is not only against equal marriage, he has actually called for any gay person applying for a marriage licence to be arrested. He doesn't just want to unwind gay marriage, he wants to go right back to re-criminalising homosexuality.

He has proposed that a law be introduced that if a woman has an abortion, she would be legally compelled to give the foetus a funeral. He's said that if gay people want HIV treatment, they should be forced to go on courses to "cure" them of their homosexuality.

This guy is a grade A+ religious nutjob.

The website "OnTheIssues" covers his policy stances - http://www.ontheissues.org/IN/Mike_Pence.htm - and rates him, by his voting record, as such a "hardcore conservative" that he's close to busting out the side of their diagram:



Pence is no sane replacement for Trump. He's vastly worse.

[KlaxonCow]

Well, I called it. Trump is going to destroy the Republican Party.

They can't get rid of him. He's tearing them apart - understand that when all these senior Republicans are disowning him, they are perfectly aware that they are effectively accepting defeat and giving the election away, but still infinitely prefer that to a Trump presidency.

If he loses to Clinton, then the Republicans won't have seen power for 12 years. In US history, it's rare for an incumbent President that seeks a second term not to get it, so they could well be looking at being 16 years out of power.

The demographics are already moving against them and, in 8 years' time, it'll be worse still.

Rational Republicans will be nursing their head in their hands, wondering how the fuck Trump, of all people, ever came to represent their party. They'll be forced to address the "Tea Party" problem in their midst, that they were tolerating while it brought votes to the cause. They can't ignore it after this. There'll be a major internal civil war amongst Republicans - soul-searching as to what they even stand for anymore - trying to sort this shit out.

And it's their own fault because they courted the religious to boost their numbers way back and let in this "Tea Party" / white supremacy entryism that's just been growing out of control and rotting the red half of American politics inside-out.

Sit back, grab the popcorn and watch the shitstorm gradually unfold. There's years of this perverse entertainment to come, I'm sure.

[Jamesac]

You can take out "rational" from your opening statement. He can't be substituted. It's not legal, so it's also not a concern how much of a douchenozzle he is. Pence is as valid a choice for a replacement candidate as I am, so thankfully it's not a worry.

[Darkflame]

Timeline of when various republicans abandon support:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016 ... point.html