Discussion for article #238628
There was a time I would have laughed at such obvious satire of current politics in America. Now I just read what was written in this article, and have confirmed again what I decided a couple years ago. You add The Onion to your list of valid political info sources, because you just cannot tell the difference anymore. This reads like an article on The Onion. But it is actually a rather straight recounting of American presidential politics at the moment. Possibly eerily prescient.
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This bit of satire is quite possibly not satire, which is bloody frightening . . . unless you are a Democrat 
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I really hope this isnât the only path to the White House the author envisions for the eventual Democratic nomineeâalthough this might be the landslide scenario. There are many other ways the game could play out that would result in a Dem win as well. For one thing, Trump as a 3rd party candidate, while plausible, is unlikely.
I actually think he could win the GOP nomination. GOP voters, particularly loyalists, are incredibly herd-following in their behavior. They will all rally around the front-runner at some point, and only Trump amongst this crowd of candidates has the mojo to demand their support. These voters really respond to that kind of strongman thing. If Trump can stay ahead of the pack until April 2016, he could actually lock this thing up.
If Trump wins the nomination, he is sure to be the most divisive major party candidate in memory. Given the demographic profile of the typical Trump supporter (which mirrors the typical GOP voter), he could actually inflict more long-term damage on the GOP brand as the partyâs nominee than as a 3rd party spoiler. I just donât see him winning the general under any circumstances, so I guess any scenario under which he either wins the nomination or runs as an Independent is a big win for the Dems.
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Some of it seems true. Although, as much as I dislike the man, he has made quite a bit of money for himself. That said, it helps when you get quite a bit from the get go from your family. Even if you are able to grow it at all, which is still impressive, it is not lifting one up by their own bootstraps.
Trump is a loud mouth blowhard. Sadly, I think he is what many in the GOP base actually want. Somebody to tell it like it is with little regard for tactfulness. I am surprised about the military thing not bothering his backers, as the GOP generally love that line of attack, but it must not matter if it is not a Dem.
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No, Rump will never win the GOP nomination. Wonât happen. Even if Rinse my Prius has to rig every ballot box from here to Hawaii. Wonât happen.
But, really, it doesnât matter. Because the damage has already been done and the genie is well and truly out of the bottle. Even if Rump drops out after Labor Day, the other candidates have to try to secure his voters: the Rump Voters. They have to keep up the evil momentum that was generated by Rump and ride it all the way to the general. They canât afford to have those supporters just stay home disillusioned (please FSM, make it so). Another thing that Rump has done so well is to complete the fracturing of the GOP base.
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Normally a piece of total snark like this shouldnât be analyzed with respect to reality, but even so Dreier manages to stretch credulity beyond satire.
If events played out like he describes, there is NO way that Trump would âget sympathetic coverage from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and other rightwing radio talk showsâŚâ Fox is the propaganda and marketing arm of the Republican Party, and performs a function that Limbaugh performed on the radio before Fox was created. The head of Fox is Roger Ailes, a long-time GOP operative who cut his teeth directing Richard Nixonâs 1968 media campaign, and Ailes is a paranoid, conservative loon who regards fighting Democrats and liberals as his personal cause in life. Ailes, Limbaugh, and other conservative commentators all know that a Trump candidacy would be virtually certain to hand the Presidency to the Democratic candidate, and the notion that they would do anything but savage Trump at every turn is so stupid that itâs not remotely humorous.
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No, Rump will never win the GOP nomination. Wonât happen. Even if Rinse
my Prius has to rig every ballot box from here to Hawaii. Wonât happen.
Well, if youâre so certain, care to share your reasoning?
Because from my perspective, it is completely plausible that he could win. Sure, he insulted Gramps McCain, which is heresy among the orthodox rank-and-file. But you know whatâs even more orthodox? Winning. And if Trump can keep his nose out front long enough, those who decry him now will turn away those cold shoulders and envelop him in the warm embrace of âjust get 'er done.â This is the party of âDo whatever it takes to Win. Whatever it takes.â Scruples? Those are for losers.
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The other problem that needs correcting is that, regardless of who the other Democratic Candidate for President is, the first order of business (beyond the White House race) is control of Congress. Whoever the Democrats choose as their standard bearer, that person MUST have the ability to provide wide and long coattails across the country. Without Congress, we will have another 4 to 8 years of gridlock.
Unlike this tongue-in-cheek articleâs various premises, I truly believe that Trump has a very reasonable chance of winning the Republican nomination. Not a likely, but a reasonable chance.
Regardless of whether The Donald is the Republican candidate or he runs an independent campaign, he will not win the Presidency and will lose sufficiently or, in the alternative, siphon enough votes off of the Republican base that the Democrats do win the White House. And, thanks largely to single ticket voters (as opposed to single issue voters), the Democrats win a commanding control of Congress and the Presidency. Then the country can move forward, thanks to Donald Trump.
I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that 6 months ago, but now I truly see that scenario as realistic.Donald TrumpâŚSavior of the Democratic Party and the United States of America.
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While your scenario is the more likely of the two, I would be hesitant to so readily dismiss a freak series of events that put Trump as the Republican candidate. Dreier may have been intending a script for Jon Stewart, however he may not have estimated the control the wingnut freak crowdâs control of the Republican party.
And never, ever dismiss Roger Ailesâ uncontrollable greed instinct. He goes where the money is and, if thatâs pushing Trump that sells advertising, Ailes will dump any âloyaltyâ to the Republican Party that he ever had.
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And wouldnât that be nice, uh?
Keep at it Prof. Your Greek island is in the cards.
One question: Whenâs the foreign trip and the meet up with Putin?
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You have outlined the Republicans worst nightmare, and the logical result of Fox News and the ODS it nurtures.
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Fun. If one has another Planet to move to.
Otherwise, Trump or not, the GOP is formidable, primarily because, for most of their voters, Doing Battle for their Cause easily transfers to voting. And voting in large percentages.
To me, itâs not the idea of GOP voters being siphoned-off.
Itâs the idea of Democratic self-siphoning off.
Ralph Nader, although much more highly regarded (by myself included) than someone like Trump, DID DO something like what is suggested in this article:
Siphon-off Democratic votes
And, as a previous poster opined about the various ways that a Trump candidacy could impact the 2016 race, so are there a myriad of ways in which Democratic constituencies could either fail to show up at the Polls or (through Party ineptitude) not even be allowed to vote in the first place.
Hair Club for Men crowds.
Jokes aside, and there are plenty in this summer of bonanza, but that all boy, balding gun-buff stuff was more tea party. Iâm seeing cloth coat GOP women in the Donaldâs crowds, some giving scarily sober-ish soundbites to the mediaâŚ
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I agree regarding the mindset of the GOP. But, itâs not gonna be done with Rump as the nominee. Look, be real for moment - the RNC knows that if Rump were the nominee, the Dem nominee would be able to garner the votes of many more states than the GOP could control. If Rump insists on staying put in the race (and I think he will for a lot longer than the RNC wants), theyâll find a way to coopt him into some kind of winning strategy for their candidate. I have no doubt that Rump would love to be in the position of kingmaker.
Is that even possible? People know him as a Manhattan billionaire with behaviors potentially ranging from chimp to emperor along with the Donaldâs own occasional stops for a Communion âcrackerâ so scandal will only add to the legend.
(I love that Lindsey was on his way to see âMinionsâ when the cell story brokeâŚIâm thinking the billionaire behind ISIS might be executive producing this.)
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âAiles will dump any âloyaltyâ to the Republican Party that he ever had.â
There isnât the tiniest shred of evidence in the entire career and life of Roger Ailes to support your assertion.
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Hillary Clinton wins the White House. Otherwise I agree with all his points. The repubs want Benie to be the Dem nominee. Think about it.
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