The 2016 General Election Thread

[nate77]

So, giving this race some thought... and seeing how weak Trump is running this (fake) campaign... I imagine Cruz or Rubio would have pounded Clinton on this Clinton Foundation news. Every single opportunity that presents itself would have ad money spent on it, and fill the airwaves.

There were three situations over the weekend that were bad for Clinton... and Trump capitalized on none of them. It's absolutely inexplicable.

People that actually wanted to win, and be President... such as Cruz/Rubio/Paul/etc... I just can't imagine they would have squandered such amazing opportunities. Trump continues to behave like a person that isn't actually trying to be President. He's dropping efforts in extremely important swing states... and campaigning in the deep red states of Mississippi and Texas for some reason.

Someone explain this strategy without saying "he's waiting until later"... because that's just a baseless hope... the only hope left that anyone could possibly fathom for this behavior. In short, he's acting like a guy that donated to the Clinton Foundation.

Trump calls for special prosecutor to investigate Clinton Foundation

Donald Trump: Clinton Foundation 'Must be Shut Down' - Breitbart

Don't worry, he's got this.

He is just following the strategy that defeated 16 opponents, including your much touted Rubio, and Cruz.

 

[nate77]

Apparently there is more to running a successful campaign than spending tons of money, and running television ads.

How did having all of that big money work out for ol Jeb!?

Also, I've mentioned before, that I was down in Florida during the primaries, and even though it was constant Trump attack ads on TV, he dominated.

Think about this; since Trump is running such a frugal campaign, he won't owe any political favors to special interests, what a concept.
Maybe the days of billion dollar presidential campaigns are over.

 

[dusty88]

Trump is looking more unelectable all the time. His "unfavorable" ratings went up this summer and these numbers seem to include a lot of people who wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances. No point in him wasting money.

As for who chose him, I blame that on Republicans of recent decades. They spend like Democrats, and won't drop the social war that nearly everyone wants dropped. They continue to drop bombs all over the world. No small government. They really offer nothing other than support for gun rights (and that will drop in a heartbeat if the NRA can't provide them enough votes). While Cruz, Rubio, Bush may have been better than Trump they would have just been more of the same Republicans. And no one has enthusiasm for that.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Clinton is a significantly worse candidate than Obama, so this is particularly disappointing.

RCP average 8/23/16 vs. 8/23/12

VA: C+11.6 / O+1.4
CO: C+10.8 / O+1.0
PA: C+9.2 / O+7.4
NH: C+9.8 / O+3.5



Edit, Also:

Hillary Clinton’s historic free pass on the airwaves - Trump attacks the Democrat in the media but she’s coasted through 2016 facing almost no paid negative ads.

And since Trump has moved out, Hillary has decided to move-in:

Clinton opens campaign HQ in Utah

Trump was right about one thing: He is absolutely changing the political map.


Edit, also: Clinton plans to highlight Trump's ties to the "alt-right" in Reno speech on Thursday

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Trump is looking more unelectable all the time. His "unfavorable" ratings went up this summer and these numbers seem to include a lot of people who wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances. No point in him wasting money.

As for who chose him, I blame that on Republicans of recent decades. They spend like Democrats, and won't drop the social war that nearly everyone wants dropped. They continue to drop bombs all over the world. No small government. They really offer nothing other than support for gun rights (and that will drop in a heartbeat if the NRA can't provide them enough votes). While Cruz, Rubio, Bush may have been better than Trump they would have just been more of the same Republicans. And no one has enthusiasm for that.

Yet your candidate waves it as one of his primary platform planks. What is "social acceptance" but the social war being brought to bear from the SJW perspective? If "everyone" really wants to drop it, drop it.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Ages 68 and 70, Share Few Health Details

In case you missed it, Clinton "opened a jar of pickles" on one of the late night talk shows. That'll definitely put an end to the health rumors!

 

[T.Lex]

Trump campaigning in TX, FL, and MS. Only one of which is a battleground.

Pence, though, has 2 in PA and 2 more in NC. Both of which are.

I wonder how much coordination there is. I mean, it almost seems like Trump prefers to go where he'll be warmly received, whereas Pence is going to the strategic markets.

Regardless, RCP has HRC +16 in VA.

Oh, the main reason HRC is opening an office in UT?

Because she can.

 

[mrjarrell]

Wow, he didn't even wait till Thursday to pull his flip flops on, as had been predicted. He did it last night. There will be no mass deportations and no wall. He's going to do the same thing that Obama has been doing, (his words). LOL. He suckered the Trumpkins with that one. Given the cognitive dissonance surrounding this campaign, my guess is many will forgive him and come up with various ways to justify it. He's not even using Vaseline on them anymore.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...hat-obama-is-doing-but-with-a-lot-more-energy


[video=youtube_share;T575Pbo4eWM]http://youtu.be/T575Pbo4eWM[/video]

 

[T.Lex]

"As far as the rest, we're going to go through the process, like they are now, perhaps with a lot more energy, and we're going to do it only through the system of laws," Trump said.

That sounds kinda like amnesty/path to citizenship.

Which I'm not particularly opposed to, but that is fundamentally different than what he's said previously.

At this point, I'm not sure what difference it'll make. VERY late in the campaign to be floating these trial balloons.

 

[T.Lex]

More polling, which can be summarized as bad news for both candidates. (Yeah, that's a glass-half-empty assessment.)

UT - Trump +15. So, HRC might have a very uphill battle there. Really an indicator of how bad they dislike her there. That's bad news for Trump because he should be that high, but if she's going on the offensive there, he'll have to pay attention.

MO - Trump +1 (really a tie if you consider the MOE). I don't think MO has gone Dem since '96. That's bad news for Trump. I guess that's good news for HRC, but I try not to think about that too much. HRC can trade IA for MO and come out ahead.

 

[adws943]

Polls mean nothing.
Media is trying to get everyone to stay home and not vote.
Do you think the media lies about everything but are honest about polling data?

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Polls mean nothing.
Media is trying to get everyone to stay home and not vote.
Do you think the media lies about everything but are honest about polling data?

Aside from internet polls on news outlet websites.... the "media" doesn't conduct or determine poll results. They come from actual polling groups.

Now, if you're saying that all these polling groups are in some mass conspiracy to say Trump is losing... rather than the much more likely idea that Trump really isn't polling well...

 

[OutdoorDad]

Polls mean nothing.
Media is trying to get everyone to stay home and not vote.
Do you think the media lies about everything but are honest about polling data?

they seemed to matter in the primaries.

 

[T.Lex]

Polls mean nothing.

Do you have an internet newsletter that I can subscribe to?

Media is trying to get everyone to stay home and not vote.

Lucky for them, the 2 major parties picked candidates that almost guarantee that result.

Do you think the media lies about everything but are honest about polling data?

Couple things on this:
- While the MSM has their preferred polling groups, much of the polling is done by relatively independent groups.
- Regardless of the pollster, the actual poll questions and data are usually just a few clicks away, so we can independently gauge the "fairness" of the poll.

Going back to you original assertion, polls are indicators. Kinda like a wind vane. It can't tell you how much rain will fall, or where, but it can tell you which way the wind is blowing.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

*Trump does poorly in the polls*

"Polls mean nothing."

*Trump doesn't buy negative ads against his opponent*

"He'll do it later."

*Trump flips on some of his biggest issues (Wall, etc)*

"At least he's not Hitlary/Killary/HiLIARy!"


And you wonder why these threads can be exhausting.

 

[printcraft]

hitlary is horrible.... everybody knows it, even the media that is IN THE BAG for hitlary, there is no denying that fact.
They know she will not have a high turn out.
You really don't see the connection in the media behind trying to drive turnout DOWN for trump?
Their ONLY hope is to keep people home.... this particular election is NOT about high voter turn out, that is the last thing they want.

 

[T.Lex]

hitlary is horrible.... everybody knows it, even the media that is IN THE BAG for hitlary, there is no denying that fact.
They know she will not have a high turn out.
You really don't see the connection in the media behind trying to drive turnout DOWN for trump?
Their ONLY hope is to keep people home.... this particular election is NOT about high voter turn out, that is the last thing they want.

Where do you get the idea that the MSM doesn't want Trump? The fact that they report negative things about him? That's a bit circular.

I continue to believe the MSM would love to see Trump as POTUS. That's why they've kept him in the spotlight with an order of magnitude more coverage (they call it "earned media" in the business). Particularly his pivoting.

The low turnout is more a function of the 2 most disliked primary party candidates in living memory.

 

[printcraft]

Where do you get the idea that the MSM doesn't want Trump? ........

[video=youtube;_n5E7feJHw0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n5E7feJHw0[/video]


Come on..... they are on record colluding with the demoncrats for hitlary.... They are party before ANYTHING else.
They are the propaganda arm of the democrat party, they can say whatever they want, their jobs are safe with or without a Trump presidency.

......I continue to believe the MSM would love to see Trump as POTUS. That's why they've kept him in the spotlight with an order of magnitude more coverage (they call it "earned media" in the business). Particularly his pivoting.........

Similar thing was said of Rush Limbaugh back when george bush was elected...
The wizards of smart said that he would go away now because he no longer had bill clinton to beat up on.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Reince says if Trump stays on course, he could lead in the polls by labor day.

Priebus: Trump could lead Clinton by Labor Day | TheHill

This poll stuff just sounds like a lot of can-kicking to me. "Nah he'll be good next week... ", "Nah just you wait until next month, he'll lead then...", "Dude, didn't I say polls don't matter?"

 

[Thor]

I disbelieved the polls when they said Trump could win the nomination. I apparently was wrong. So, I should disbelieve them now when they say he can't win? Ummmm....