GOP Primary Megathread III: Third Time's A Charm

[Conserative Morality]

The 10 Most Important Reasons Trump Would Make a Great President

Trump believes in American exceptionalism.
Trump is tough, unafraid to flex America’s muscles, and has the backbone America needs to take on the evil growing around the world.
Trump is an experienced and tough dealmaker.
Trump is not politically correct; he’s not afraid to say what he believes and has ignited an honest debate.
Trump demands high performance and will fire anyone that doesn’t meet his high standards.
Trump is committed to education.
Trump “built that business” and many more and will run America like a business.
Trump will not balance his job as President with golf and other social events.
Trump’s loyalty will be only to America and Americans—not any political party, special interest group or foreign entity.
Trump will support American laws, the Constitution, and the nation’s borders.

1. Ironically, unexceptional in American politics.
2. You mean the evil that gets its appeal by portraying America as a meddling thug who bombs first and asks questions later, if ever?
3. lol
4. He's also apparently not afraid to say what he doesn't believe, or change what he believes, or say nothing at all.
5. As opposed to... whom?
6. Again, who is running against education?
7. Trump has run plenty of businesses into the ground, and a look at his career history will show that his skill lays in marketing, not administration.
8. ... because he'll be neglecting the presidency for them?

Trump is pretty well known for his taste for golf and social events.
9. Trump's only loyalty is and has only ever been to himself. If it were otherwise, he wouldn't have admitted to exploiting taxpayer dollars and corruption in the US system to enrich himself at our expense.
10. Except for those laws and parts of the Constitution he doesn't like, like the bill of rights, or any legislature passed in the past sixty years regarding human rights.

[Soldati Senza Confini]

The 10 Most Important Reasons Trump Would Make a Great President

Trump believes in American exceptionalism.
Trump is tough, unafraid to flex America’s muscles, and has the backbone America needs to take on the evil growing around the world.
Trump is an experienced and tough dealmaker.
Trump is not politically correct; he’s not afraid to say what he believes and has ignited an honest debate.
Trump demands high performance and will fire anyone that doesn’t meet his high standards.
Trump is committed to education.
Trump “built that business” and many more and will run America like a business.
Trump will not balance his job as President with golf and other social events.
Trump’s loyalty will be only to America and Americans—not any political party, special interest group or foreign entity.
Trump will support American laws, the Constitution, and the nation’s borders.

I can't help but notice that none of the "Top Ten Reasons" even mentions his policies. Just the same vague ideas we always get.

The only reason most people think is his image.

His image is worth whatever he thinks is worth, so it actually isn't worth shit as far as presidential character is concerned.

[Novus America]

Can you explain why we shouldn't have a wall when the drug trafficking from Mexico is epidemic?

Probably because first and foremost the image of the drug-mule border-hopping under cover of night is both wrong and reflects an ignorance of the subject, or misinformation that is both broad and deep.

Could you explain why we should let Israel have nuclear weapons, but not our much less controversial allies?

1. Israel shouldn't have nukes. Most countries shouldn't have nukes. Arguably, no countries should have nukes. But the point of Israel acquiring nukes is long past; it's a fait accompli.

2. The entire point of nuclear non-proliferation is containment. Quarantine. Stop it from spreading.

Can you explain why we should have allies who get pissed about us saying America first?

Presumably because we get pissed when France and Britain say "France/UK first!" and leave us out to dry.

The point of allies is that we're supposed to back one another up.

Can you explain why we shouldn't take steps to fix our situation with China when our jobs and money are going over their en masse and we're getting nothing but consumerist society in return?

Because our "jobs and money" aren't, contrary to popular belief, 'fleeing' to China.

Can you explain what's wrong with his tax plan?

Holy Christ. Namely that it would create an even more massive budget-imbalance focused on tax breaks for the wealthiest brackets which already get away with paying jack shit?

Actually our trade with China is fucking us.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2 ... great-idea

And nuclear non proliferation died in Crimea.

But Trump will not fix anything either.

[The Romulan Republic]

Trump has won the primaries

Could this be the end of American democracy?

The apocalypse is upon us, and America has caused it. Thanks, US presidental candidates...

I'll admit, it's been a long damn time since I've seen an overreaction like this before.

While the apocalypse comment might be a bit much, considering Donald's talk of barring people from the country based on religion and mass deportation of millions, his incitement and sympathy for political violence from his supporters, his talk of cracking down on the media and killing people for being related to terrorists, and more... fear for the future of American democracy is not unwarranted in the slightest.

Edit: Apologies for briefly forgetting the rule and engaging in political nicknaming. It is so hard to resist with that man, but I've edited it accordingly.

[Arcadian Federal Republic]

Texas should secede can't risk a Trump presidency.

I think Trump is tied with Cruz in Texas

[Republic of Tacos]

This is all fine and dandy, but what you don't realize is that people who don't like Trump, hate him. This will result in the lowest voter turnout in history, a third party candidate winning, Armageddon, the first woman president, or the USA becomes 75% middle class 20% upper class
5% fat people living off of welfare in an apartment who only leave to go buy the new video game console from GameStop, Christmas, and for food.

[Spiffier]

1. Walls simply do not work.

Then how do prisons work?

And even if Trump thinks so, Congress wouldn't back it. Not in their right minds anyways. Unless you are forgetting they're fucking stingy bastards who bitched about Obama's increases of deficit for 8 years and drove us to a fucking shutdown.

He'll get Mexico to build it by threatening to make trade a pain for them. And if Mexico's trade with us were threatened, it could plunge the country into catastrophe.

3. Because we are taking an isolationist posture not seen since post World War I. The world is not the same as it was in 1920.

And it needs to stop being Pax America. Because Pax America is not Pax America, it's a bunch of war. Our interventions are destructive, Libya shows that. We need a new global model of regional peacekeepers, America is a disaster warped by our closeness with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

4. It's not going over there en masse. You kidding me? Even by today's standards, we're getting a HUGE amount of our dollars back per every dollar we invest with the Chinese.

Percentage wise, no, we certainly do not. And a lot of what we do get back is in bonds, meaning that ultimately the money will come back to China in greater mass.

5. If you mean the tax plan on his site, he's more progressive than his adversaries, but against Democrats I think he's bound to meet a few criticisms because, as we all know, most of the power of the bag is within Congress. Even if he was elected, he's promising a lot that a lot of the right-wing lobby would never accept. The Cruz coalition in Congress would destroy him.

So we just have to stick with the conventional Republican tax plan? You have to at least try.

[Conserative Morality]

Actually our trade with China is fucking us.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2 ... great-idea

Protectionist bullshit based on an outdated view of the world economy. The benefits of free trade are well-documented

And nuclear non proliferation died in Crimea.

Woah woah woah

Did you really just escalate Crimea into a nuclear proliferation situation?

What, are we rearming the Ukraine now because Russia did basically the same thing it did in Georgia ten years ago?

[The Free Rational City of Rapture]

Texas should secede can't risk a Trump presidency.

If we didn't seceed over Obama, we won't seceed over Trump.

[Dernland]

I have a lot of mixed feelings about Trump, but I think it would be hilarious if he actually made America a better place to live and became a famous and loved president. It's unlikely, given his current ideas, but I still think it would be funny.

[Dragonia Re Xzua]

Trump has great policy, it would allow an alignment with Russia.

Why the hell would we want to align with Russia?!

Because we have better things to do than continue the proverbial "Russia is responsible for (insert random event here) because fallacy, 'Murica can do no wrong" pissing contest?

[Novus America]

http://theweek.com/speedreads/622346/some-prominent-republicans-are-burning-voter-registration-cards-rather-than-vote-donald-trump

Feel a different kind of burn, Donald.

In all fairness that tactic has never worked on him.

[The Romulan Republic]

This is all fine and dandy, but what you don't realize is that people who don't like Trump, hate him.

Pretty much.

This will result in the lowest voter turnout in history,

Doubtful. If anything, it'll inspire high turnout by Donald's supporters, and high turnout on the other side to stop him.

a third party candidate winning,

Dream on.

Armageddon,

Not in the religious sense, but I do think a Donald Presidency would substantially increase the chances of a nuclear war.

the first woman president,

Very likely, God willing.

or the USA becomes 75% middle class 20% upper class

More like 95% lower class, 5% upper class if the fascist wins.

5% fat people living off of welfare in an apartment who only leave to go buy the new video game console from GameStop, Christmas, and for food.

Nobody is living in luxury on welfare. This kind of rhetoric is a Republican lie meant to abuse and denigrate people for the "crime" of being poor, to justify cutting any government aid for them and effectively condemning many of them to a slow death from lack of housing, food, and health care.

[Conserative Morality]

Because we have better things to do than continue the proverbial "Russia is responsible for (insert random event here) because fallacy, 'Murica can do no wrong" pissing contest?

Remind me which events the US government is wrongly blaming Russia for now?

Or are you still buying the little green men Putin is selling?

[UNIverseVERSE]

"Sanders will not make any more than single digits in the polls" >Is now a viable threat to the Clinton campaign.

While I agree strongly with the view that the Democratic party should avoid assuming they have the race in the bag because Trump is the Republican nominee, I take issue with this line.

Sanders has never been in a situation where he exerted a credible threat to Clinton, throughout the entire primary season. He's been fairly successful, but his core support is quite niche, and from very early on it's been clear that he doesn't have the breakout appeal to mobilise the Democratic base in his favour. His prospects in the race are rapidly getting worse than ever: after Indiana, his necessary vote share in the remaining primaries went up, despite winning.

The highly proportional delegate allocation rules basically rule him out, and have for really quite some time. The basic issue is that he has systematically bled delegates throughout the race, and the longer that continues the more dramatic a shift is required for him to come back and win.

There would need to be an astonishing turn of events now: something like Clinton being directly implicated in causing 9/11 or whatever. That is the sort of act of God the Sanders campaign now needs to have a chance of winning.

[Novus America]

Oh, I got driven from the Republican party long before Trump. The circlejerk of jerks seeing who could go the furthest to the right drove me away. The irrational hatred for LGBT folks drove me away. The failure to follow their own principle that government should be small drove me away. The warmongering drove me away. The fact that I was constantly called a RINO because I dared not to be a Tea Partier drove me away. The unadulterated pretentiousness drove me away. The blatant disregard for the environment drove me away.

Trump is an additional straw, but the camel's back broke a long time ago. The Kasich/Pataki types gave me a small hope that the Republican party was not a lost cause, that it could find its way back to being a decent conservative option. But then America never gave Pataki even a look, and Kasich only gained the small amount of support he did by overstaying his welcome. Nope I have a few libertarian tendencies, but I'm not a libertarian. I wish my conscience would allow me to vote for someone else. It won't. The options are bad, and I have to vote for the only one I feel would do a decent job, aka Gary Johnson.

If you are against big military spending and pro-LGBT, why would you favor them over Trump?

Trump supports big military spending, and not anti-LGBT though... Funny how Trump supporters make Trump whoever they want him to be, even if he is the antithesis of that.

[Dragonia Re Xzua]

Texas should secede can't risk a Trump presidency.

Then Trump will make Texas build and pay for the wall. *nod*

[Nasjonal Regjering Norge]

Hurray! Now to see if Trump is true to his word.

[Zakuvia]

I imagine at the RNC convention, he gets up on the stage, takes off his wig, wipes off his spray tan, and loses the corny accent.

"I just want you all to know that I did this as a joke to show this country and the world exactly the kind of awful people you are for voting for me. Now that I am the confirmed Republican candidate, I am preemptively conceding my election campaign to the person you idiots know I gave money to years ago, President Hillary Clinton."

Of course, in a decently run universe he'd give it to Sanders, but hey, you gotta make do with what ya got.

[The Free Rational City of Rapture]

Texas should secede can't risk a Trump presidency.

Then Trump will make Texas build and pay for the wall. *nod*

Texas will support Trump, the only reason some is us voted for Cruz is because of State Pride.

[The Soviet German Union]

Trump isn't that bad.

I agree. For all of the liberals now going to scream: "But he is like Hitler!", please explain yourself.

[MERIZoC]

Sylvaniaa gets a major point wrong—Trump doesn't believe in American exceptionalism, or at least he doesn't believe in American superiority, the former phrase often used to refer to the latter. And that's one of the really interesting things here. No other major presidential candidate has done that for a long time. Why do I say this? Because of his slogan—"Make America Great Again." Put aside the jingoism and you notice the key word. Again. As in, it's not great now. It's not great, it's not the best, and it certainly isn't exceptional. What other candidate makes that admission? What other candidate has made that admission recently? We're losing ground to China, Mexico, he says, and people are listening. That's incredible, for a country that's been so steeped in a sense of superiority since the 1980s, at least. 10 years ago if you'd told someone that Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee they'd have laughed at you, but imagine how hard you'd be laughed at if you'd told them the Republicans, party of bloody Freedom Fries and Mission Complete, would nominate a candidate who had the balls to say America isn't great.

[Corrian]

If you want an example of how walls don't work, watch John Oliver's piece on the freaking wall and all of Trumps bullshit related to it.

[Risottia]

The worst possible thing we could do is assume we've won and half-ass this election.

The Dems are going to win the presidential elections, period.
If they're going to half-ass the elections, they will manage to lose the Congress, not the White House. IF.

make America look even more foolish and dangerous in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Well that would be still a win for ME.
/Italian

[Ranko Kanzaki]

Maybe a miracle will happen and the libertarians will win the overall election.

Normally I'd say such a thing is impossible, but it's looking to be Clinton vs Trump, so I clearly don't live in the reality I used to think I lived in, and therefore anything is possible...