GOP Primary Megathread III: Third Time's A Charm

[Kautharr]

But hey, Trump is totally not one of them crooked establishment politicians!

Y'know, in July, I sat with about 20 Alaskan Republicans, who included teachers, residents of Wasilla, a city councilman, and a mayor of a small Alaskan town over pizza and some beer. Trump was brought up, and immediately laughed at.

Who could elect him? We figured he was just having fun, and I lost $40 because I bet that he would be out of the race by September. I lost the bet to the one man who said Trump had a chance.

Four months later, I was in Oregon for my new job, and there I also discussed Trump. The Republicans I talked with and myself all agreed that Rubio would gain momentum, or that either Carson or Cruz could capitalize on their growing momentum. I distinctly remember saying trump will be history by January.

By the time the Iowa primaries hit, I knew Trump would likely be the nominee. Sure, Cruz had won Iowa, but at that point, the inevitable feeling that Trump would be at the helm of my party hit me, and it hit hard.

I will not vote for any Republican nominee, unless it's Kasich. The GOP, with its support for populism and xenophobia, is no longer the party I used to proudly call my own. I've gotten rid of my "Proud Elephant" beer mug.

Libertarians, here I come.

HAHAHHAHHAHAHAHA
vote for austin petersen if you go libertarian, he advocates violence against commies

The question to ask the Repubs? What about the Russian hack?

That is far worst then Hillary and the email server.

Uhm ... Benghazi! HillaryCare! Pantsuits!

and whipping on the ellen show

[Kelinfort]

Y'know, in July, I sat with about 20 Alaskan Republicans, who included teachers, residents of Wasilla, a city councilman, and a mayor of a small Alaskan town over pizza and some beer. Trump was brought up, and immediately laughed at.

Who could elect him? We figured he was just having fun, and I lost $40 because I bet that he would be out of the race by September. I lost the bet to the one man who said Trump had a chance.

Four months later, I was in Oregon for my new job, and there I also discussed Trump. The Republicans I talked with and myself all agreed that Rubio would gain momentum, or that either Carson or Cruz could capitalize on their growing momentum. I distinctly remember saying trump will be history by January.

By the time the Iowa primaries hit, I knew Trump would likely be the nominee. Sure, Cruz had won Iowa, but at that point, the inevitable feeling that Trump would be at the helm of my party hit me, and it hit hard.

I will not vote for any Republican nominee, unless it's Kasich. The GOP, with its support for populism and xenophobia, is no longer the party I used to proudly call my own. I've gotten rid of my "Proud Elephant" beer mug.

Libertarians, here I come.

HAHAHHAHHAHAHAHA
vote for austin petersen if you go libertarian, he advocates violence against commies

Uhm ... Benghazi! HillaryCare! Pantsuits!

and whipping on the ellen show

You know, people usually don't laugh when they hear their preferred party is losing voters.

[Lychgate]

You know, people usually don't laugh when they hear their preferred party is losing voters.

At this point, with so many factions and a lack of predictability in the GOP, it's hard to tell who's losing what...

[Kautharr]

HAHAHHAHHAHAHAHA
vote for austin petersen if you go libertarian, he advocates violence against commies


and whipping on the ellen show

You know, people usually don't laugh when they hear their preferred party is losing voters.

he was against trump, his vote won't matter. and petersen is a sound guy

[MolokoPlus]

You know, people usually don't laugh when they hear their preferred party is losing voters.

he was against trump, his vote won't matter. and petersen is a sound guy

If the GOP wants to win, they need the support of moderate registered Republicans such as myself.

[Diopolis]

he was against trump, his vote won't matter. and petersen is a sound guy

If the GOP wants to win, they need the support of moderate registered Republicans such as myself.

Or to build a new coalition. But "angry white guys" isn't a coalition- it's a constituency. Trump would need them to break 70% in favor of him and have 90+% turnout in order to win without the rest of the GOP coalition. That's unprecedented.

[Kelinfort]

If the GOP wants to win, they need the support of moderate registered Republicans such as myself.

Or to build a new coalition. But "angry white guys" isn't a coalition- it's a constituency. Trump would need them to break 70% in favor of him and have 90+% turnout in order to win without the rest of the GOP coalition. That's unprecedented.

Not to mention, moderate whites, Latinos, and Asians will all probably break Democratic and by a wide margin to boot.

Republicans may win less than 10% of the Latino vote.

[Diopolis]

Or to build a new coalition. But "angry white guys" isn't a coalition- it's a constituency. Trump would need them to break 70% in favor of him and have 90+% turnout in order to win without the rest of the GOP coalition. That's unprecedented.

Not to mention, moderate whites, Latinos, and Asians will all probably break Democratic and by a wide margin to boot.

Republicans may win less than 10% of the Latino vote.

Pity. I may not like the republicans very much, but I do very much prefer them to the democrats.

[Geilinor]

Or to build a new coalition. But "angry white guys" isn't a coalition- it's a constituency. Trump would need them to break 70% in favor of him and have 90+% turnout in order to win without the rest of the GOP coalition. That's unprecedented.

Not to mention, moderate whites, Latinos, and Asians will all probably break Democratic and by a wide margin to boot.

Republicans may win less than 10% of the Latino vote.

The GOP needs to reboot and develop new policies. Even with Congress and state control they haven't managed to do much and their presidential candidates are becoming toxic.

[Zurkerx]

Not to mention, moderate whites, Latinos, and Asians will all probably break Democratic and by a wide margin to boot.

Republicans may win less than 10% of the Latino vote.

The GOP needs to reboot and develop new policies. Even with Congress and state control they haven't managed to do much and their presidential candidates are becoming toxic.

That's going to take a while and as long as the crazies hold the party, that's not going to happen. It will likely take an embarrassing lost on the Presidential, Gubernatorial, and or Congressional level to achieve that.

[Lychgate]

The GOP needs to reboot and develop new policies. Even with Congress and state control they haven't managed to do much and their presidential candidates are becoming toxic.

The entire race is full of bad choices. Hillary and her email scandal, Sanders and the implications of a democratic socialist economy, Rubio, who couldn't even win his home state, Kasich, who's in it for the brokered convention, Cruz, who wants to defund pretty much everything, and...Trump.

So I was viewing Cruz's campaign page and realized this:

"LIMITED GOVERNMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND THE CONSTITUTION" dominates the "Meed Ted" page. Doesn't that technically mean that Cruz wants a limited economy? May just be my brain going crazy looking for grammar errors to correct

[Val Halla]

What exactly are Donald Trump's policies?

[MolokoPlus]

What exactly are Donald Trump's policies?

Populism lol.

[Ashlak]

What exactly are Donald Trump's policies?

Other than vague promises about making Mexico build a wall and stopping muslim immigration, I'm not sure that he has any.

[Alvecia]

What exactly are Donald Trump's policies?

Whatever will get him the most votes.

[Uxupox]

What exactly are Donald Trump's policies?

Well he promised my country something doable at least.

[Val Halla]

What exactly are Donald Trump's policies?

Other than vague promises about making Mexico build a wall and stopping muslim immigration, I'm not sure that he has any.

See, this kinda proves a lot about modern politics. If you know what to exploit in people, you don't need to try.

What exactly are Donald Trump's policies?

Well he promised my country something doable at least.

Like what?

[Gauthier]

What exactly are Donald Trump's policies?

The only ones he's stated with any coherency is "Get Rid of the Mexicans and Muslims," "Kill Daesh and their family members" and "Trade War With China".

[Kelinfort]

I've heard some saying Trump could bolt to the center once nominated and perhaps win the election that way.

It's too late. His image is tarred with the events of the past three months.

[Uxupox]

Other than vague promises about making Mexico build a wall and stopping muslim immigration, I'm not sure that he has any.

See, this kinda proves a lot about modern politics. If you know what to exploit in people, you don't need to try.

Well he promised my country something doable at least.

Like what?

A territorial advisory committee. That should improve things with us second class citizens of the United States States.

[Geilinor]

I've heard some saying Trump could bolt to the center once nominated and perhaps win the election that way.

It's too late. His image is tarred with the events of the past three months.

Romney tried to do the same thing and he didn't even go that far right compared to Trump. He was seen as a flip-flopper and he failed.

[Lychgate]

What exactly are Donald Trump's policies?

If you go to his "Issues" page on his campaign website, literally all it is is various restatements of "america great again", "i am the best leader", "build a wall", etc. Maybe we should play a game and count the number of "Make America Great Again!" references there are on Trump's website.

[Sanctissima]

I've heard some saying Trump could bolt to the center once nominated and perhaps win the election that way.

It's too late. His image is tarred with the events of the past three months.

True, but there is room to maneuver a little bit. He's already doing so, actually, and his rhetoric has been toned down slightly.

That said, you're right that he's already set his overall image. The average person is smarter than he's given credit for, and when he tries to win over moderates by edging to the center, most will remember and refuse to vote for him.

[Val Halla]

What exactly are Donald Trump's policies?

The only ones he's stated with any coherency is "Get Rid of the Mexicans and Muslims," "Kill Daesh and their family members" and "Trade War With China".

Glorious. At least you can credit parties like ukip with actually having something

[Kelinfort]

I've heard some saying Trump could bolt to the center once nominated and perhaps win the election that way.

It's too late. His image is tarred with the events of the past three months.

True, but there is room to maneuver a little bit. He's already doing so, actually, and his rhetoric has been toned down slightly.

That said, you're right that he's already set his overall image. The average person is smarter than he's given credit for, and when he tries to win over moderates by edging to the center, most will remember and refuse to vote for him.

He toned it down and I noticed what you're saying.

Then Chicago happened and he went back up to 11.