How did Donald trump become a serious candidate for President?

[Horatio Parker]

Trump's disapproval rating is 67%.

I think many people are fascinated by the spectacle, but that doesn't necessarily translate into votes.

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/03/21/gop-heading-disaster-trump-unpopular-nominee.html

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...top-table-main_trumpgender835p:homepage/story

“I have some very real concerns should he become the nominee. I think it would be catastrophic for our party,” said GOP strategist Katie Packer, who leads the Our Principles PAC, an anti-Trump super PAC. “Half of the reason why I’m fighting so hard to stop Donald Trump is because I think he’s a walking, talking stereotype of a sexist misogynistic pig.”

Polling shows Trump sliding among women in recent months, hurting the GOP’s already shaky position with that demographic. Trump’s favorability numbers have decreased 10 points among women nationwide since November, to 23 percent, while his unfavorable number among women has jumped to 75 percent from 64 percent, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll taken this month.
The changes among men have been less pronounced, with 37 percent now favorable and 59 percent unfavorable. In the states that have voted so far, Trump received an average of 41 percent of the male vote and 34 percent of the female vote.

-----


He might well win the GOP primary, but doesn't look like he's going to be a general election winner at all.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Trump's disapproval rating is 67%.

I think many people are fascinated by the spectacle, but that doesn't necessarily translate into votes.

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/03/21/gop-heading-disaster-trump-unpopular-nominee.html

Kind of like Charlie Sheen's tour when he went bonkers. It was pretty cool to watch until you had to pay for it.

- - - Updated - - -

It really isn't hard to understand if you actually talk to people who live in the middle of the country.

Couple of streams

1. Government is broken on the left and right and is unresponsive to the needs of huge swaths of Americans. This also includes the all forms of mainstream media. These people see themselves as left behind, Trump speaks to that anger.

2. Some people are REALLY sick of the political correctness around many issues. They see Trump as the ultimate troll of the political establishment and press.

3. Some people are supporting Trump because he seems like a giant bomb to blow apart the political establishment in the hope that what comes out of it will be more libertarian vs authoritarian instead of this phony left vs right.

4. Some people just want to put breaks on "progress for the sake of progress" and would like to get back to more traditional values.

Trumps popularity has nothing to do with ideas or policy, it is complete political revenge on the establishment. The funny thing is that once Sanders goes away, you will see some Sanders voters voting for Trump....

I am sure people here completely HATE Milo Yiannopoulus but
he actually explains why people support Trump in this video:


Honestly, the left is as equally guilty as the right in creating Trump.

Ummm... whatever dude. You can feel free to demonstrate that ridiculous point.

 

[untermensche]

Trump is winning in the Republican primaries with Republican primary voters.

That is far from being a "serious" candidate.

He is winning the primaries. How is that not the very definition of a serious candidate?

My definition of a serious candidate is one with serious policies.

Not flying by the seat of your pants and making it all up as you go.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

It's the inevitable result of the GOP/conservative hardliner's mentality. Regardless of whether they wanted someone like Trump to begin with, he was going to happen because their idea of how a society should work is fundamentally oppressive. Couple that with people like Bill O'Reilly or Glenn Beck spewing their nonsense, you're going to get someone like Trump, eventually.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Trumps popularity has nothing to do with ideas or policy, it is complete political revenge on the establishment. The funny thing is that once Sanders goes away, you will see some Sanders voters voting for Trump....

...

Honestly, the left is as equally guilty as the right in creating Trump.

One of these days you will realize you over-compensate for a perceived left bias in your mind. The left is not equally guilty for creating Trump.

 

[credoconsolans]

How did it happen? 12 months ago the thought would have crazy....wouldn't it?

People are stupid,

 

[Tristan Scott]

Rubio was right, Trump is just conning his way to the nomination. Megan Kelly nailed it (for once in her entire life) when she pointed out that he has been using a tactic that he espouses in his book The Art of the Deal in which he tells his mark exactly what he wants to hear even though he has no intention of following through.

People voting for Trump may not be generally stupid, but stupid people are generally voting for Trump.

I don't think he'll win, but I do find his support disturbing.

 

[coloradoatheist]

Rubio was right, Trump is just conning his way to the nomination. Megan Kelly nailed it (for once in her entire life) when she pointed out that he has been using a tactic that he espouses in his book The Art of the Deal in which he tells his mark exactly what he wants to hear even though he has no intention of following through.

People voting for Trump may not be generally stupid, but stupid people are generally voting for Trump.

I don't think he'll win, but I do find his support disturbing.

So in other words, he is out politicianing the other politicians?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

How did it happen? 12 months ago the thought would have crazy....wouldn't it?

People are stupid,

People were just as stupid 4 years ago. This seems more like a perfect storm of an Establishment without any old school or new school talent.

 

[RVonse]

It really isn't hard to understand if you actually talk to people who live in the middle of the country.

Couple of streams

1. Government is broken on the left and right and is unresponsive to the needs of huge swaths of Americans. This also includes the all forms of mainstream media. These people see themselves as left behind, Trump speaks to that anger.

2. Some people are REALLY sick of the political correctness around many issues. They see Trump as the ultimate troll of the political establishment and press.

3. Some people are supporting Trump because he seems like a giant bomb to blow apart the political establishment in the hope that what comes out of it will be more libertarian vs authoritarian instead of this phony left vs right.

4. Some people just want to put breaks on "progress for the sake of progress" and would like to get back to more traditional values.

Trumps popularity has nothing to do with ideas or policy, it is complete political revenge on the establishment. The funny thing is that once Sanders goes away, you will see some Sanders voters voting for Trump....

I am sure people here completely HATE Milo Yiannopoulus but
he actually explains why people support Trump in this video:


Honestly, the left is as equally guilty as the right in creating Trump.

+1

Especially this part:

The funny thing is that once Sanders goes away, you will see some Sanders voters voting for Trump....

As both a member of the United Auto Workers and also the United Steel Workers, I'm one of them. If/when Sanders loses his nomination, I intend to stop contributing to the democratic party and start voting for Trump. What is interesting is that Sanders seems to hate Trump even though as far as I'm concerned their platforms are nearly the same. I hate Hillary. She's a self centered crook and a phony who will bring nothing except more corrupt trade agreements and banker bailouts for the uber rich.

Trump OTOH is not in the back pocket of anyone and has a small chance of bringing back good jobs to America. And for the record, I could care less what the media thinks of him, its what gets done in Washington or not done that counts.

 

[RVonse]

American Crime Family Advances On The White House — Paul Craig Roberts : http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/201...vances-on-the-white-house-paul-craig-roberts/


Has any American previously been able to run for the presidential nomination while being under investigation by the FBI for security violations? That Hillary Clinton so easily escapes accountability indicates the immunity of those who serve the deep state.

And serve the deep state the Clintons certaintly do as is indicated by the $153 million in “speaking fees”—read bribes and payoffs—that CNN and Fox News report the Clintons have been paid by Wall Street, the mega-banks, and corporate America. This sum does not include campaign donations or donations to the Clintons’ foundation. http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/05/politics/hillary-clinton-bill-clinton-paid-speeches/

Mike Loftgren defines the deep state as the powerful private interest groups (the One Percent) and the more or less permanent personnel who comprise the One Percent’s operatives in the government.

Despite the appearance of blatant corruption, Hillary is in the lead for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Either American voters are inured to political corruption or something else is going on. Stephen Lendman reports that Hillary, aided and abeted by the Democratic Party and election officials, is “winning” primaries through fraud.

Here is Lendman’s account:

Clinton Stole Arizona Primary

by Stephen Lendman

America’s political process is too corrupted to fix, election rigging commonplace throughout the nation’s history.

Power brokers control things. Ordinary people have no say whatever, voting a waste of time, why half the electorate usually opts out.

Clinton is heading toward gaining the Democrat party nomination with considerable electoral fraud help. Sanders appears being denied what he might win if the process was fair and square.

 

[Toni]

Trump OTOH is not in the back pocket of anyone and has a small chance of bringing back good jobs to America. And for the record, I could care less what the media thinks of him, its what gets done in Washington or not done that counts.

Then why hasn't he already brought good jobs back to America already? You would think this would be a prominent feature of his campaign. He is immensely wealthy (so he says) and aren't the wealthy the real job creators? How many jobs has Trump created in the past 5 years? How many jobs still remain of those, if any, that he created? If he hasn't created jobs with his already immense wealth, what makes anyone think that being president would change his level of effectiveness in jobs creation? In fact, since wealth creates jobs, not government, why does The Donald want to be in government, which everyone, especially The Donald knows is ineffective at jobs creation? He wants to be less effective?

Does anyone think Trump will be able to get along with Congress enough to enact any legislation? Seriously. More and more prominent Republicans are denouncing him, even if they have to hold their noses and swallow gallons of bile and endorse Cruz as a more palatable and reasonable alternative. Who will side with Trump? Will The Donald have any power other than to say NO?


What is Trump's actual record on paying his employees and contractors? What's his actual record on paying taxes he owes? What is his actual record on hiring and what sort of compensation does he offer employees? How many of his businesses have failed and how many have succeeded (to date)? Exactly how much did he pay for the current Mrs. Trump?

 

[RVonse]

Then why hasn't he already brought good jobs back to America already?

In his present position, he has no control over US trade policy. The best he could do was keep Manhattan real estate alive which he did.

You would think this would be a prominent feature of his campaign. He is immensely wealthy (so he says) and aren't the wealthy the real job creators? How many jobs has Trump created in the past 5 years?

A LOT of jobs. MIDDLE CLASS contruction trades jobs. Yes I will agree Donald was born into wealth. But he was born into Tom Cruise wealth and has turned that kind of wealth into WalMart billionaire kind of wealth. He is currently married to a drop dead gorgeous wife, has a stable family, and not into any kind of crime trouble that I know of. Every part of his life exudes success. America needs a successful leader before it goes into the night. Here is a rather long but impartial utube detailing Donalds history and it validates what I have just said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cga...ptVo_OvWwSDIhiriooMCOtvESafYWyBz2tUtJ12lo8ppQ

Who will side with Trump?

The people like myself who are going to vote for Donald who are sick of what goes on with our government. The same people who thought Obama was going to give "us change" and then did his best to fill his cabinet with banking cronies. The same people who are going to clean out the rest of congress if it does not go along.

What is Trump's actual record on paying his employees and contractors? What's his actual record on paying taxes he owes? What is his actual record on hiring and what sort of compensation does he offer employees? How many of his businesses have failed and how many have succeeded (to date)? Exactly how much did he pay for the current Mrs. Trump?

Most of those question are detailed in the above historical video. But it will be enough for me just not to have Hillary who we are 100% certain is a corrupted official in the pockets of special interests and not interested in making America great again.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

It's true that Hillary is not a great choice, that she's a criminal and a conniver, a constant triangulator and phony. But Trump is not an acceptable alternative. When he was in elementary school he was expelled for his misbehaviors and ended up going to military school. Without structure he misbehaves still, he's a schoolyard bully and using schoolyard tactics to bring the lowest common denominator to Washington, DC. Nor does he have a platform like Bernie Sanders. I mean, come on, he claims to think climate change is a hoax, wants to ban Muslims from coming to the US, and wants to define marriage as between a man and a woman. He is a totally different person. He's not anti-establishment, he's just willing to sell his lack of knowledge as a strength while spitballing at everyone else.

 

[AdamWho]

Trumps popularity has nothing to do with ideas or policy, it is complete political revenge on the establishment. The funny thing is that once Sanders goes away, you will see some Sanders voters voting for Trump....

...

Honestly, the left is as equally guilty as the right in creating Trump.

One of these days you will realize you over-compensate for a perceived left bias in your mind. The left is not equally guilty for creating Trump.

This is not about me.

If you don't think that over the top political correctness and the constant droning of "progress for progress sake" isn't turning off huge numbers of Americans and driving them into places like the Alt Right then you simply are not listening.

Trump will eventually lose to Clinton but I think Trumps success is an indication of some big political changes. We only the left should enjoy our success and not be arrogant jerks about them.

 

[AdamWho]

The funny thing is that once Sanders goes away, you will see some Sanders voters voting for Trump....

As both a member of the United Auto Workers and also the United Steel Workers, I'm one of them. If/when Sanders loses his nomination, I intend to stop contributing to the democratic party and start voting for Trump. What is interesting is that Sanders seems to hate Trump even though as far as I'm concerned their platforms are nearly the same. I hate Hillary. She's a self centered crook and a phony who will bring nothing except more corrupt trade agreements and banker bailouts for the uber rich.

Many people (including the media) just cannot wrap their heads around why people are upset. They live on the coasts, are well educated and generally are doing well. They see the political beliefs they learned in college parroted in the media and by political leaders and think everything is great. However, in the middle of the country and the south they see a giant betrayal by "the establishment".

The "establishment" calls these people stupid, racist or whatever and then wonders why they don't vote the way they are told to.


***

Can anybody remember when us atheists were the bad guys? We relished when all the traditionalists called us names because we had the better argument.... and atheists/secularists have won the battle. Ever notice how often people with dissenting (yet factual) comments here get called names... yet nobody seems able to refute them. Please don't become an echo chamber.

 

[scombrid]

As both a member of the United Auto Workers and also the United Steel Workers, I'm one of them. If/when Sanders loses his nomination, I intend to stop contributing to the democratic party and start voting for Trump. What is interesting is that Sanders seems to hate Trump even though as far as I'm concerned their platforms are nearly the same. I hate Hillary. She's a self centered crook and a phony who will bring nothing except more corrupt trade agreements and banker bailouts for the uber rich.

I get your point about Hillary but why would you expect Trump to be at all better for unions/labor?

Trump OTOH is not in the back pocket of anyone and has a small chance of bringing back good jobs to America.

Rick Scott self funded too. His time in Florida has been spent getting his investment back and further selling out Florida to a handful of big companies. Crooked as hell. Self funding is not an automatic qualifier.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

It really isn't hard to understand if you actually talk to people who live in the middle of the country.

Couple of streams

1. Government is broken on the left and right and is unresponsive to the needs of huge swaths of Americans. This also includes the all forms of mainstream media. These people see themselves as left behind, Trump speaks to that anger.

2. Some people are REALLY sick of the political correctness around many issues. They see Trump as the ultimate troll of the political establishment and press.

3. Some people are supporting Trump because he seems like a giant bomb to blow apart the political establishment in the hope that what comes out of it will be more libertarian vs authoritarian instead of this phony left vs right.

4. Some people just want to put breaks on "progress for the sake of progress" and would like to get back to more traditional values.

Trumps popularity has nothing to do with ideas or policy, it is complete political revenge on the establishment. The funny thing is that once Sanders goes away, you will see some Sanders voters voting for Trump....

I am sure people here completely HATE Milo Yiannopoulus but
he actually explains why people support Trump in this video:


Honestly, the left is as equally guilty as the right in creating Trump.

Excellent post.

I don't intend to support Trump, but I do really like the effect he's having on everyone. He is a disruption, and our political process needs a major disruption. I do like Sanders, and he is also a disruption, just not quite as big a disruption.

 

[Tristan Scott]

If you don't think that over the top political correctness and the constant droning of "progress for progress sake" isn't turning off huge numbers of Americans and driving them into places like the Alt Right then you simply are not listening.

Most people I know who complain about "political correctness" are responding to criticism of their use of racial slurs, sexist remarks, etc. As far as Im concerned they can stay on the right.

Trump will eventually lose to Clinton but I think Trumps success is an indication of some big political changes. We only the left should enjoy our success and not be arrogant jerks about them.

I agree, the republican party will improve eventually because of Trump. He saw them as ripe for the picking, and that was their doing. I think their leadership will figure that out, eventually.