The Art of the Donald Trumpocalypse

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:10 am

Isgrimnur wrote:Who will help those senators most at risk during the Trumpocalype? George W. Bush

Bush's office confirms that at the event for McCain, the former president stressed the importance of preserving the Republican-held Senate as a "check and balance" on the White House - a check Bush believes would be needed whether the next president is Trump or Hillary Clinton.

So...if it appears that Hillary is waning and Trump could get elected, we can expect W to start stumping for the Dems in the races?

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:13 am

Trump and his campaign manager just parted ways.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:15 am

You know what will really put him over the top? "Parting ways" with his campaign manager:

Donald J. Trump is parting ways with his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, a move that comes as the presumptive Republican nominee faces challenges as he moves toward the general election.
...
Mr. Trump had faced increasing concerns from allies and donors, as well as his children, about the next phase of the campaign as he pivots toward a general election.
...
One person briefed on the moves, who asked not to be identified, said the campaign had long planned adjustments to the needs of a general election campaign.
...
Mr. Lewandowki’s departure comes after weeks of infighting between loyalists to Mr. Lewandowski and Paul Manafort, a veteran Republican operative hired in March by Mr. Trump. The skirmishing repeatedly drew outside attention to the problems within the campaign and created a distraction for members of its staff.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:43 am

Well, that will be about 3% of his staff gone.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 12:19 pm

A high turnover rate is a hallmark of a great businessman.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 12:24 pm

hepcat wrote:A high turnover rate is a hallmark of a great businessman.

Or an effective waitstaff, really.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 2:03 pm

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 3:48 pm

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 3:57 pm

Did he do it from his old NBC Studio desk on film with his children standing behind him?

Did security escort him to a limo while he was interviewed?

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 3:59 pm

Security did walk him out, so there's that.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:01 pm

Ultimatums

Paul Manafort, the veteran operative who since March has been amassing influence inside Trump HQ, recently telegraphed through third parties he would be gone in 48 hours if Trump didn’t oust Lewandowski, who'd run his campaign from the outset. Manafort was fed up with battling Lewandowski and let the campaign know the two of them "just couldn't get along."

From there, it became a family affair. Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner didn’t want to lose Manafort, believing him to be the more experienced hand to guide the campaign into the general election.

They convinced Trump to keep him – and the only way to do that, given Manafort’s terms, was to dump Lewandowski.
...
Reached on Monday by The Associated Press, Lewandowski deflected any criticism of his approach, pointing instead to Manafort.

"Paul Manafort has been in operational control of the campaign since April 7. That's a fact," Lewandowski said, declining to elaborate on his dismissal.

In a subsequent interview with CNN, Lewandowski repeatedly said he didn’t know why he was fired. But he said working for the campaign was “an honor and a privilege” and he “wouldn’t change one second.” He also claimed there was no animosity in the relationship with Manafort.

A person close to Trump told the AP that Lewandowski was forced out largely because of his poor relationship with the Republican National Committee and GOP officials.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:35 pm

This totally sounds like a sane way to run *anything*. I can only imagine that somewhere Paul Ryan is failing to killing himself in wacky ways a la Better Off Dead.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 5:09 pm

3% of his staff just resigned

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 5:22 pm

He surrounds himself with the best people, really top-notch people, you just can't find better people. It's amazing.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:03 pm

Max Peck wrote:

Trump escorts are the biggest, most tasteful escorts possible.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:44 pm

Judge in Trump case supports crap beer.

Deport him back to Indiana, where he can drink Midwestern craft brews until he develops an appreciation for good beer.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:11 pm

AWS260 wrote:Judge in Trump case supports crap beer.

Deport him back to Indiana, where he can drink Midwestern craft brews until he develops an appreciation for good beer.

Being Mex'can, he probably prefers Corona.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:31 pm

tgb wrote:
AWS260 wrote:Judge in Drumpf case supports crap beer.

Deport him back to Indiana, where he can drink Midwestern craft brews until he develops an appreciation for good beer.
Being Mex'can, he probably prefers Corona.

He is trying to fit in - definitely Bud Light Lime. The poor bastard.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:00 am

No comments on the Brit that tried to grab a cop's gun because he was "going to kill Trump"?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:16 am

1964 LBJ TV ad: "Confessions of a Republican"

...

Sometimes, I wish I'd been at that convention at San Francisco. I mean, I wish I'd been a delegate, I really do. I would have fought, you know. I wouldn't have worried so much about party unity because if you unite behind a man you don't believe in, it's a lie. I tell you, those people who got control of that convention: Who are they? I mean, when the head of the Ku Klux Klan, when all these weird groups come out in favor of the candidate of my party — either they're not Republicans or I'm not.

I've thought about just not voting at this election, just staying home — but you can't do that, that's saying you don't care who wins, and I do care. I think my party made a bad mistake in San Francisco, and I'm going to have to vote against that mistake on the third of November.

Clinton should put this one back on the air.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:22 am

Holman wrote:1964 LBJ TV ad: "Confessions of a Republican"

...

Sometimes, I wish I'd been at that convention at San Francisco. I mean, I wish I'd been a delegate, I really do. I would have fought, you know. I wouldn't have worried so much about party unity because if you unite behind a man you don't believe in, it's a lie. I tell you, those people who got control of that convention: Who are they? I mean, when the head of the Ku Klux Klan, when all these weird groups come out in favor of the candidate of my party — either they're not Republicans or I'm not.

I've thought about just not voting at this election, just staying home — but you can't do that, that's saying you don't care who wins, and I do care. I think my party made a bad mistake in San Francisco, and I'm going to have to vote against that mistake on the third of November.
Clinton should put this one back on the air.

After the convention, though. She doesn't want to encourage a potentially successful convention establishment revolt that could put someone like Kasich on the ticket instead, who would stand a much better chance at beating her (though he's be starting behind the eight ball at that point).

Speaking of which, what are the odds that the RNC manages to stop Trump at the convention? Seems astonishingly unlikely (and the consequences seem unpredictable and dire), but there's a ton of buzz about it lately.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:23 am

GreenGoo wrote:No comments on the Brit that tried to grab a cop's gun because he was "going to kill Trump"?

I despise Trump, but I'm definitely glad the attempt failed. Even he doesn't deserve to die for his stances, and political violence harms the whole system.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:29 am

Holman wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:No comments on the Brit that tried to grab a cop's gun because he was "going to kill Trump"?
I despise Trump, but I'm definitely glad the attempt failed. Even he doesn't deserve to die for his stances, and political violence harms the whole system.

It's hard to call it a "real" attempt, although it was real in that the dude would have followed through if he could have. They say he was "planning" it for a year. Considering his plan was to walk up to a cop and take his gun away then use it to kill Trump. Logistics ain't his speciality, sounds like.

It's annoying, because it gives Trump and his followers something to rally around while at the same time was hardly more than the scuffles that normally surround Trump rallies.

It goes without saying that I would prefer Trump not be killed. Or even winged.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:30 am

El Guapo wrote: Speaking of which, what are the odds that the RNC manages to stop Trump at the convention? Seems astonishingly unlikely (and the consequences seem unpredictable and dire), but there's a ton of buzz about it lately.

The buzz is wishful thinking. It would be the Establishment directly opposing the clear will of the voters, and it would guarantee a backlash that would do even more damage than having Trump at the top of the ticket. The base went for Trump in a big way, and they're not going to roll over and let a Romney/Kasich ticket replace him.

I think the RNC is just going to try to ride out Trump's loss while praying to keep the Senate. The House is safe for them.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:31 am

Holman wrote:
El Guapo wrote: Speaking of which, what are the odds that the RNC manages to stop Trump at the convention? Seems astonishingly unlikely (and the consequences seem unpredictable and dire), but there's a ton of buzz about it lately.
The buzz is wishful thinking.

Agreed.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:30 am

Holman wrote:
El Guapo wrote: Speaking of which, what are the odds that the RNC manages to stop Trump at the convention? Seems astonishingly unlikely (and the consequences seem unpredictable and dire), but there's a ton of buzz about it lately.
The buzz is wishful thinking. It would be the Establishment directly opposing the clear will of the voters, and it would guarantee a backlash that would do even more damage than having Trump at the top of the ticket. The base went for Trump in a big way, and they're not going to roll over and let a Romney/Kasich ticket replace him.

I think the RNC is just going to try to ride out Trump's loss while praying to keep the Senate. The House is safe for them.

So much this. The rank and file would rise up and I suspect we'd have insurrection, the likes of which hasn't been seen since Chicago '68.

You know how to tell if you're toxic? When even Putin backs away.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 12:04 pm

Holman wrote:The base went for Trump in a big way

To be fair, for most of the primary season, 60-70% of the base went for !Trump.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 12:08 pm

tgb wrote:
Holman wrote:
El Guapo wrote: Speaking of which, what are the odds that the RNC manages to stop Trump at the convention? Seems astonishingly unlikely (and the consequences seem unpredictable and dire), but there's a ton of buzz about it lately.
The buzz is wishful thinking. It would be the Establishment directly opposing the clear will of the voters, and it would guarantee a backlash that would do even more damage than having Trump at the top of the ticket. The base went for Trump in a big way, and they're not going to roll over and let a Romney/Kasich ticket replace him.

I think the RNC is just going to try to ride out Trump's loss while praying to keep the Senate. The House is safe for them.
So much this. The rank and file would rise up and I suspect we'd have insurrection, the likes of which hasn't been seen since Chicago '68.

You know how to tell if you're toxic? When even Putin backs away.

I am inclined to think that it is wishful thinking as well. But I am curious whether there will be an effort, even if it's ultimately doomed. Also, if the bottom completely falls out for Trump before Cleveland (which is the current trajectory), I wonder if it might actually get serious consideration, on the ground that it could only get so much worse.

I imagine Kasich / Romney would be a non-starter, but might they try to sell convention delegates on someone mildly less crazy, like Cruz? Though I have to keep reminding myself how much everyone viscerally hates Cruz. Maybe they could travel to an alternate convention and draft Bizarro Elizabeth Warren.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 12:08 pm

Donald Trump Starts Summer Push With Crippling Money Deficit

Donald J. Trump enters the general election campaign laboring under the worst financial and organizational disadvantage of any major party nominee in recent history, placing both his candidacy and his party in political peril.

Mr. Trump began June with just $1.3 million in cash on hand, a figure more typical for a campaign for the House of Representatives than the White House. He trailed Hillary Clinton, who raised more than $28 million in May, by more than $41 million, according to reports filed late Monday night with the Federal Election Commission.

He has a staff of around 70 people — compared with nearly 700 for Mrs. Clinton — suggesting only the barest effort toward preparing to contest swing states this fall. And he fired his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, on Monday, after concerns among allies and donors about his ability to run a competitive race.

The Trump campaign has not aired a television advertisement since he effectively secured the nomination in May and has not booked any advertising for the summer or fall. Mrs. Clinton and her allies spent nearly $26 million on advertising in June alone, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, pummeling Mr. Trump over his temperament, his statements and his mocking of a disabled reporter. The only sustained reply, aside from Mr. Trump’s gibes at rallies and on Twitter, has come from a pair of groups that spent less than $2 million combined.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 12:12 pm

RunningMn9 wrote: To be fair, for most of the primary season, 60-70% of the base went for !Trump.

I wish "!Trump" was his presidential logo/slogan. I can see it now:

'We need a catchy logo"

"Why don't we use what Bush used, your name with a loud exclamation mark"

"I like it. But we should make it better. Hey, I know, why don't we move the exclamation mark to the start, so it's the first thing people see, and they'll know that it's going to be exciting and better than anyone else, believe me, we'll be more exciting and louder than everyone! We'll be so loud you won't be able to hear anyone else!"

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 12:16 pm

Defiant wrote:
RunningMn9 wrote: To be fair, for most of the primary season, 60-70% of the base went for !Trump.
I wish "!Trump" was his presidential logo/slogan. I can see it now:

'We need a catchy logo"

"Why don't we use what Bush used, your name with a loud exclamation mark"

"I like it. But we should make it better. Hey, I know, why don't we move the exclamation mark to the start, so it's the first thing people see, and they'll know that it's going to be exciting and better than anyone else, believe me, we'll be more exciting and louder than everyone! We'll be so loud you won't be able to hear anyone else!"

That sort of punctuation is probably too "mexican" for Trump.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:03 pm

It's still early, but my gut is that Trump is screwed.

Last election cycle (Romney/Obama) was probably the deepest I've ever delved into campaign strategy, statistics, and ground games. My take-away from that outcome was that underlying basics still do a pretty damn good job of predicting outcome. When you look past the media hype and the click-bait shock polls, the data typically doesn't lie. Nate Silver even had a great article about how despite everyone (including himself) underestimating Trump, if they had actually followed the polls they should have seen it coming.

Trump's meteoric rise may be shocking, and it may be in some ways unprecedented, but I don't think he can just erase decades of proven campaign fundamentals. And one of the biggest fundamentals is that the candidate who spends the most usually wins. The candidate who plays the best ground game usually wins. Hillary's got Trump on the ropes in both departments. Trump has made a career of style over substance, but that can only take you so far.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:09 pm

YellowKing wrote:It's still early, but my gut is that Trump is screwed.

Last election cycle (Romney/Obama) was probably the deepest I've ever delved into campaign strategy, statistics, and ground games. My take-away from that outcome was that underlying basics still do a pretty damn good job of predicting outcome. When you look past the media hype and the click-bait shock polls, the data typically doesn't lie. Nate Silver even had a great article about how despite everyone (including himself) underestimating Trump, if they had actually followed the polls they should have seen it coming.

Trump's meteoric rise may be shocking, and it may be in some ways unprecedented, but I don't think he can just erase decades of proven campaign fundamentals. And one of the biggest fundamentals is that the candidate who spends the most usually wins. The candidate who plays the best ground game usually wins. Hillary's got Trump on the ropes in both departments. Trump has made a career of style over substance, but that can only take you so far.

When discussing Trump in the general people often say something like "well, no one thought he could win the primary, so we can't dismiss his chances in the general." But this is a very different situation, since as you note the data supported Trump's chances from the very beginning. So there the situation was pundits widely dismissing those poll numbers, especially early, figuring that it was driven by name recognition and that his support in the polls were thin, and so that the support would evaporate as less well known candidates campaigned and as Trump screwed up. Only it turned out that didn't happen.

Here, Trump's numbers in the general have pretty much always been bad. He did draw close to parity with Clinton shortly after he won the republican primary while Clinton was in the toughest part of her fight with Sanders (which also happened with McCain and Obama in 2008). But the fundamentals in the data / polls have always strongly supported Clinton (and that's before factoring in that Clinton has a professional campaign while Trump has a dumpster fire).

So it's really hard to find support for the proposition that Trump has a chance. His only real shot is a black swan event (such as Clinton getting indicted).

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:13 pm

America got drunk last night and went home with the loudest girl at the party. We're waking up this morning though and realizing that she's irritating as hell.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:21 pm

That (I think wrongly) implies that Trump Supporters are being turned off by Trump.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:25 pm

Sorry, that wasn't a metaphor. America really did get drunk last night and went home with Brittany's sister, Luanne. God, she's annoying.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 3:03 pm

Pandering to the religious right:

Donald Trump won a standing ovation from hundreds of Christian conservatives who came to New York City Tuesday with a skeptical but willing attitude toward a man who has divided their group with comments on women, immigrants and Islam. In his comments the presumptive GOP nominee vowed to end the decades-old ban on tax-exempt groups’ – including churches — politicking, said religious liberty is “the #1 question,” and said he’d appoint anti-abortion Supreme Court justices.

“I think maybe that will be my greatest contribution to Christianity — and other religions, is to allow you, when you talk religious liberty, to go and speak openly and if you like somebody or want somebody to represent you, you should have the right to do it,” Trump said. A ban was put in place by Lyndon Johnson on tax-exempt groups making explicit political endorsements. Religious leaders in America today, Trump said, “are petrified.”

As president, he said, he’d work on things including: “freeing up your religion, freeing up your thoughts. You talk about religious liberty and religious freedom, you don’t have any religious freedom if you think about it,” he told the group, which broke in many times with applause.

Throughout the talk Trump emphasized that America was hurting for what he described as Christianity’s slide to become “weaker, weaker, weaker.” He said he’d get department store employees to say “Merry Christmas” and would fight restrictions on public employees such as public school coaches from being allowed to lead sectarian prayer on the field.

The audience included leaders and founders of many segments of the Christian Right, the evangelical movement that began in the 1970’s under people including the late Jerry Falwell. Among those present and involved in the program Tuesday were Focus on the Family founder James Dobson (who is no longer with that group), former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed and evangelist Franklin Graham (son of evangelical icon Billy Graham).

While polls show that the majority of white evangelicals — who make up about a fifth of the country — are favorable towards Trump, his campaign has bitterly divided Christian conservatives in general. Those who oppose him do so strongly, and later Tuesday a separate group of conservatives — including leading evangelicals — were meeting to strategize about a possible third candidate. Some leading Christian conservatives used the meeting to speak out against Trump and his comments about immigrants, women, Muslims and others.

“This meeting marks the end of the Christian Right,” Michael Farris, a national homeschooling pioneer and longtime figure of the Christian right, wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday. He noted that he was present at the first gathering of the Moral Majority in 1980. “The premise of the meeting in 1980 was that only candidates that reflected a biblical worldview and good character would gain our support..Today, a candidate whose worldview is greed and whose god is his appetites (Philippians 3) is being tacitly endorsed by this throng..This is a day of mourning.”

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 3:12 pm

I wonder how many names of sales clerks who said "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" I'll have to supply the Ministry of Glad Tidings before I'll get the Letter of Transit that will allow me to rejoin my family in Sector R.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 3:30 pm

Wow. I'm shocked that I am still shocked at some of the things he says. Just the way he speaks, and uses words - shows you just how big his ego is. He truly believes he is the King of the fucking world.

"I think maybe that will be my greatest contribution to Christianity"

Thanks, Pope.

I think I heard the vile and despicable Mitch McConnell interviewed on NPR the other day, and he was not so artfully dodging the question about some of Trump's speeches. He said something to the effect of "I just went up to him after one speech and asked him - 'what happened to the script? I thought you were going to use the script like we discussed?' and Trump's answer was that he thought they were boring. McConnell: Please go back to 'boring' - I like boring!"

I guess his folksy, word salad speeches are beloved by his core, but like Palin, that shit only plays so wide...you will eventually have to get some people to vote for you that will actually question your nonsensical phrases, and wonder WTF you actually stand for.

I do get that part of his appeal is his apparent political incorrectness, which in some ways combines well with very ad hoc, frank SOUNDING talk. Problem is (like Palin), his words don't freaking make sense half the time! It's just sincere sounding bullshit!

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Tue Jun 21, 2016 3:31 pm

Right... in his long list of contributions to Christianity.... this will seriously take the top position.

But, just maybe.... it's possible that someone could argue that a few of his other contributions were indeed greater.