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What if he Actually Wins?
One of the constants of the political coverage this last year has been “Donald Trump cannot win because… ” Anyone who offered a scenario contrary to the cited “because” was self-delusional, a wishful thinker, or just plain stupid. And through it all, Trump just kept advancing, advancing, and advancing right through to the nomination. The conventional wisdom may still hold and he may yet lose in a landslide in November. But what if he does win? What if the conventional wisdom is actually a conventional delusion?
There will be plenty of theories to be sure. It was a year of historically horrible candidates. The vote was too fractured. Too many of this or that faction stayed home. Too many of this or that faction showed up. But like the financial commercials say, past results should never be seen as a guarantee of future returns.
In all honesty, I don’t think anyone knows. Circumstances constantly change. There were newspaper-only elections, radio elections, television elections and, now, internet and social media elections. In 1896, the winning candidate never left his house. In my lifetime alone, three major “that’ll never happen” presidents happened: We elected a Catholic, a divorced man, and a non-white.
The truth is that every election is unique and the circumstances that align the electorate are hard to repeat or predict. I don’t know what kind of president Donald Trump would make, I only know that if he gets a chance to show it, there’s a lot of people who make their living professing to know how to win elections are going to look unconventionally stupid.
Published in Politics
Good Americans only drink Bourbon.
Worst case scenario? That’s the best case scenario.
That being said, I’ve never laid claim to being a good American.
Only deplorables drink Jack Daniels?
He cites numbers of on the ground workers exceeds 2012. He seems to be invested in winning as he has no future with a loss.
Pretty much. I only use it for cooking. Or fighting as the square shape, curvy neck, and thick glass sustain blows rather well, especially as compared to, say, Wild Turkey.
Ah , during my bourbon phase I was partial to Wild Turkey.
All fond memories now. All I have left after giving up smoking and drinking is coffee and whatever fun stuff they put in the IV during medical procedures.
http://hotair.com/archives/2016/09/02/priebus-pledges-98-new-field-offices-narrow-ground-game-gap/
Within a week of Election Day some or many of these people will have penned articles saying why Trump must include in his administration those that roundly rejected him. One ambassadorship to Micronesia coming right up! (vague Carter administration reference)
Tropical Pacific Islands? Doesn’t sound too bad.
Paid for by employers, and by rooting out “Fraud and Abuse.” It’s a new entitlement, which will only grow.
Good points. I’m still unconvinced that ceding the Left’s arguments and adopting their pet projects allows us to make a contrary argument down the road, but we’ll see.
Despite the source, the ground game has always been Trumps blind spot. Salem Communications is virulently anti Trump, but Ed has always tried to be a straight shooter.
I had some hope that Bosse would get it in gear and there is time to get a surge going. It may not be enough, it may be.
I still think this will come down to the choice of Bill Clinton’s nasty wife versus the Guy on Celebrity Apprentice, which are the images that have been burned into the publics mind for decades.
To answer EJHill’s question-
If Trump wins, Kelly Conway either becomes W.H. Chief of Staff, or the highest paid political consultant in history.
Michael Murphy is hired as her secretary.
Scott Adams sells many more books and becomes a highly paid political commentator or consultant.
Good to know I am close to this qualification!
My consistent prayer is the he does win, and that he is not who I think he is. Alas, I worry on both fronts.
Meanwhile, outside the USA, where the mere mention of the man’s name induces a mix of horror and mockery and no-one dares to speak well of him, there will be chaos: kind of like 2000 on steroids.
And this is relevant because?
A perfectly sound reason to elect him. Since when do we allow foreign disdain to control our actions?
Eric Hines
TKC,
You make a good argument. And, I think the maternity leave benefit should be flat and a lump sum. (i.e. The same for every mother regardless of income.) As part of the unemployment system is may not be that bad as it would generally raise the unemployment rates in the industries that already have low unemployment rates and leave the industries with high unemployment rates (construction mostly) the same.
Hewitt: pro-Trump. Gallagher: pro-Trump. Prager: pro-Trump. Larry Elder: pro-Trump.
I give you two pros and two not nevers anymore. Add Allah to the list and the editorial selection at Hot Air.
Hey! I mightn’t have a vote but I have a perspective. And I will be driven to distraction by the undiluted hysteria all around me if Trump actually wins.
A valid concern that I share. But, you take the citizenry you have, get their votes and move forward the best you can. If you produce general prosperity, you are one of the greats. If you do not, you are a crook, a liar and a jerk. Also, never follow the guy who is credited for the prosperity. You cannot win.
Obama could, had he wanted to , produced the biggest economic boom in decades. He chose to pass, it was not on his agenda.
Pepes roam the streets feasting on the blood of the innocents.
No.
Hillary will keep Team Obama intact. There will only be two or three dozen replacements to fight through Senate Advise and Consent.
Trump, on the other hand, will immediately ask for the resignations of everyone who is in an appointed position who ever criticized Trump in the media. Then he will seek to replace most of the 200 appointed positions with lackeys of his own choosing. Some will be liberals, sure, but there will be some solid conservatives and some true centrists and some hacks and some apolitical toadies. However bad they may be as a group, we will be much better off than under Hillary.
And, did you see that there was a poll in which about 30% of federal workers said they would want to quit if Trump wins? If it is only five percent in actuality, that will help.
Support Trump.
If nothing else, it would sow confusion and hesitation in Washington.
That’s worth an ad. Geez, it’s a dream.
Yeah, but they’re on board; isn’t that enough? I mean, the Trump side should be happy they’re making the case for hours on end every day – in Gallagher’s instance, with great zeal.
The radio audience exceeds HotAir, I’m sure. If Salem was virulently anti-Trump, you wouldn’t know it from their daily broadcasts, that’s all I’m saying.
That’s why I hold this clear plastic tarp in front of me.
I concede on your excellent point. I was far too influenced by the written edition of Hot Air.