Last edited Tue Feb 23, 2016, 01:32 AM - Edit history (1)

on edit: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1310987

Unless the democrats put forth a candidate that can energize the base, Donald Trump will win.

What people still haven't figured out about Trump is that he is going to shift hard to the center during the GE without ANY consequences. He isn't going to lose his base of support and he is going to start appealing to those "fiscal conservative independents" that the democrats try so hard to cling to all the time.

The ONLY chance the democrats stand in 2016 against Trump is to energize the silent majority.

Those majority of people who WANT single payer healthcare.

Those majority of people who WANT citizens united overturned.

Those majority of people who WANT to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Those majority of people who want public colleges to be tuition free (Like they used to be in some cities).

Those majority of people who want to raise taxes on the top earners.

BTW... Trump will WIN on the Citizens United issue vs Clinton b/c he doesn't have a Super Pac (http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/10/23/donald-trump-tells-trump-super-pacs-to-return-contributions/). She can claim that the case was about her, but vs Trump he will show that she is the one benefiting from it.

You want to turn out voters in America...give them something to VOTE FOR... only giving them something to vote against isn't nearly as interesting.

Get used to saying President Trump if you choose to live in the bubble.

The best way to win is to assume that you can lose. It makes you work harder.

But perhaps people here are using these discussions as a way to advocate for their preferred candidate, in which case it belongs in the primaries forum (probably).

I prefer Sanders, and not by a little. But if Hillary Clinton wins the actual primary/caucus popular vote, I would think her chance of beating the GOP nominee in the election would be the better of the two. The primaries are a test of electibility.

I will never believe that Sanders' run has not been good for the Democratic party and good for the country, but if Hillary Clinton gets the most votes in the primaries, I will accept that she is the best Democratic nominee.

Where we run into potential trouble is if it is close and she wins on super delegates only. THAT would cause a lot of rancor and I can see a lot of people staying home in disillusionment. I hope the primary voters don't leave it close.

I know why I support Sanders. I have strong convictions about my choice. But every voter who participates in the Democratic primary process has a reason for supporting their candidate, and my reasons cannot outweigh the reasoning of the majority. Being a Democrat means you have to respect the voters. It really is that simple.

birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.

but he has higher unfavorable ratings than any other Republican candidate when it comes to both Independents and Democrats. As well his favorability among Republicans is only at a +27 which when looking at the rest of the field is not very good.

The Republicans will have one hell of a time turning out voters if Donald Trump is the candidate.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trump-is-really-unpopular-with-general-election-voters/

http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/donald-trump-favorable-rating

He can flip those on a dime... she can't flip hers.

Anyway.. take the two most unfavorable candidates against each other and see who wins.. low voter turnout = GOP victory every time.

Most people don't like him. Period.

The fact that the country has enough idiots to give him the GOP nomination is meaningless.

Most people don't like Her. Period. They've had 20+ years AND 2 elections now to form their opinions.

As far as he is concerned.. he can win them over VERY easily, because he can do and say whatever he wants.

She loses to him.

Guaranteed.

And that is with a WILDLY divided GOP party.

Reality: She loses to Trump.

Trump is going to take the blue collar, white vote by a lot. Even the union guys are going to vote for this guy even though he's a "Right to work" proponent and scab. The racism and bigotry still play very well among the tradesmen for whatever reason.

I'd really like to think Clinton, as unsavory as she may be, can beat him with minority turnout and women but I'm not so sure of it anymore. I thought it would be a walk against him. It's looking like a really rough road now.

agreements to vote for them. Those states got hit hard by NAFTA.

So all Trump has to do is play the NAFTA flip-flop video and tell the story of her flip-flips on trade in the state department.

And these three will probably be his: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan

Wisconsin is pretty blue.

Women would make the difference. And by-in-large women hate Trump. And he hates women. His saying he loves them doesn't persuade women at all.

I've no idea how we can go by polling numbers. Especially with Trump willing to say anything to win. He's a megalomaniac and we are a nation of misinformed dolts.

He appeals to the immigrant in all if us who came here to get rich. Sanders appeal for a Socialist agenda would be trashed by Trump as unAmerican. I can only imagine the way the power houses would behave during a Trump v Sanders fight. Sanders v Cruz might be different. I think Sanders could defeat Cruz.

Trump would be a nightmare as a world leader and our allies would put us in the dog house for decades. They aren't crazy like us in 2016. They don't have the corporate for profit news media to contend with.

Look at Jeb. He was the presumed nominee of the GOP and the early days for him, pre-Trump, seemed to affirm it. Then along came Trump and the "low energy" meme. By the time Trump got through with him he was as exciting as a senior tour bus driver. He hasn't really gone after either Rubio or Cruz yet. Maybe he's so far ahead he figures he can spare them. The Democratic nominee not so much. If it's Hillary he'll convince the country she's a criminal, if it's Bernie he'll have them believing he was good friends with Chairman Mao. Either way, the big mouth is a HUUUUUUUUUUGE threat and shouldn't be taken lightly. He could win.

Both of my grown daughters believe that Hillary could beat him easily. So, even though they're much closer to Bernie philosophically, they're buying the electability argument. I've been working on getting through to them (gently, they're very independent women) that Trump very likely would take the presidency if it came down to it because so many people are.angry about what's happened to them economically, and realize that they have gotten the raw end of a deal they never wanted. Of course, to do that means explaining the horror that is TPP et al and the fact that millions of people lost their well paying jobs to outsourcing, offspring and deliver economic policy in general.

At least we're in Illinois, where I still have a few weeks to turn them around. Wish me luck.

We have a global economy. How do we change that?

The current policies promote the race to the bottom that has decimated our middle class.

There are many other elements needed to restore the economic policies of, say, the 1950s. Not the social policies, but a restoration of an economically vibrant nation.

Trump knows that the US will be the stronger partner in any bilateral agreement and can dictate terms which will be good for the US if not for the rest of the world. FDR knew this too and decided that sharing power with other countries in multilateral organization was preferable.

It's way too serious. His power mad run needs a realistic antagonist. Hillary's opposition to TPP as it now stands is a place to start.

Trump.

I've yet to find a common person that supports her, period.