2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumWhat if Trump won't accept defeat?
PoliticoDonald Trump is on track to lose in November and to refuse to accept the legitimacy of that Election Day result. Thats a problem not just for Hillary Clinton but for both political parties and the country. For everyone, really, other than Donald Trump.
By hiring Breitbarts Steve Bannon, a media provocateur in his own image, and accepting the resignation of the man who was supposed to professionalize him, Trump is signaling the final 78 days of his presidential campaign will be guided by a staff that indulges his deeply held conspiracy theories and validates his hermetically sealed worldview.
That includes his insistence that the only way he loses is in a rigged election. According to two long-time Trump associates, the notion of a fixed election isnt just viewed as smart politics inside Trump Tower; its something the GOP nominee believes.
If he loses, [hell say] Its a rigged election. If he wins, hell say it was rigged and he beat it. And thats where this is headed no matter what the outcome is, said one Trump ally. If Donald Trump loses, he is going to point the finger at the media and the GOP establishment. I cant really picture him giving a concession speech, whatever the final margin.
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)Jerry442
(1,265 posts)Hillary's Justice Department will have to deal with a whole series of Ruby Ridges, Wacos, and Malheurs and I have a bad feeling that the outwait-'em strategy isn't going to work any more.
cali
(114,904 posts)Maybe I'm wrong, but as the article says, most of the damage inflicted would land on the Republican Party and leadership. In any case, this is why Hillary has to win by a wide margin.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)madaboutharry
(40,187 posts)will need to blanket every aspect of the media and denounce him if he refuses to concede. That would include some more reasoned people who supported him. What is really going to happen is that the GOP is going to self destruct. And they did it to themselves.
OnDoutside
(19,948 posts)effectively promoting their new competitor, bigly.
Edit : And potentially run by Ailes.
Coolest Ranger
(2,034 posts)and I would not care
TexasMommaWithAHat
(3,212 posts)Well, it's not like he has a third world army to take over the country and prop him up in a dictatorship.
I still have enough faith in this country to believe that we haven't gotten that bad!
Imo, he'll blow a lot of smoke, make a lot of noise, and, unfortunately won't disappear quietly into the night.
But the good news is that none of the republican elite will have anything to do with him after this fiasco is over.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)formed a new party that fatally weakened the GOP.
TexasMommaWithAHat
(3,212 posts)I'm not real excited that anything like that will happen, unfortunately.
I would love it, however. Since I would much prefer a parliamentary system of government, three strong parties would be a start, imo.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)Trumpism is too popular to go away, but it's too toxic for a nationally competitive party. It's a real mess the GOP have gotten into. So sad.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)Doodley
(9,036 posts)media empire. Tens of millions of Americans who feel cheated by the system will follow him to a network that will be even worse and more stupid than Faux News.
vinny9698
(1,016 posts)And he is not going away quietly, because he will create the attention he craves. Then he will preach that if had been elected that would never would have happened if he had been elected.
No matter what?
Hurricane, flooding, tornadoes, God's punishment for cheating him.
maxrandb
(15,295 posts)We'd finally be able to see how all of their hand-guns and AR15's would work against a Carrier Air Wing or a Marine Expeditionary Unit.
MineralMan
(146,254 posts)Lie on the floor screaming and kicking his feet?
Show up at the inauguration and yell on a bullhorn?
Who cares whether or not he accepts defeat?
spinbaby
(15,088 posts)I could never ever imagine Trump graciously conceding and then supporting the winner for a greater cause.