2016 Presidential Horse Race

[EddytoNow]

This Melania Trump/Michelle Obama thing is just so weird.

I agree with those who are saying that it doesn't much matter substantively, but on the other hand it would sure seem like the Trumps wouldn't want to be noticed borrowing anything from the Obamas, so it opens the Trumps up to jokes. I just can't understand how that happened.

I remember when this kind of thing forced presidential primary candidates out of the race. So when did plagiarism stop mattering? I must have missed the memo.

 

[connor_in]

Really, you guys actually watched and cared and are arguing about candidates' spouses speeches?

 

[wizards8507]

I remember when this kind of thing forced presidential primary candidates out of the race. So when did plagiarism stop mattering? I must have missed the memo.

You can't be serious. Hillary's spouse is a goddamn rapist and Hillary helped cover up his transgressions on several occasions, yet you're upset that a non-native speaker gives a trite speech that mirrors a previous one?

 

[Emcee77]

I remember when this kind of thing forced presidential primary candidates out of the race. So when did plagiarism stop mattering? I must have missed the memo.

(A) it's not the candidate who gave the partially plagiarized speech, and (B) she plagiarized nothing substantive; it's just fluff.

True, it's very embarrassing for the Trumps, but I think it's hyperbole to say that this sort of thing would force a presumptive nominee out of the race.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

Pretty sure she would be suspended for at least a few games if she played for ND.

 

[Emcee77]

Really, you guys actually watched and cared and are arguing about candidates' spouses speeches?

Oh, it's worthy of discussion. There will be people who will argue that Trump has lost credibility as a foe of Obama, if he and his wife are stealing from Michelle Obama's DNC speech. It's not like Trump-haters are just going to let it go.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Pretty sure she would be suspended for at least a few games if she played for ND.

The whole year. The 1988 season would be vacated too.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[wizards8507]

Oh, it's worthy of discussion. There will be people who will argue that Trump has lost credibility as a foe of Obama, if he and his wife are stealing from Michelle Obama's DNC speech. It's not like Trump-haters are just going to let it go.

Anyone who cares about this was never voting for Trump anyways.

 

[dublinirish]

You can't be serious. Hillary's spouse is a goddamn rapist and Hillary helped cover up his transgressions on several occasions, yet you're upset that a non-native speaker gives a trite speech that mirrors a previous one?

i'm just surprized Melania never mentioned her father's Communist Party membership

 

[dublinirish]

Anyone who cares about this was never voting for Trump anyways.

does anyone who is gonna vote for trump care about facts/reality anyways

 

[Wild Bill]

does anyone who is gonna vote for trump care about facts/reality anyways

Some do, some don't and some prefer him over her.

 

[potownhero]

I remember when this kind of thing forced presidential primary candidates out of the race. So when did plagiarism stop mattering? I must have missed the memo.

I think it stopped mattering when Joe Biden did it.

 

[dublinirish]

Donald Trump’s Family Is Just As Bad As Donald Trump | GQ

I bet they plagiarized Obama’s speech DELIBERATELY, just so Melania could be caught, and then criticized, and then the Trump camp could piss and moan about the press being so mean to her (head goon Paul Manafort has already publicly denied the theft). There is no gaffe that Trump cannot turn into a permanent and contagious media grudge.

 

[Emcee77]

Anyone who cares about this was never voting for Trump anyways.

I'm not sure that's true; it's a question of how much people care. I am sure many Trump supporters are displeased and embarrassed and want to know how it happened, so they "care about this" in a factual sense, although I doubt that they or anyone "cares about this" in the sense that it affects how they will vote.

Similarly, Trump's opponents are likely interested in how it happened, and in any case it's part of the national conversation today. So I think when people suggest it's not even worthy of discussion, they are incorrect. It's a bigger deal than that, at least as a curiosity.

 

[wizards8507]

Donald Trump’s Family Is Just As Bad As Donald Trump | GQ

I said that 30 minutes ago.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Anyone who cares about this was never voting for Trump anyways.

Right.

Trump voters literally give two shits about what this man says or does. What they care about is that he's an outsider and they believe he's going to blow up the system, for the better.

 

[irishfan]

Anyone who cares about this was never voting for Trump anyways.

This is true of about 99% of Trump "scandals" or "controversies." It's almost always the same crowd of potential voters who get riled up or mock him.

No one truly undecided is going to care about this one way or the other. It's going to get more people to pay attention to Melania in the future which will only be able to help Trump.

 

[dublinirish]

Right.

Trump voters literally give two shits about what this man says or does. What they care about is that he's an outsider and they believe he's going to blow up the system, for the better.

there's nothing millionaires love doing than helping out the poor and uneducated and making their lives better eh

 

[IrishLax]

Hilariously bad look considering Trump is trying to be the "anti-Obama".... but....

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8M6x1H08aFc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FgctsioisJg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QIaALKHVrAA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

#justsayin'

Wonder if Trump was using a speech writer that worked on Michelle's speech.

 

[connor_in]

does anyone who is gonna vote for trump care about facts/reality anyways

does anyone who is gonna vote for Hillary care about facts/reality anyways


Funny how well that works for HRC as well

 

[yankeehater]

Maybe Melania should have plagiarized from Biden's plagiarized Presidential run speech then she could become her husband's Vice Presidential nominee.

I am wondering if conservatives are upset that Melania looked to Mrs. Obama for inspiration to copy instead of say a Nancy Reagan or someone they really like.

One of the major news agencies are also guessing this was leaked ahead of time because the timeline is very tight. The reports were there was the online video side by side comparisons of the two speeches already posted by the time they got up to their studios from the convention floor. Conspiracies abound!

 

[EddytoNow]

Anyone who cares about this was never voting for Trump anyways.

I don't often find myself agreeing with Wizards, but I agree with this. Trump is going to get his 38-40% no matter what happens. His voters are a coalition of Clinton haters and people who want to see the established system destroyed. The only thing that will change their mind about Trump is if he wins and actually does some of the things he's proposing. However, Trump can't win without expanding his support among independents. Plagiarism of Michelle Obama's speech isn't helpful in making that expansion. Trump has been bashing the Obama's for over a year, and now the best his wife can do is to steal Michelle's words to introduce him?

 

[pumpdog20]

Trump isn't going to lose one vote due to his wife's speech just like he wasn't going to gain one vote if she had a good one.

 

[irish1958]

Trump’s Greatest Hits
Trump is either dishonest and a flat out liar or he is grossly ignorant as he doubles down on his false statements.
Hillary Clinton may not be any better. Her summery awaits the Democratic convention in a few weeks.

 

[GATTACA!]

I don't often find myself agreeing with Wizards, but I agree with this. Trump is going to get his 38-40% no matter what happens. His voters are a coalition of Clinton haters and people who want to see the established system destroyed. The only thing that will change their mind about Trump is if he wins and actually does some of the things he's proposing. However, Trump can't win without expanding his support among independents. Plagiarism of Michelle Obama's speech isn't helpful in making that expansion. Trump has been bashing the Obama's for over a year, and now the best his wife can do is to steal Michelle's words to introduce him?

Poll: Trump Leads Clinton by 11 Points with Independents

 

[Ndaccountant]

I don't often find myself agreeing with Wizards, but I agree with this. Trump is going to get his 38-40% no matter what happens. His voters are a coalition of Clinton haters and people who want to see the established system destroyed. The only thing that will change their mind about Trump is if he wins and actually does some of the things he's proposing. However, Trump can't win without expanding his support among independents. Plagiarism of Michelle Obama's speech isn't helpful in making that expansion. Trump has been bashing the Obama's for over a year, and now the best his wife can do is to steal Michelle's words to introduce him?

I think you are greatly exaggerating the impact here. 1) - The majority of the people that are undecided are most likely not even watching nor reading about the conventions. 2) - Even if they were reading about it, all media covering politics today is about the negatives of politician X,Y & Z. People are immune to "flaws" or "gaffes" since that is the only thing that is covered any more. It's just another story. 3) - People just don't care. Apathy still reigns supreme.

When we put all the numbers together, one thing we know for sure is that a lot of people support Trump. Another is that a lot of people support Clinton. A third is that a much larger group of people support ignoring the primary season entirely.

Disinterest and apathy are crushing it in the US elections right now — Quartz

 

[IrishJayhawk]

Poll: Trump Leads Clinton by 11 Points with Independents

And here (the Economist/YouGov poll) she leads him by 1 point among independents here and by 24 points among self-described "moderate" voters (p. 15). Still doesn't mean much.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

SIAP:

Trump’s Boswell Speaks - The New Yorker

 

[EddytoNow]

Poll: Trump Leads Clinton by 11 Points with Independents

And the complete article confirms that Trump is stuck between 38-40% and Clinton has increased her lead to 2%, 41% to 39%. If Trump has an 11 point lead among independents (and it's a big if since he remains in the 38-40% range overall) it's not doing him any good.

 

[Emcee77]

SIAP:

Trump’s Boswell Speaks - The New Yorker

This is just an amazing article. Confirms my worst fears about Trump. There is no deeper, private Trump.

The most disturbing thing to me is the inability to focus on anything for more than an hour at a time, even on a book about himself. There is just no way this guy has the frame of reference to be a competent political executive, when he doesn't have the patience to do his homework.

I try to be realistic about the fact that not everybody is a reader, and that's ok:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...ddf2bc-4932-11e6-90a8-fb84201e0645_story.html
But this guy seems to have deeper problems with concentration. That seems like a problem for a president.