The Trump nightmare is real. Clinton could lose this.

[LuckyTheDog]

In May of 1988 Gov. Michael Dukakis had a 10-point lead over his Republican rival, the same margin that Hillary Clinton has today.

He lost. And she could, too.

Don't comfort yourself too much by looking at the horse race polls. Those are about Donald Trump's weakness, not Clinton's strength. A fresh Washington Post poll shows that only 37 percent of American voters trust her, and the number is dropping -- even before her well-fed opponents have begun to pound the airwaves with slimy attacks adds on her.

And let's face it: It is not beyond the imagination to think that a fresh scandal could emerge.

MORE HERE: http://yonside.com/trump-nightmare-real-clinton-lose/

[Hoyt]

1. Dukakis lost because people could not see him as Prez material.

[Octafish]

2. Dirty tricks had nothing to do with it.

"I wouldn't pick on an invalid." -- Ronald Reagan, chiming in on Dukakis visiting a counselor to deal with grief after his brother was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

Boston Harbor...

Willie Horton...

[Hoyt]

4. That was as low as was Horton. I think the photo in the tank tanked him as well.

Again, he just did not appear "Presidential."

[Octafish]

13. You echo what may Bush supporters said.

"Too ethnic" was the phrase.

[Bucky]

16. Exactly. He didn't know how to campaign & project strength. Sound familiar?

This is the same problem that Clinton has.

Remember SNL's "How am I losing to this guy?" debate skit? The SNL actress who plays Hillary will be saying that same punchline.

[BillZBubb]

3. If Hillary wins, it will be by the thinnest of margins.

No one like Hillary who is and has been loathed by independent voters for so long is going to have an easy time.

Right now, independents don't like trump, but that is a recent situation and not a deep, long held dislike. He has a lot of time to change his image before the GE. He can win independents over.

Hillary's only hope is that she can convince independents that she is decidedly the lesser of two evils. That's going to be a hard sell.

[LonePirate]

7. Depends on the Indeoendents.

If it's the Independents like the ones on DU, then it will require work. If it's the Independents like those in the wild, it won't be so difficult.

[Bucky]

17. Trump does better among Independents than Clinton.

Hell, Trump does better among Democrats than Clinton does among Republicans.

We're already behind and we just don't know it yet.

[dchill]

29. Check. On both points.

[sharp_stick]

6. What a lame argument

Of course he "could" win it. The article says it, don't pay much attention to horse race polls this far out.

Clinton isn't Dukakis and Trump isn't George H.W. Bush. As much as I despise the Bush family he was a much more formidable candidate and current Vice President of the United States at this point in time. Dukakis was a lame candidate that couldn't debate a stump and win, he had a very difficult time connecting with anybody on a personal level including the media.

It's pointless to predict anything this far out but I'll go on record with an educated guess and say that Trump will lose in a landslide to whoever the Democrats put up for President and his negative coattails will also give us the Senate again.

[Bucky]

19. When you describe Dukakis, you're kind of dessribing Clinton too

Sorry, but the parallels are too close, if not perfect.

Tho' Clinton can argue well, as opposed to Dukakis's dryness behind the lectern, she still can't win over new voters. Debates aren't won by scoring the best arguments; they're won by showing undecideds visceral leadership characteristics. She doesn't do that.

Her numbers haven't moved up or down in the past 12 months. She's not picking up new support as Sanders wanes from the fight. That is fatal to her November chances. Trump, on the other (tiny) hand, has increased his support month after month since Iowa. Remember when 30% of the Republicans was his ceiling? And then it wa 40% Now they say he can't top 60% of Republican support. More and more of them just seem to fall in line behind him... because that's what Republicans always do.

Will we? We haven't so far.

[FLPanhandle]

8. Disagree.

This will be an absolute landslide win for the Democrats up and down the ticket.

[LuckyTheDog]

11. Probably will.

But we should not underestimate the risk we face.

[Bucky]

21. I hope you're right. I think you're over confident.

I know you can't see Trump's appeal. I can't either. But I can see the evidence of it.

Shit, I can't see gravity either, but that piano's still gonna fall on our head's if we don't get off the damn sidewalk.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

32. He has appeal to remarkalby uninformed people, and there are millions of them, but his main

strength is relying on the fact that thousands of polling places will be closed and millions of students and POC wont be allowed to vote.

[FLPanhandle]

36. I live in a deep red conservative area

I'm friends with many conservatives. Only one of them is willing to vote for Trump. The remaining would never vote for a Democrat, but they are skipping this election altogether.

Trump was the perfect GOP primary candidate and the worst GE candidate. There is a reason the GOP leadership spent so much money and effort to stop him.

[Bucky]

40. "the perfect GOP primary candidate and the worst GE candidate"

Banking on (1) Trump not switching his marketing to a general election audience and (2) Republicans NOT coagulating behind their party nominee and (3) Republicans not trotting out a lot of dirty trick "October Surprises" to throw off Clinton's support... all seem like really bad campaign strategies.

Trump's strength has never been with conservatives. It's the low-info, vote-from-the-gut independents where he draws his support. You need to give the RNC's and their attendant superPacs a few months of "Clinton's coming for your guns" and "stop the baby-killers" bullshit before the conservatives start breaking out the clothespins and voting for their stinker of a nominee.

I'm already watching my conservative friends start to rationalize their nose-pinching, "oh but he doesn't mean what he's saying" votes for Trump. Why on earth would we not count on them doing so?

[leftofcool]

9. No he couldn't.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

33. Please, no snark here, watch this Van Jones video

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7800368


You are someone who should see this, you will influence those around you.

Van is pro Democratic candidate regardless of who it is but he sounds the alarm, appropriately.

[cali]

10. Unlikely

[Bucky]

23. Well argued.

No, wait, not argued at all.

I know you can't see Trump's appeal. I can't either. But I can see his numbers have grown since last summer. I don't see evidence he'll quit growing before he hits 51%.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. I said my piece months ago

At this point I will sit back and enjoy the show. It is not particularly enjoyable...but I was laughed at when I said almost a year now, that he had a very good chance of being tne nominee as well.

[Bucky]

24. +1

right with you.

The overconfidence---the argument-free overconfidence---of the Trump deniers is maddening.

Maybe we'll all wait until SNL does its Clinton version of the "How am I losing to this guy?" skit to realize he can win the election

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Hmm it would be a fun skit

[emulatorloo]

14. Yes he could win. More likely he won't.

He's this year's Sarah Palin. Mainstream voters didn't vote for her.

However I have learned to 'never say never' so I acknowledge that a narrow Trump victory could happen.

I will do everything in my power to defeat him.

[dchill]

30. He's a boob and a jerk.

That still doesn't make him as horrid as Palin.

[mackdaddy]

15. "W" was elected TWICE...

Never assume anything is in the bag, no matter how UN-qualified/crazy the opponent is.

I am now convinced that elections are decide on emotion not logic.

I would never have imagined that W and Cheney could ever get even enough votes to get close enough even to steal it, but they did. TWICE.

Who do you think a "POTUS Trump" would nominate to the supreme court? That thought should be enough to go canvas for whoever is the Democrat.....

[mikehiggins]

18. Now she's talking about "Hill and Bill" in the White House

How's that going to work out with anyone under 45?

[closeupready]

20. Everyone under 45 will need a chaperone when meeting with Bill.

That's just one prediction.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Reality show well within the new media rules

Underestimate all you want. I will just enjoy the show

[Adrahil]

22. AS bad as W was....

Trump is in a whole nuther category.

[dchill]

31. W was elected ZERO times.

It would be instructive to remember that, too.

[KPN]

26. No could about it. Will.

Abandon all decks!!!!

[BootinUp]

28. Dukakis was relatively unknown. That is what can happen when an unknown

steps on the national stage.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

34. Hopefully, she won't do any stupid and pandering photo ops ...

[Agnosticsherbet]

35. Thirty states are controlled by Republican Governors, and they control who counts the vote.

Our best weapon against that is to GOTV in large numbers. Low turnout is easier to manipulate.

Begin now.
GOTV.

[Democat]

37. Wish DU would look at threads like this and ban all of the right wing trolls

Some of these replies read like a Pro-Trump forum.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

38. If everybody is so "concerned" about Trump beating Hillary

then maybe Bernie should pull up his tent or at least start trying to unify the party by encouraging his supporters to support Hillary in the general and stop attacking Hillary like the nomination is still winnable for him? He seriously still seems to believe that the nomination is within reach for him when it is clearly not. Any left-leaning independents supporting Bernie better think long and hard about burying their hatred of Clinton for the sake of avoiding a Trump Presidency for the next 4-8 years. Like it or not, Hillary is who she is and she isn't going to dramatically change her tune between now and November but there is no reality where a Clinton Presidency is going to be the same (or worse) than a Trump Presidency. No reality at all. Maybe it won't be the reality that Bernie supporters want but for anybody who ever wondered if it can get worse than George W. Bush, it CAN get worse. MUCH WORSE.

[Purveyor]

39. It is all up to the Indies and which way they trend. I meet

a lot of people who go through my store and the anti-establishment ferver is very strong.

Talking Michigan here BTW.

[pampango]

41. Clinton or Sanders had better campaign as if they could lose this. Complacency can be fatal.

Trump is a demagogue who will say anything to anyone then contradict himself the next day. Demagogues are dangerous campaigners and should not be underestimated.

[Person 2713]

42. Anything could happen & swing enuf indies or non voters to go trump

That right there is scary Enuf