WARNING!! I watched the whole Trump rally in Anaheim yesterday and I suggest

[islandmkl]

you watch one, too.

Once you filter out all the bullshit 'crazy', 'crooked', 'goofy' aspersions he casts at Bernie, Hillary and Elizabeth...and all the crap that WE hate for too many reasons to list...all the loose structure and limited (or non-existent) true hard details about what he proposes...once you suspend the fact that WE think he's crazy and dangerous...

you might hear how his message attracts voters...he views the elections as ratings...the higher the ratings the more the acceptance, the more the popularity...

he will pursue the Presidency as a matter of popularity of person...not as a matter of policies...

and too many Americans are more attuned to such a presentation...and the Republicans will always fall in line, too...

I do believe he is dangerous to a great degree....but what is the true danger?

The TRUE DANGER is that the American public, as a whole, has let democracy devolve and gradually slip away...and let it be replaced with game-show-quality contestants, one-percent enablers, rampant lobbying, endless war, healthcare-for-profit promoters, etc.

I am not sure he can be fought with 'intelligence', 'better grasp of the situation(s)', 'better policies', etc...and expect the public that needs to be swayed will be influenced...

we better have a message that can be 'more popular' than the person of Trump...

[Trust Buster]

1. Trumps attacks them all. This isn't about parsing amongst Democratic candidates.

This is about if this country has degraded to such a point that they would elect a classless buffoon.

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. Well ...

we better have a message that can be 'more popular' than the person of Trump...

We do ... sanity and competence.

Once you filter out all the bullshit 'crazy', 'crooked', 'goofy' aspersions he casts at Bernie, Hillary and Elizabeth...and all the crap that WE hate for too many reasons to list...all the loose structure and limited (or non-existent) true hard details about what he proposes...once you suspend the fact that WE think he's crazy and dangerous...

Once you filter all of that out ... you have silence.

[islandmkl]

6. you are correct...but that 'silence' is not evident to any degree...yet, anyway...

[mmonk]

3. I thought he had high negatives?

[islandmkl]

7. unfortunately, his aren't the only ones...and they are in the same ballpark

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. Too many have partisan blinders to honestly assess Trump.

That's not an endorsement of Trump as much as it is a critique of those who are failing to offer a sound means for countering Trump.

Name-calling against him and his supporters isn't going to cut it; they're inured to such things now. The labeling tactic has been exhausted because they feel they have already been unfairly called the worst names so now they have nothing to lose.

(I'm a little worn out on calls of "racism" and "sexism" myself.)

We need an honest policy debate to expose him for the flimsy carnival barker he is. Fronting an unliked, untrusted establishment candidate plays to his "strengths," exposes our weaknesses and ignores what we should be capitalizing on to win this election.

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. Well ...

(I'm a little worn out on calls of "racism" and "sexism" myself.)

I NEVER am worn out by calling racists and sexists, racists and sexists. Do I think that will sway anyone attracted to trump's racism and/or sexism ... probably/absolutely not; but then, they are not the ones that are swayable.

I find it interesting that you are worn out by the calls of "racism" and "sexism"; but, actively promote the "unliked", "untrusted" "establishment" narrative.

[SwampG8r]

13. Surely you can see how months of falsely claiming sexism and racism

From sanders and his supporters would make one look twice and closely at further claims?
I find it interesting that few said these about trump until he ran against hrc.
Hrc supporters.were warned t h ey were making real claims of sexism or.racism less likely to be believed but did it anyways.

[1StrongBlackMan]

14. I NEVER have seen ANYONE calling Bernie a "racist" ...

(all I have seen is Bernie supporters, "interpreting" the "insinuations" and "dog whistles" to argue that straw-man.

And, the claims that SOME of his supporters are/have done racist and sexist shit(s), aren't false.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

16. Are you calling me a racist/sexist?

[1StrongBlackMan]

17. Have you said or done any racist/sexist shit? See ... That's what I'm talking about ...

when I said, no one has called Bernie a racist ... only Bernie supporters, "interpreting" the "insinuations" and "dog whistles".

[GreatGazoo]

5. His followers are into conspiracy stuff and very skeptical of the political process.

We don't have to win them over, only stop them from seeing Trump as some kind of savior.... :barf:

I think this superpac was onto something when they tied him to Hillary with a few cherry picked quotes. Something similar to this which plays to the skepiticism of his supporters may work much better than trying to beat Trump at his own name-calling, juvenile games (eg calling him "tiny hands&quot :

(again the audience for this ad is Trump supporters, NOT us):

[Waiting For Everyman]

8. I agree, wealthy reality stars are ideally positioned to become the norm

in the future. I think we opened that absurdly destructive door with Reagan, and the Repubs' nominees for all races high and low, have been becoming more clown-like ever since. The bar keeps getting lowered. We thought Palin was the outlier, bottom of the bucket, but we see now that wasn't so.

The downticket Repubs are an especially looney bunch and none of the over-crowed Presidential field this year were qualified in the least. The sanest of them (using the term loosely), were still marginal at best and performed weakest.

A wealthy reality star can be more or less self-funded, which means that approval from big donors isn't necessary. And they have the name recognition that is needed to attract votes, which means that approval from a big party isn't necessary.

That combination of advantages, especially the name recognition because a Presidential election is national rather than local, will be a big head start toward winning in the future.

I'm afraid we have opened a Pandora's box, and I think we have a very short window of opportunity left in which to close it. If we, as a society, don't return to substance over form, and real values and real merit rather than perception and phonied up "credentials", I think we are set up for serious trouble ahead.

We should have the best and brightest of our nation as President, and we have some outstanding people among us. But with few exceptions, we are not promoting our best and brightest anymore. We are elevating the most sold out, the most schemingly ambitious, and the most two-faced posers.

That has been a huge problem since the early 1970s, when the boomers started coming of age, and it has only gotten geometrically worse with each passing decade.

[On the Road]

9. I Agree that Trump's Primary Appeal is Personal

but his policy must be countered, because right now it's winning him votes. Two examples:

Trump is the only candidate promising to reduce competition from illegal foreign workers for domestic jobs.

Trump may not be better in combating terrorism, but he is positioning himself as willing and able. Meanwhile, it's hard for Clinton to run on her foreign policy in the Middle East even if she did everything possible under the circumstances.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

10. Your point is well taken... must voters are not well-versed on the issues... their vote is based more on personal feelings toward a particular candidate.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[Cobalt Violet]

11. Why don't we just nominate someone 6 out of 10 people hate or dislike.

Preferably someone under FBI investigation and will say and do anything to get elected. Surely we can defeat the Donald if we do that!

[UCmeNdc]

15. You are correct. Trump believes he can create a TV character, a hero, and win. Hillary will play

the arch enemy, the villain. She will lose.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. And sit down and read specifically any of his books