If President Obama could have ran for a third term would he have defeated Donald Trump?

[ZM90]

Just a question and I am wondering what you all think. I definitely think with his 55% approval rating that Don the Con would have gotten his ass handed to him. On a related note while I didn't always agree with President Obama (particularly on trade) I am starting to miss him already and he's not even gone yet, Trump is a absolute disaster.

But back to my theoretical question.

Barack Obama for a third term vs Donald Trump. Does Obama win or does Trump find a way to sleaze his way into the White House?

[Afromania]

1. yes

He'd have thrown a touchdown to himself with time to grab some Gatorade between the throw and the catch.

[MFM008]

2. Yes

Let's face it..Obama got winning down.

[Doreen]

3. yes

I would have voted for him.

[MANative]

4. He would have CRUSHED him like the cockroach that he is. n/t

[nevergiveup]

5. It would have been ugly....

in our favor......and we would have won the Senate too.....and probably picked up 25 house seats......and saved the Supreme Court....sigh

[jodymarie aimee]

6. of course

and it would have been beautiful to see those debates. cool dude vs 2nd grader.

[EffieBlack]

7. This is an interesting question. And the answer explains what many of us have been saying

I have no doubt that President Obama would have won in a landslide had he run for a third term.

And the difference between his winning margin and Hillary Clinton's winning margin is that many more of the Democratic base would have come out to vote. I doubt that many, if any, of the people who supported Trump would have voted for Obama - in fact, I think Trump's numbers would have been about what they were last month. But there would have been a wave of voters who didn't vote this time who would have come out and they would have helped to overcome some of the voter suppression efforts the Republicans have implemented since the Supreme Court eviscerated the Voting Rights Act.

This illustrates the point we've been making. We need to focus our efforts on getting our based motivated to come out to vote AND motivate more Democrats to stand up and stand with minority voters to fight like hell against voter suppression. THAT's where the future of the party is - not in the courting and acquiescing to the wayward Trump voter.

[DK504]

10. Considering how vital this election was

I still don't understand how every single Independent/progressive or democrat vote. Did they not comprehend how badly this petty little brain damaged guy will screw the country?

[EffieBlack]

14. A lot of black voters tried to vote but were blocked. And many more actually DID vote, but their

votes weren't counted.

[BlueProgressive]

23. Everybody was saying Hillary had it "in the bag"...

Last edited Mon Dec 5, 2016, 07:10 PM - Edit history (1)

Perhaps some people who knew they would face really long lines in their localities decided they could skip it.

[Exilednight]

20. Hillary and Obama are different types of candidates. Obama can motivate the base.

Hillary, not so much.

She had a good plan, but a weak message.

She was a weak candidate, with tons of baggage, and poor at deflecting criticism.

[BeyondGeography]

8. Yes

And too bad we'll never see Obama run for President again. He was great at it, not least because, for all of his ability, he had the humility to work hard at it and not take anyone's vote for granted.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. Yes, hands down.

[Vinca]

11. Absolutely Obama would win.

[Tatiana]

12. Of course.

Hillary was not a strong candidate. Pretty sure Biden would have won, too.

[EffieBlack]

15. I'm not too sure about that. Lots of baggage

And too many people seem to have forgotten that Hillary Clinton was golden woman - more popular than Biden - until she announced she was running. Then the long knives came after her. The same thing would have happened to Biden, who was not all that popular until President Obama shared his magic with him.

You think Benghazi and her Iraq vote were problematic for Hillary?

Had Biden run, he would have had his Iraq vote to defend against AND Clarence Thomas, among other things.

[Tatiana]

22. That is why I still have not so great feelings about Biden to this day.

I personally will never get over how shamefully he treated Anita Hill.

That being said, white folks love them some Joe Biden. Even the redneck teachers I have worked with who hate Obama like Biden. Hell, the fact that he actually helped Uncle Thomas get on the court probably makes him look good in a lot of those "white working class" folks' eyes.

And more people who supported Obama would have come out to vote for him. It's a fact that some (yes, racist) white people voted for Obama in 2008 and/or 2012, but didn't vote for Hillary this election (especially in Michigan and Ohio). Many people have offered explanations why, but I think the reason is simple. Those people who voted for Obama prioritized their economic calamity over their prejudice. Once the folk in Kentucky got their Obamacare and some in Michigan found that American auto corporations didn't die, then it was a little safer to fall back on their tribalism. Sure, there are some that are worse off, but by and large those who unexpectedly voted for Trump were white and middle to upper class. That's Joe Biden's bread and butter.

[andym]

17. Yup. Biden had high positives

that would have withstood GOP attack. Hillary had been set up for destruction in 2013 with the Benghazi investigations. The GOP had managed to increase her negatives to 50% by mid 2015, to just above 40% by the beginning of 2016 and into the 30's% by the time of the election. The FBI investigation really helped seal the deal for the GOP.

[DavidDvorkin]

13. Even if he could have run for a third term, would he have?

I think he's burned out, or getting there.

[moonscape]

18. I think he would have, with the wild card

being whether Michelle would've let him. She wanted out of there more than he, I think.

[DavidDvorkin]

19. That's a good point.

[andym]

16. Yes-- in a landslide

Obama has high positives. Trumps 65% negative polling would have killed him. Moreover, Obama would have kept the large number of Obama voters who flipped to Trump.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/obama-trump-counties/
These former Obama strongholds sealed the election for Trump

[LaydeeBug]

21. No. Russia rigged the election and you guys are letting them get away with it. nt

[Cha]

24. I'd like to think he would have crushed that lying cockroach

into smithereens.

I don't care how much the Russians rigged the election.

Hillary still got 65 Million Votes and beat him by over 2.5 Million.

We are the winners by votes and it's time we acted like it.