2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: I really don't understand how Trump is even competitive in this race [View all]vi5
(13,305 posts)....but what confounds me is that Hillary has run a surprisingly good, surprisingly low-key, and surprisingly gaffe-free campaign thus far while Trump has continued to shove his foot so far in his mouth that he was shitting it out the other side.
Clinton herself has done very little to remind people why they are suspicious of her and Bill and Trump has done nothing BUT remind people of what an incompetent, repulsive ass hat he is.
But generally speaking you're not wrong that this was always going to be the case and it's less about who the Republican is, and more about people's feelings (right or wrong) about Hillary.
I've said it before but if she were running against anyone but Trump (and especially so if it was someone who could pass as moderate like Kasich or Rubio), she would be getting destroyed right now. I know a lot of Republicans who always vote but who just are not going to bother this election because they hate Hillary but cannot in good conscience vote for Trump.