Would a narrow Trump loss make the survivor a better candidate?

[TitoFan]

Experts are still predicting a Trump GOP nomination. But Cruz seems to making a move, and there's still a long ways to go. Rubio can't be counted out either, although his chances would seem slim. The question is: Assuming Trump loses a narrow contest for GOP nomination, would that make the actual nominee a better candidate?

The question is based on the theory that all other candidates should know by now that Americans are by and large pissed off about politics as usual. They want someone who is willing to step outside of the box in trying to solve problems in an effective manner, instead of catering to special interests as all Presidents end up doing. They'd like someone with the intestinal fortitude to tackle the tough issues with honest-to-goodness hard work and not empty promises. Trump may be crude... but that is the message he's carrying, and people have flocked to him. So if Trump were to lose (or get the nomination taken away from him).... would that make the survivor a better candidate? Yes? No? Why?

[SlimTrae]

Short answer: no.

[walrus]

Experts are still predicting a Trump GOP nomination. But Cruz seems to making a move, and there's still a long ways to go. Rubio can't be counted out either, although his chances would seem slim. The question is: Assuming Trump loses a narrow contest for GOP nomination, would that make the actual nominee a better candidate?

The question is based on the theory that all other candidates should know by now that Americans are by and large pissed off about politics as usual. They want someone who is willing to step outside of the box in trying to solve problems in an effective manner, instead of catering to special interests as all Presidents end up doing. They'd like someone with the intestinal fortitude to tackle the tough issues with honest-to-goodness hard work and not empty promises. Trump may be crude... but that is the message he's carrying, and people have flocked to him. So if Trump were to lose (or get the nomination taken away from him).... would that make the survivor a better candidate? Yes? No? Why?

In theory yes, but in action it will be same old same old although it may effect Cruz. Rubio is signed, sealed and delivered.

[SlimTrae]

Experts are still predicting a Trump GOP nomination. But Cruz seems to making a move, and there's still a long ways to go. Rubio can't be counted out either, although his chances would seem slim. The question is: Assuming Trump loses a narrow contest for GOP nomination, would that make the actual nominee a better candidate?

The question is based on the theory that all other candidates should know by now that Americans are by and large pissed off about politics as usual. They want someone who is willing to step outside of the box in trying to solve problems in an effective manner, instead of catering to special interests as all Presidents end up doing. They'd like someone with the intestinal fortitude to tackle the tough issues with honest-to-goodness hard work and not empty promises. Trump may be crude... but that is the message he's carrying, and people have flocked to him. So if Trump were to lose (or get the nomination taken away from him).... would that make the survivor a better candidate? Yes? No? Why?

In theory yes, but in action it will be same old same old although it may effect Cruz. Rubio is signed, sealed and delivered.

Break it down if you would. Flip mode.
Say Trump gets whooped...that wouldn't make the candidate who won the comeback kid?
I could be missing something but for me
Narrow Trump loss means a splintered, fractured party.
Wide Trump loss means someone has galvanized the people.

Just so you know...I don't think Trump would lose by a wide margin.

[TitoFan]

A splintered, fractured party doesn't necessarily mean the winner would lose the general election. It's not like you have a JFK standing on the other side. If Trump lost a narrow election, people would still have to make a choice: Cruz, or Hillary. As many faults as Cruz may have, I think many people are terrified of a Hillary presidency. In Cruz's mind, he'd know people within the party are pissed off. Pissed off enough to have supported someone like Trump, definitely a non-politician. Would that make Cruz himself a bit better? I don't see why not.

[SlimTrae]

@ Titofan i was just looking at Republican voters.
I have no clue how Hillary will fare, not even Sanders.

IMO roughly half the AMerican voting population is always pissed off.
What is different now is why Republicans are so fractured.
Their party turned on each other--- Tea Party candidates took on Republican politicians. So they got the outsiders they voted for.
Today they dominate the house and Senate, Titofan... I mean WTF?!

Midterms was 2010...it's uh... 2016... where is the Tea Party policies on war?
Um..divided.
Where is their policy on crime, education? Maybe a Trump nominee means voters stay home...it's happened before.
How does a true conservative vote for Trump out of party loyalty...and not see them selves going against their own principles?
Pull the lever for someone who has praised parenthood?
Segregate on the basis of religion?
On occasion has stated taxing for resolve..The muthatrucka...wrote a book in support of banning assault weapons...then says he has the right to change his mind.
He sure does. But Damn... Romney did that shit in 2012 Changing positions relative to the party base....so many voters stayed home giving the incumbent the win.

Last think this over...and holla back about it. When Trump invited the Clinton's to his wedding..
Not the Romney's, the Bush's, the Limbaughs...Those who wed..invite their loved ones.. and those who share a like mindedness. Agree or disagree?

This means a Trump presidency is just as likely to pass a universal healthcare system as democrats. Likely to flip and flop on taxes, like Reagan who raised taxes (several) times.
And he will have the same Paul Ryan that is being called Boehner II.
He will inherit a republican base DEEPLY split on the war on terror.
He will inherit the same industries that beg for deregulation like the Koch Brothers and their billion dollar corporations
.
He will inherit those thousands of lobbyists descending on Congress. Not him.Swooping in on the Senate, not him. For the billion dollar pharmaceutical industries that pay off the FDA..Food and Drug Administration..to look the other way.
And his followers are fucking fool's to think he can ban an entire religion.

You are correct that many are afraid of Hillary...but think this over. Republican voters have zero tolerance for Democrats PERIOD, be it Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, John Edwards, John Kerry, Al Gore back to Jimmy Carter. IMO the extreme left and right loathe the other party...regardless of who the nominee is...

[TitoFan]

The flipflopping you mention is what I fear most about politicians. Trump may not be a career politician, but he's shown he can flipflop with the best of them. Hillary is another one. She's been caught in so many lies she can hardly keep track of them herself. On top of that she's extremely unlikeable and untrustworthy. How can she be expected to stand up to foreign policy crises when she's been so incredibly inept regarding issues like her own damn emails and the Benghazi situation? IMO, either of those two (Trump, Hillary) would represent dangerous situations for the US were either of them to be elected POTUS. On Trump I personally don't put too much stock into him inviting the Clintons to his wedding. I may be wrong on that, but there's a lot of other things to worry about regarding Trump. For starters, he is the opposite of presidential, whatever that means, and he's bound to start WWIII by just being his bombastic, impulsive self.

The splintered Republican party you mention is one of the reasons I dislike the present two-party system, although admittedly it's what's been done pretty much since Day One. You're basically forced to follow the party line on EVERY SINGLE ISSUE out there, whether you agree with them or not. There's no room for agreeing with some Democratic principles, but other Republican ones. It takes away individuality, IMO. What you mention about extreme right and left loathing the other party, regardless of who the nominee is..... just emphasizes my point. It's wrong, IMO, not to mention short-sighted, to boil everything down to elephant vs. mule.

But what really worries me is how the quality of presidential candidates has gone way south. Is it just me? Or has this election turned into somewhat of a "who's the less bad candidate to vote for"? Of the ones left with any chance to win, there's not a lot to choose from.

[ruthless rocco]

There's only one viable candidate.

[Kirkland Laing]

The Trump vote has collapsed since that last debate when he got attacked by Fox and the other candidates. In Louisiana Trump had 40+% of the early voting with Cruz on 20-25 but then Cruz won the vote on the night of the primary. If that keeps up Cruz could take over.

But Cruz is even more unelectable than Trump. He's got even more hard right positions on immigration than Trump and is the strongest conservative running for prez since Goldwater. The fucker wants to return to the gold standard too.

He's also completely full of shit. Fancy pants Harvard lawyer, Goldman Sachs wife, funded by Goldman, big hedge funds, big oil interests. He's basically a Bush-like globalist corporate servant but he's doing a great job of pretending to be an outsider candidate.

[SlimTrae]

Agreed. It's not that Trump is bad to me. It's that he represents the opposite of what Conservatives look for in a candidate.

At least IMO

[SlimTrae]

There's only one viable candidate.

Really?!?!?!

[walrus]

The Trump vote has collapsed since that last debate when he got attacked by Fox and the other candidates. In Louisiana Trump had 40+% of the early voting with Cruz on 20-25 but then Cruz won the vote on the night of the primary. If that keeps up Cruz could take over.

But Cruz is even more unelectable than Trump. He's got even more hard right positions on immigration than Trump and is the strongest conservative running for prez since Goldwater. The fucker wants to return to the gold standard too.

He's also completely full of shit. Fancy pants Harvard lawyer, Goldman Sachs wife, funded by Goldman, big hedge funds, big oil interests. He's basically a Bush-like globalist corporate servant but he's doing a great job of pretending to be an outsider candidate.

What a blow hard.

[ruthless rocco]

There's only one viable candidate.

Really?!?!?!

Yup.

[SlimTrae]

The Trump vote has collapsed since that last debate when he got attacked by Fox and the other candidates. In Louisiana Trump had 40+% of the early voting with Cruz on 20-25 but then Cruz won the vote on the night of the primary. If that keeps up Cruz could take over.

But Cruz is even more unelectable than Trump. He's got even more hard right positions on immigration than Trump and is the strongest conservative running for prez since Goldwater. The fucker wants to return to the gold standard too.

He's also completely full of shit. Fancy pants Harvard lawyer, Goldman Sachs wife, funded by Goldman, big hedge funds, big oil interests. He's basically a Bush-like globalist corporate servant but he's doing a great job of pretending to be an outsider candidate.

I'm not sure it collapsed, rather Rubio and Cruz found one state each.
Trump is unelectable only to the extreme left.

[Kirkland Laing]

The Trump vote has collapsed since that last debate when he got attacked by Fox and the other candidates. In Louisiana Trump had 40+% of the early voting with Cruz on 20-25 but then Cruz won the vote on the night of the primary. If that keeps up Cruz could take over.

But Cruz is even more unelectable than Trump. He's got even more hard right positions on immigration than Trump and is the strongest conservative running for prez since Goldwater. The fucker wants to return to the gold standard too.

He's also completely full of shit. Fancy pants Harvard lawyer, Goldman Sachs wife, funded by Goldman, big hedge funds, big oil interests. He's basically a Bush-like globalist corporate servant but he's doing a great job of pretending to be an outsider candidate.

I'm not sure it collapsed, rather Rubio and Cruz found one state each.
Trump is unelectable only to the extreme left.

We'll find out tonight and a week from now. If Trump wins Florida and Ohio it's all over. If he doesn't the GOP establishment will spend the next few months attacking him from every angle and spend tens of millions trying to make him so toxic to the electorate that the GOP voters will accept a coup at the convention and somebody moderate getting the nomination.