Trump??!!?

[Montymum]

Trump scares me and what scares me even more is that so many people seem to be willing to follow him.
Growing up in Germany after WW II it was shocking to learn what had happened only a few decades earlier and for me the one hope I have ( sometimes it's more like 'had') is that humanity has learnt from the past and genocide and all out war will not happen again.

Listening to Trump's rhetoric you only need to replace the words 'Muslim' for 'Jews', building walls to keep out Hispanics etc and there's more than enough reason to compare him to Hitler when he was rising to prominence and leadership in the 1920s and 30s. I just hope that there are many influential people outspoken enough so that Trump's rhetoric doesn't gain even more traction.

Less than hundred years ago the world didn't act or didn't realise what danger Hitler posed, let's not repeat that mistake.

And I don't understand why in so many countries the extreme right wing/nationalistic ideas come to prominence when the going gets tough.

[WheresMyWhite]

Tabby, I am no constitutional expert but I believe the White House/POTUS cannot "disqualify" someone from running. I believe that would need to come from the Supreme Court of the United States. SCOTUS an appellate court who can review both state and federal court cases. In many cases, they are ruling on the constitutionality or interpretation there of... at least that is my view of what they do.

I don't know if an Executive Order from POTUS can stop someone from running which, IN MY OPINION, is not what POTUS should be doing. If an individual wants to run for a political office, they should be able to. If elected, Trump would actually have to discriminate, not just say he's going to. Saying he's going to is his First Amendment right of free speech. Actually making it happen would appear to me to be the issue. So, IN MY OPINION, he'd have to be elected, take the oath of office and then discriminate and someone take him to court over it to get SCOTUS to review and rule.

At least that's how I'd think it would work. What would really happen, not a clue

[Chisamba]

i used to think it was an expensive joke, but it is a bit sad to see that the more outrageous he is the more he appeals to certain people. Its a bit astonishing to see the people really do think like that and find it appealing.

I was certain in the beginning it was a ploy to popularize Hillary, since he is somewhat friends with the Clintons. And of course he has enough ego to enjoy the spectacle, and not qualm at the money spent on self promotion

[Tabby]

Thanks WMW. Your interpretation of things sounds a little more reasonable than how the media is reporting it. I've been trying to wrap my head around what possible wording could be in some legislation or another where a sitting president can have a legal say in who runs for the next election in a free country. It likely doesn't exist.

Chisamba, I've been on the conspiracy theory bandwagon a bit - wondering if the Dems are behind this somehow. But I agree he's gone way over the cliff lately. Maybe they underestimated him? It is disturbing that so many people support him. Even in our Canadian media, the public comments are full of "Trump for President" sentiments.

[KathyK]

LOL - our Charter of Rights is pretty new (1982) so we have all that language in it.

All that aside, can the White House declare Trump disqualified from running? Clearly his proposals violate your constitution (and the oath he would have to take) but is this a role of the White House to disqualify a candidate? Or is this just media hype?

Of course it isn't the role of the White House. However, saying Trump's plan disqualifies him is quite different from actually disqualifying him.

[bailey]

What if a group of us simply said he's disqualified from running...sort of like a making citizen's arrest? Especially after his comments on the news today.
Beyond words.

[WheresMyWhite]

But Trump has, at the moment, done nothing wrong. He has broken no laws with what he's said about Muslims. He is allowed to say what he wants because of the First Amendment

Having said that, I would rather not vote than vote for him if he was the only candidate on the ballot. IMO, he says this crap because it gets him air time and because, unfortunately, there are others who believe the same things he does.

PS. IMO, he is not electable... if he makes the ballot, I believe he could impact who is elected (esp if he runs independent and could cause a split in voting) but I just don't see him getting enough votes to be elected.

[Tabby]

Just for perspective, this article was published in CBC today: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/donald-tru ... -1.3356511

One interesting point:

The fact is Trump's poll numbers — between 20 to 30 per cent — only look good because the field is so wide.

The remaining 70 to 80 per cent represents most of the party, but is divided into too many slivers.

Odds are there is no chance of him winning the nomination. But if he runs as an independent, would he have enough supporters to have a serious impact on splitting the vote? I suppose that depends on who actually gets the republican nomination.

[KathyK]

But Trump has, at the moment, done nothing wrong. He has broken no laws with what he's said about Muslims. He is allowed to say what he wants because of the First Amendment

I am glad he has this freedom of speech. I hope that every day, as he continues to say more and more outrageous things, he loses more and more support.

[WheresMyWhite]

I am glad he has this freedom of speech. I hope that every day, as he continues to say more and more outrageous things, he loses more and more support.

He is definitely putting the republican party in a bind with his threat to run independent. If Trump runs independent it is highly unlikely that either he or the republican nominee could win over the democratic nominee. Having said that, I'm not sure that Trump as the republican nominee could win over the democratic nominee anyway. I think the republican party is not always good at trying to figure out who can beat the democrat but more about their own internal politics.

IN MY OPINION

[Tabby]

I should hope that he couldn't win as republican nominee over the democratic nominee no mater who the democrats happen to run. I like to think the majority of Americans are decent people with good sense and that Trump's current ranking in the polls are based on a select group of people. I suspect that those who are not supporting Trump are actually quite opposed to him. And nobody opposing him who isn't already a republican party member is rushing to join. In other words, I think (MY OPINION) that the majority of Americans likely oppose Trump for president.

I also wouldn't say the republican party at large can't figure out who can beat the democrats - they have beat them in the past. But I think this media freak show is going to hurt them, no matter how it turns out. There is so much media attention on Trump, with a few sprinklings here and there about Cruz and Carson, that there's virtually no attention whatsoever on who else is running. Some of these other ones might be pretty good but nobody is going to know. These primaries provide the opportunity for potential candidates to get exposure and become well known to the public. This is absolutely critical if you are going to win over the large number of people who might vote either way in an election. The republican party needs to get a handle on Trump one way or another and either get him out of the spot light or out of the party if they are going to stand a chance. I suspect the latter may be easier.

[Spiritpaws]

I think the Trump Show highlights just how fractured the Republican party is. I don't think there is one Republican candidate that can win the presidential election because the party itself is coming apart from the inside.

[carpevita]

Trump may be the catalyst which brings the gop back to its senses.
But I'm not gonna hold my breath.

[WheresMyWhite]

++ both Spiritpaws and carpe vita



Collectively, IN MY OPINION, the whole party has lost their mind and their way... doesn't mean, however, that I'm voting democrat either

[boots-aregard]

Media hype.

[KathyK]

Everything I've seen and read from Trump supporters points to Trump appealing to the absolute lowest common denominator, people who believe that meaningless hyperbole is evidence of leadership.

[seahorsefarm]

Media hype.

How true. To the extent of pushing coverage of other candidates AND of actual, you know, ISSUES into oblivion.

Every election cycle you think it can't get any more circuslike, but...it manages to somehow.

[WheresMyWhite]

Unfortunately the circus obscures potential candidates that might actually be a good, reasonable choice.

[Tabby]

As for Trump's competition, it looks like Ben Carson wants to arm the US-Canada border with National Guard and military troops. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/b ... -1.3366179. That's not going to be cheap. Has he ever seen a map? Does he have any idea how long this border is? When you read stuff like this you can almost see how Trump has supporters. Almost.