Trump might not make it to election day

[Cyrano]

One need not be a psychiatrist to see that there's something radically wrong with Trump. No one can control what he decides to say or do and he's obviously surrounded by people who tell him how great he is.

Given his behavior to date, he may well do something so openly demented before election day that even the GOP leadership will be forced to disown him. I have no idea what that "something" might be, but he seems capable of anything.

Imagine him on a debate stage with Hillary. Given his temperment, I hope that the Secret Service watches him as closely as they watch those around him.

[get the red out]

1. I agree with you

I am afraid he won't be able to emotionally handle a woman who can strongly oppose him.

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

13. "strongly oppose him"

That's putting it mildly... She'll obliterate him in a debate setting.

[get the red out]

15. Absolutely!

And I am afraid he might try to punch her or something.

[47of74]

26. Strong women send douche cannons like Cheeto Benito...

....running screaming to defend their manly territory.

[Still In Wisconsin]

44. Cheeto Benito...

That's the best one yet.

[cali]

2. Yep. It's a distinct possibility. In fact, I'd make a bet that he won't.

[Siwsan]

3. I can easily imagine him getting so flustered, during a debate, that he walks off of the stage

Especially if the moderators are insisting that he stay on topic and answer the questions given, not the ones he wanted to hear.

These might be debates where the audience will have a REALLY difficult time not reacting in a disruptive manner.

[MANative]

11. Swear to god, I had a dream that this happened.

Questions got too tough for him and he stalked off stage, leaving Hillary to command the rest of the "debate" by herself. The moderators at first didn't know what to do, but then the lead moderator, Gwen Ifill, said, "Let's continue." Hillary smiled broadly. That's when I woke up. Almost felt like a premonition!

[renate]

22. I think this is a very real possibility

I like your dream!

If he doesn't tantrum off, I wonder if his microphone will have a switch they can use to cut him off if he interrupts too much. Which may or may not be a good thing... letting him talk might be even better.

[MANative]

24. Makes me wonder if the moderator will have a contingency plan in place for that possibility.

It would be a wise precaution! I honestly believe it's a 50-50 shot that he'd bail if it got too hot.

[world wide wally]

4. Just watch his mannerisms and facial expressions.

Everything he does is almost a charicature of a normal person doing the same thing. One of the worst over-actors I have ever seen. But maybe he honed his acting skills on WWE where over-acting is a requirement.
That, or he's just fucking nuts.

[0rganism]

5. it does raise the question, "how can he possibly outdo himself again tomorrow?"

eventually he's going to have to eat a live bat on stage or drop trou and take a dump on the podium or something

still won't alienate his fan base.

[Brainstormy]

6. My money says

He will never be on a debate stage with Hillary Clinton. Nor will he ever release his taxes.

[SCantiGOP]

7. I agree with both of those points, Brainstormy

But I also strongly believe there is no way he will quit or be taken off the ticket.

[Cyrano]

8. You may be right

I have trouble picturing him in a one-on-one debate where he's not in control.

[homegirl]

21. I agree with your Mom.

Trump may well walk off the stage during the first five minutes of the first debate, he will carry on that the questions were "gotcha's" and the moderators favored "Crooked Hillary." He is refusing to release his tax returns because this is his ticket to drop out at the latest possible moment. He will blow and bluster about "invading his privacy."

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. I expect him to talk out of turn.....

Then again, I exppect him to storm off the stage.

[ailsagirl]

18. They'll have to implement frequent "time-outs" when his behavior warrants it

And place a big old stool in the corner and make him sit there awhile (after donning the dunce cap)

[Spitfire of ATJ]

33. You mean the Klan hat.

[ailsagirl]

58. My mistake-- yes, the klan hat

[gratuitous]

10. Yeah, we're getting closer to this

[standingtall]

12. Please stop setting the bar so low for Trump in the debates

If he doesn't run off the stage in tears which he probably wont. His supporters as well as the media will try to spin that as a victory for him. I expect him to tell a bunch of lies like Mitt Romney did in his first debate with Obama and I expect Hilary to be ready to call him on them. Although he will probably tell even bigger lies than Romney did.

[Cyrano]

14. I worry about him physically attacking her

Who knows what he'd do given how he perceives women and being confronted by a strong one like Hillary.

[Ligyron]

46. The funny part would be if she kicked his ass.

[forgotmylogin]

55. He hasn't the balls.

He gets other people to do what he wants.

I would laugh if he tried to start the "lock her up" chant and was met with crickets and a withering sidelong glance from HRC.

[Iliyah]

27. First, T-rump has to be on stage. I don't see that happening unless. . . .

fake news have full control with Hannity at the helm.

[standingtall]

56. Candidates that are losing in the polls don't skip on debates

He is going to need a hail Mary and the debates might be his only shot. Which isn't a good one,because Hilary will crush him in the debates. There will be enormous pressure put on Trump to participate in the debates by republicans if he is losing by then and it looks like he will be. Not doing the debates will pretty much be conceding the election. Only politicians who are ahead in the polls have historically gotten away with blowing off the debates.

[Glamrock]

59. Candidates for president don't throw babies out of rallies.

Insult the families of dead hero soldiers.
Invite foreign governments to commit espionage against his own country.
Refuse to disavow white nationalist support.
Refuse to release tax returns.
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
Ad infinitum.

[tobytobe]

16. Hello from first time poster

As they say, long time listener (since the 2004 primaries), first time caller. Although I strongly opposed Bush, McCain, Romney, etc. I can honestly say that no GOP presidential nominee has truly scared me, until now. Trump is a existential threat to the US, and must not be elected. DU has been a source of comfort in these scary times. Thank you.

[Cyrano]

17. Welcome to DU

Right now, it looks like Trump is self-destructing. But it's all sound and fury 'til election day.

[renate]

19. whoops--replied in the wrong place

[renate]

20. welcome to DU!

Glad you're joining in!

[47of74]

28. Yeah compared to Orange Hitler Romney looks reasonable and moderate

[Loki]

62. Hello and welcome!

I've been here since 2001 right after the *selection. We may not always agree, but we do believe that the GOP is a danger to this country in it's current form, and we must do everything we can to make sure sane, competent people are elected to office and the more Democrats, the better.

[randome]

23. Give the man a break! Imagine all the stress he's under creating hundreds of thousands of jobs!

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Meredith McIver approves of this post.[/center][/font][hr]

[groundloop]

36. You forgot the sarcasm thingy.... just in case someone didn't catch on !!

[Quiet_Dem_Mom]

25. If he bows out, it may be too late to get his name off of ballots

I imagine the states probably need to start sending overseas ballots out in the very near future.

Even if he bows out, I doubt the states would have time or the desire to eat the cost of re-doing the ballots even if there was enough time to send reprinted ballots out.

Anybody with specific knowledge?

[47of74]

32. When Mark Foley had to drop out

When Mark Foley had to drop out in late September 2006 it was already too late to reprint the ballots with the GOP's replacement candidate Joe Negron's name. So Foley's name remained on the ballot and votes for him went to Negron, who lost the election to Tim Mahoney.

I think it would depend on the jurisdiction as to whether they could still reprint or not.

[Quiet_Dem_Mom]

49. Here's a recent article (yesterday) on GOP candidate replacement procedure:

Just did a generic search for replacing candidates and this article popped up first! Gee, wonder why?

http://cnb.cx/2axB0Nu

Rule 9 of the Republican National Committee rules governs "Filling Vacancies in Nominations," and stipulates that should the party's presidential or vice presidential candidate leave the ticket for whatever reason, the hole may be filled either by a reconvening of the national convention or by the party committee itself. The vice presidential nominee is not given any preferential consideration.

Should the committee elect to fill the vacancy — a seemingly more likely scenario given the logistics involved in organizing a second convention — Republican National Committee members representing a given state are entitled to cast the same number of votes as that state was entitled to at the convention. If the RNC members from any state are not in agreement about casting of their votes, the votes of that state are divided equally among members of the RNC voting.

The final stipulation of the rule is that no candidate may be chosen to fill a vacancy except by receiving a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in the RNC election.

So, it sounds like the GOP may be screwed going down either path: Stuck with Trump or starting over.

Excuse me, while I

[Maeve]

42. The generally accepted "quit by" date is September 1

the deadline here in Ohio for names on the ballot was yesterday, PA's deadline for replacement is August 25.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/08/05/if-trump-quits-gop-will-have-very-tough-time-replacing-him/?utm_term=.c4d496bb2f1b

[NCcoast]

29. I've been thinking the same thing. He's flirting with political suicide.

Narcissism is born out of insecurity. There's a little voice inside Donald's head that's whispering 'You don't really want this, you're going to crash and burn in the most horrific fashion.' He's attempting to either make himself unelectable or forcing the hand of the GOP to somehow suspend his campaign. He's looking for a way out which doesn't make it appear like he quit. That's my opinion.

[groundloop]

40. True, but tRump doesn't give a rats ass about a political career after this

He'll just go back to his empire where he'll screw working people and small businesses out of wages and payments to which they're entitled. He'll just live in comfort counting his Billions and Billions of dollars (unless he's lying to us about what he's worth - tRump wouldn't possibly do that would he?)

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. he seems drugged or "low energy"

[Egnever]

31. Trump doesn't want to be president.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

37. Tell him he'll look OLD fast and he'll freak.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

34. He is a loose cannon, that's clear.

His ego is boundless, and he honestly thinks, so far as I can tell, that he would be a good President, the best President ever. Plus, he's inside the campaign bubble where he hears nothing but encouragement for his behavior. If he even sees the current polling, his sycophants will be telling him the polls are rigged, not getting to the people who will actually be voting for him.

My concern in a debate is that he will say some of the truly offensive things he's already come out with about other women, and then stand there looking smug while Clinton tries to ignore what was said or worse, to reason with him.

[groundloop]

35. Hell, he can't go much lower than he already has.... Inciting followers to assassinate his opponent

You can't really think tRump has the capacity to do any physical violence himself do you? I doubt that he has the physical ability to do much more than stumble and fall, plus he never lifts a finger for himself anyway.

But then again he keeps proving us wrong, just when you think he can get any worse, and that his handlers might just have him somewhat under control he goes and proves us all wrong.

[Renew Deal]

38. Hillary should bait him at the debates

It should be easy to do

[leftyladyfrommo]

52. I will bet you that he never does the debates.

He can't. He can't begin to hold his own. Hillary would wipe the floor with him.

He has to find a way out.

[left-of-center2012]

39. I predict: He'll pull a rabbit out of his ass ...

Say that the election is rigged, and walk off the debate stage.
(Or, maybe not)

But I betcha the TV audience will be HUGE, wanting to watch what happens.

[PuppyBismark]

41. Or he may start disclosing classified info

And Hillary tells him to stop and requests the moderator to cut his microphone. Then the secret service comes out and removes him from the stage.

Bring lots of popcorn.

[George II]

45. Donald........DUCK!!!!!

[George II]

43. Think about rewording that subject line.

[jdwhite0726]

47. Dumpster Fire

Trump is a total dumpster fire. He's a danger to this country and his reckless attitudes, POV's and his bigoted rhetoric will destroy this economy and set back decades of progressive thought and economic growth.

[billpolonsky]

48. Always remember...

The Republicans voted for this man over all others to be their party representative. If they have sticker shock it is on them. This is today's Republican party. Like a pustule ready to pop.

Check out this great interview From Democracy Now! 07/09/16 with David Cay Johnston. Video and transcript of the interview at the link...

From the web link "began covering Donald Trump in the 1980s when he was working as the Atlantic City reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Johnston’s new book, "The Making of Donald Trump," looks at a side of Trump seldom covered in the press: his ties to the mob, drug traffickers and felons."

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/10/donald_doesnt_know_anything_author_david

[bucolic_frolic]

50. Beware Bulgarian Umbrella technology

don't shake hands with him

[Doodley]

51. What we are looking at is a man having a mental breakdown. Normally that happens in private or in

front of family and the man would be institutionalized for his own protection and the safety of others. But we are seeing a man's mental state deteriorate before the eyes, not just of his family, but the whole of America and across the whole planet.

So, will he make it to the election? Yes, it has been decided that a man who is delusional, who has fits of rage, who has multiple identities and who has lost all grip on reality should be able to have his chance to get his hands on the nuclear codes.

[BlueStreak]

53. It is time to speak openly about the problem. This man is having a mental breakdown before our eyes

He needs help. The GOP should get him off the ticket. Run Mike Pence or Paul Ryan if they must. Those guys may be horribly misguided, but they are not in full-on Donald Sterling mode as Trump is.

[Thinkingabout]

54. He has proven he can say anything, make any motion, and even if he came out and

Said he was supporting Hillary he would still have Republican supporters, they are blind to his antics.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

57. re: Trump might not make it to election day

All it would take would be for the guy who reminds him to breathe to call out sick.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

60. I bet the Secret Service took away his gun.

[kskiska]

61. If he has an audience to play to at a debate

his fans will be whooping and hollering, egging him on, which is what he thrives on. If there's no audience, he dies. I doubt he'd agree to a debate with no audience.