Donald Trump Losing by a Landslide Would Heal the Nation

[babylonsister]

http://time.com/4466108/donald-trump-democracy/

Donald Trump Losing by a Landslide Would Heal the Nation

Cody Cain

10:33 AM ET

snip//

If, on the other hand, Trump suffered an enormous defeat in an overwhelming landslide, well, then, this would send a very different message. And imagine if this landslide also led to the Democratic Party gaining control of the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House, and various state and local governments as well.

Republicans would be forced to face the reality that, in fact, their vile strategies of division and destruction incited the worst instincts in their party, led to the rise of the disastrous Trump candidacy and resulted in utter failure. They would be forced to abandon their scorched-earth tactics, and instead return to the good old-fashioned concept of what our system is all about in the first place. Namely, the Republicans would be forced into focusing less on destroying their opponents, and more on offering positive and constructive ideas of their own. They would also be forced to abandon their “my way or the highway” approach, and instead compromise with the Democrats to forge bipartisan solutions to governing.

Our system would then be returned to balance, and the public trust in our government would be restored. A landslide defeat of Trump would not only dispatch with a dangerous demagogue, but it would also go a long way toward restoring the proper functioning of our democracy.

[sheshe2]

1. Yes. nt

[63splitwindow]

2. +10 Absophuckinglutely!

[Zorro]

3. Excellent article

[Glamrock]

4. Absolutely delusional.

While I agree with the sentiment, I don't believe it's grounded in reality. John McCain lost by almost 200 electoral votes! Did the Republican behavior change after that landslide? No. It got worse. The base of the party is not going to learn any lessons from this election. They will continue to elect representatives that reflect their bigoted anger. I think they have painted themselves into a corner. They are trapped. Their rabid, foam-at-the-mouth base will never let them moderate. We do get to watch the GOP die a slow death as the electorate changes though. So there is that.

[Beartracks]

5. Sadly, I agree. The post-mortem will be...

... "Obviously, Donald Trump wasn't fascist* ENOUGH to energize voters!"

* They will substitute a different word, like patriotic, conservative, etc.






P.S. Alternate outcome: The rabid right will believe the election was rigged, and become unhinged, which is to say, they will be even WORSE than now. Hopefully, however, there will be far fewer of them.

============================

[Glamrock]

6. Yeah. Trump wasn't a true conservative! He's a liberal!

Joe Scarborough is already rolling this shit out.

As far as your alternate outcome is concerned, I believe it will not be an alternate. I believe it will be a piece of the outcome. That's why I think the article is rubbish. These Trump voters are only going to be angrier after the election. I expect more Brats and Gohmers and the like and less Boehnors, McCains, Graham's etc.

[hibbing]

20. yes, not conservative enough

It's always the same, the candidate was not conservative enough. Hell, some of the policies of their Glorious Leader RR would put these batshit crazy nutjobs into a whirling dervish like frenzy.

Peace

[babylonsister]

9. Everything changed when the

teabaggers were introduced. No one was vetted, some of them are vile, and none of them had any experience.
And then there is trump-bad to worse.

[JustAnotherGen]

32. But he lost to

A black man. So they were extra butt hurt.

They are really really going to be butt hurt when HRC wins.


This win will make their "new foaming at the mouth rabid base" double down.

The next 8 years will be a time of strife and division - but I believe it is necessary to move forward as a country.

[NewJeffCT]

38. They'd need to rework the primary process

to something where the superdelegates/party bosses have the real power - back to before the era of primaries came into being.

[Cosmocat]

40. lol - save me the response

That would be my exact reply title ...

[wryter2000]

50. Spot on

Right now, the rwers in the House are maneuvering to get rid of Ryan as speaker because he's not pure enough. These are not people capable of dealing with reality.

[Bigredhunk]

54. 100% Agree

I always argued against those who said the reich wing's crap against Obama was all about racism. Is some of it racist? Sure. Are there plenty of racists in the r party? Sure. But if Hillary is elected, they'll be just as vile. Then people will say it's sexist and/or maybe ageist. Some of it will be. But it's overwhelmingly just plain hatred over the fact that (to them) Democrats are not supposed to be elected president.

Unless they get their asses kicked over and over and over, it's never going to change. They'll still have their hate radio, hate tv, hate publishing, hate message boards. I doubt they ever get beaten down for a long enough time period for them to really change. Not in our lifetimes anyway.

[Glamrock]

55. I don't believe they will ever change.

As the electorate changes they will become less relevant....which will drive the base even crazier...so they elect crazier in the primaries....which makes them less relevant.....which drives the base... until they finally go the way of the Whig party.

[Fast Walker 52]

56. yeah, but that was just after GW Bush... worst president ever

If they had 3 ass-kickings in a row, and the last one was a doozy... they might finally get the fucking message.

[uponit7771]

60. Crap... we can dream no? But yeah... you're right... they'll just make up some other shit about why

... they lost like voter fraud.

[Glamrock]

62. Oh man

I love that dream! Seriously! I just don't see an election loss changing the base in any significant way. Sorry to disappoint...

[uponit7771]

63. The loss has to be Hoover level loss, 80 - 90% dems in congress to the point where the SOTH becomes

... the most powerful person in the US legislatively.

That MIGHT... MIGHT change the way they act ... right now while they have the house they'll just screw everyone over.

[Glamrock]

64. My opinion

is a loss like that would be the end of the GOP and the rise of the Libertarian party. Who knows. Like you said, one can dream.

[Cracklin Charlie]

7. Republicans don't learn.

I wish they could, but it does not seem possible at this point.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. Some do, some don't. Might require collapse of GOP & a newer more responsible party to rise. nt

[Cosmocat]

41. No they don't, in fact

the more wrong they are the more convinced they become in how right they are.

[niyad]

8. maybe he could go skiing at berthoud pass.

[lastlib]

10. They will never face that reality.

It doesn't fit in their bubble. They will spout "rigged elections", "voter fraud", "too many N****rs and Spics voting", "ACORN", "evil libruls", etc. Trump supporters have said that "if Hillary wins, there will be riots and blood running in the street."

I hope he loses by a Goldwateresque landslide, but I do fear the aftermath somewhat because of what the reich-wing is capable of if they become unhinged.

[Chakab]

13. They're still ranting about ACORN the better part of a decade after it ceased to

exist when it was defunded by a Democratically-controlled Congress.

If it's a common belief that a non-existent organization is working to steal elections for Democrats, then what fucking difference is an election result supposed to have on these people?

Anything that they don't like is painted as MSM propaganda or the result of liberal corruption.

[maddiemom]

24. You mean MORE unhinged.

[JustAnotherGen]

33. I welcome the aftermath

I welcome their hatred of me.

They just need to stay off my lawn.

[Chakab]

11. No, it will not. Things are only going to get worse. Trump voters are angry

about the shifting demographics of the country. They've been primed for the state that they're in now by decades of propaganda and denial of fundamental facts about the reality of US and international politics.

I find it mind-boggling that people are still talking about "the fever breaking" eight years after Bush left office when only saw things get progressively worse during Obama's tenure in office. People were writing the exact same thing about Obama's election in '08.

[Cosmocat]

42. I have absolutely no hope

My adult life started in the early 90s, and they have only become bigger and more out and out assholes with each day.

We will NEVER see a "legitimate" democratic president our life because:

1) Republicans have fully adopted at their core this simple binary mindset - conservatism good, liberals bad. They believe anything they do and say, not matter how removed from reality it may be, no matter how hypocritical or nonsensical it may be, is fully justified by god and the founding fathers.

2) This country as a whole will never stop indulging their childish bullshit.

[world wide wally]

12. Yeah, Trump sucks for sure, but there will still be all those stupid supporters of his walking the

streets for some time to come. That is the real problem

[Lil Missy]

14. There are those who will swear it was stolen.

Lotta really dumb people out there.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

25. Esp. since their dumb leader nurtures and feeds that idea. It's almost criminal to nurture it. . .nt

[Major Nikon]

15. To believe this, one has to assume there's a rational thought process behind the GOP

I think it's going to take more than one Trump to burn their house down. They have just too much invested in hate. Take that away and there's just not much left.

[lastlib]

70. Rationality has left the Republikkkan Party.

All that is left is fear and hatred.

Like Emperor Palpatine, they believe that "their hate will make them stronger."

[LS_Editor]

16. Will be very surprised if he does.

With this electorate and all the voting irregularities (or regularities, at this point) we will experience.

[Thunderbeast]

17. I think not.....

A Trump defeat would energize the theocratic tea party wing of the party that will nominate Ted Cruz or Scott Walker. Their analysis will be that a "true believer" has yet to carry the GOP mantle. They are too invested in their anger to moderate.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

23. That wing would become more & more irrelevant & would wither away. Something else would arise. nt

[Blue Owl]

18. Well then let the healing begin...

n/t

[ActiveTen28]

19. 2000 and 2004 going the other way would have healed it too EOM

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. If the Republicans don't reform or another arise, the Democratic Party would split and reform.

There will be a credible party in power and a credible opposition, sooner or later.

Potentially the US may abandon the two party system and go to a more flexible multi-party system, but the duopoly idea is very entrenched.

A duopoly has some of the bad features of a monopoly.

[rusty quoin]

26. I hope Cody Cain is right, but I have no reason to believe it will come true.

The public trust in government has been eroded for 30 years due to right wing radio, and the serious Republicans have embraced it, because it helped them win.

If Trump is blown away in the election, I will be truely happy, and more importantly, if we get both houses along with a blow out, we can get stuff done. But it will take a monumental event, like the Great Depression to change people's minds to finally achieve the common sense we use to have. The Great Recession of 2008 was not enough.

Now, I hope that I'm wrong, and that Cody Cain is right. Though I recall someone saying that the failure of the Iraq War would keep Republicans out of government for a generation.

I actually think the best predictors and manipulators are the powerful uber rich. They play us every time .

[Cosmocat]

43. Yeah

go with your gut on this one ...

[Person 2713]

27. Why is he still polling so close/ high with 2 months to go ? How many crazy haters are there?

Are the polls wrong? Off that much? Who is he attracting that doesn't see hate of all kinds plus stupid crazy in his rhetoric? . Seems plenty think he should be POTUS and a large percentage of the white vote must be behind his ideas to poll that high
which is scary
Be nice to see maybe only 25% trump but doesn't look like it's happeningimo
Let's hope the senate races etc. show a big swing to dem at least
What minimum is considered a landslide ? 60-40?

[Skittles]

29. Hillary Hatred Hysteria

[Person 2713]

31. Yes you are correct I forgot about that . Another group of haters among the trump crowd

[OnDoutside]

36. We all know the heavy guns the Clinton will be employing from mid-Sept onwards, what has Trump got ?

I'm convinced that will have an effect.

[Fast Walker 52]

57. yeah... it's quite disturbing. But how many of these are really committed voters?

[ThoughtCriminal]

28. No matter what happens

Conservatives will react to a landslide loss the same way the have reacted to EVERY outcome in the past generation. They will move further to the right.

This will go on until the Republican party consists entirely of the two angriest men on Earth arguing with each other over which one of them is more conservative than the other.

[Cosmocat]

44. YEP!

nm

[Initech]

30. I don't think so. In fact I think it will make us more divided.

Let's face it - the republicans don't know what they want. They're like the Joker from The Dark Knight. They don't have a plan or goals. They just cause chaos. The republicans are united in that they have a deep, psychotic hatred of Hillary Clinton. Just like the Joker had a deep, psychotic hatred of the Batman. Things will get very heated very quickly.

[Warren DeMontague]

34. Probably not, but it sure wouldnt hurt.

i agree that taking back the house in the process would heal the functionality of the federal government for at least 2 years, and that might arguably be more important.

[pampango]

35. Trump has provided legitimacy and publicity for the racist/nativist far right. Even if

he is defeated in a popular landslide, the far right (with his encouragement) will think it was stolen and double down on their hatred.

We can only hope that a massive rejection from the center of the fear and hate Trump is peddling will, at least, relegate his supporters back to the dark corners of society from whence they came in 2016.

[VOX]

37. Pie-in-the-sky: there's not one sentient being in the GOP base...

Wish it were true, but it should be overtly obvious that the GOP base is a toxic cloud of roiling hate and tooth-grinding fear.
Nothing is too low or extreme for it.

[Cosmocat]

46. YEP

agreed ...

[whatthehey]

39. Two problems. A) He's not going to B) If A is wrong it wouldn't do shit.

Will he lose? Almost certainly, absent credible email leaks of Clinton cheering on ISIS or planning to strangle puppies for fun. But the big red L gives him an unassailable EV total of at least 150 and close to 180, far far in excess of the 64 and 84 losers that did nothing to heal any partisan divide, and in fact much to exacerbate them. And while the Senate's within reach the chance of the House is incredibly slim, and at the remotest best strretch of possibility would give a sliver of a majority impossible to whip into cohesive progressive action as every pissant mauve district Dem Rep could hold up or extort anything by threatening a withheld vote, or if needed defection.

[Gothmog]

47. K&R

[Coolest Ranger]

48. It's not going to, I disagree

For the past three days A trump supporter on facebook has been creating pages, attacking me over my support for secretary clinton as well as attacking me because I'm black. I get six or seven of these guys a month. This shit get old

[heaven05]

49. truth

[louis-t]

51. Sorry, I don't agree.

Repugs will never be "forced" to do anything. They will scream and cry and insult and complain. It will be a generation or more before they decide to compromise in any way. This is a sick bunch.

[lark]

52. Wish this would happen, but don't expect it.

I expect (1) Clinton to win but not in a landslide and not having the House turn blue or (2) Russia to steal the election for Drumpf in a landslide. MSM wants a horse race and will feed negative info on HRC to public to depress the vote for her. Russia has already hacked voting machines in AZ and TX and stole some passwords. Those are ones we know about. How many haven't been discovered yet?

Sorry, I'm feeling paranoid and pessimistic today. I'm also a natural worrier, sigh.

[Person 2713]

71. Illinois was hacked a month ago. They went after new voter registrations that were done online

IP was related to previous Russian probe per the news
What do AZ TX and Il have in common? They may be targeting new Voters of Mexican heritage in states they can get away with it
I am uncomfortable with the hacks + our voting machines regardless their game plan

[TlalocW]

53. When I dream, I want a pony

Not going to happen. The republican party has always been heading toward where it is now. Having a Black man as president just sped them up. If you think the racist assholes running the GOP aren't going to be misogynist assholes when Hillary is elected - no matter how badly they lose at the polls - I have some Trump investment packages I'd like to sell you.

TlalocW

[bora13]

58. something fishy

there is something fishy with t-rump anyhow so just fasten your seatbelt and hang on...

[Volaris]

59. He would have to lose so massively that the shock of it would

Humiliate them for decades. Otherwise, next time their nominee will likely be worse.
Donald is Pennywise the clown; hes playing at being a murdering fuckhead. Unless the message is 'no more murdering fuckheads' these loons will go ahead and nominate John Wayne Gacy.

[uponit7771]

61. It would have to be a Hover level loss and then some cause conservatives came back after Hoover

... with austerity in 1937.

If they lost down ballots as big as the lost the national then they MIGHT... MIGHT pay a little attention

[Person 2713]

69. My thought too - next time their nominee will even be worse

Last edited Wed Aug 31, 2016, 01:51 AM - Edit history (1)

[Buckeye_Democrat]

65. I doubt it.

They're here and they're queer. (Queer means strange or peculiar in this instance, not a sexual preference.)

We need better education and more old people to die off.

[Chakaconcarne]

66. I disagree....

We will see an uptick in home grown terrorism. Some of these people are on the edge.

[JHB]

67. I think you're mistaken (or the artcle is, at least...)

Conservatives have been playing on hot-button issues and prejudices since the 70s to pry apart the Democratic Coalition, and they were successful. In the 90s, no longer having a Soviet bad guy as ready counterpoint, they escalated to openly calling Democrats and liberals traitors under the banners of Newt Gingrich (in government) and Rush Limbaugh (outside it).

Conservatives have been reflexively demonizing anyone outside their bubble for over a generation, and the Republicans have benefited from it. Look at all the "Never Trump" people who act as if The Howler Monkey had just swung down out of nowhere, that they hadn't spent their entire careers building the road he's driving on.

A conservative political consultant named Rick Wilson has a lot of op-eds these days, and he's at least taking with that NeverTrump McNobody's "campaign". That's the same guy who smeared Max Cleland -- a vet who lost both legs in Vietnam -- as being in the same bucket as Osama bin Laden. (You built Trump's voter base Ricky. Eat it.)

When Cheeto Benito loses, his followers are already primed to dismiss it as "rigged" by "voter fraud", and the establishment types will try to pass it off as "Trump was really a Democrat" while others go for the "what we need is a True Conservative" line.

People like to say that if you stand up to a bully they'll back down. That may work with some, but there's another kind that thinks what they want is The Way Things Ought To Be, and they have to be repeatedly beaten back, hard, before it gets through to them that Their Way won't work for them anymore.

Things are looking up, but get ready to spend the next 20 years fighting to make and keep headway.

[kimbutgar]

68. I am still so nervous about Cheeto winning.

Until I turn on Fox Nivember 8th and they say Hillary's been elected by +7 then I will chill.

[oberliner]

72. That's not going to happen

It will be a close election.

[WiffenPoof]

73. Excellent Post. NT