Donald Trump begins contemplating the unthinkable: He might lose

[kpete]

............

Is it possible that Donald Trump has begun to contemplate his own political mortality? Is it possible that Trump, who had previously boasted to GOP primary audiences that he would beat Hillary Clinton “easily” — has begun to contemplate the possibility that he might lose the presidential election?


..................

Now Trump and his top supporters have taken this a step further, explicitly saying that the process by which Clinton will have been elected, should she win, will itself be illegitimate. It is obvious that Trump will only amplify this idea if the polls continue to show that he is probably going to lose, and that Clinton is probably going to prevail.

Given that a sizable bloc of GOP voters is apparently willing to agree with Trump on pretty much everything, it’s plausible that a sizable bloc of them will be open to being convinced that the outcome of the presidential election was illegitimate — and that Clinton, should she win, is not legitimately the president. Trump will presumably have something of a national following after this is all over — one that remains deeply in thrall to Trumpism’s nativism, protectionism, white nationalism, and all-around deranged conspiracy-mongering — and it’s not hard to imagine Trump continuing to speak to that following by castigating President Clinton’s illegitimacy.

Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and other GOP leaders should be asked whether they think it is appropriate for Trump to be trying to convince millions of his supporters — millions of Republican voters — that the outcome of the presidential election is shaping up as a potentially illegitimate one.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/08/02/donald-trump-begins-contemplating-the-unthinkable-he-might-lose/

[tonyt53]

1. But you cant convince crazy people that they aren't crazy by trying to be reasonable with them.

[MrScorpio]

2. Where are the "unscrewed polls?"

Trump needs a statistical wubby.

[cbdo2007]

3. He'll drop out of the race before he loses.

Watch as Clinton continues to rise in the polls and Trump continues to drop, it will show like 80% chance of Clinton victory and Trump will claim it is all rigged and will drop out. It will happen before the debates, because obviously those are rigged too. It's obvious he's setting up something.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

5. Oh please - tell me Romney waiting in wings. HAHAHAHAH

[cbdo2007]

7. Is this your first experience with Trump? Trump doesn't lose. He runs home with his ball.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

11. thought you said he would drop out

[sorefeet]

13. Now that was cool

Laura PourMeADrink. Where'd they go.

[PatSeg]

4. For republicans

any Democratic president is illegitimate in some respect. They never accepted Bill Clinton and of course, Barack Obama is a Muslim Kenyan. As soon as a Democrat gets elected, they start plotting on his/her impeachment.

Republicans have to be the world's worst losers.

[Wounded Bear]

6. Pretty much the same group of idiots...

who never accepted that Pres Obama was legitimate. They are wrongfully convinced that they are some kind of "silent majority." They are not the majority, and I sure wish they would STFU and be silent.

Democracy has one important facet that many on the right choose not to accept. You have to accept the results of elections. That 30-40% can choose to ignore the results of an election and declare it illegitimate is breaking down the system. We've seen that for 8 years under Obama, it will get worse under Hillary, I fear.

I get tired of the complaining and whining, especailly those who choose not to accept the results of elections and think that because they are unsatisfied, that the winner is somehow divisive. No, the people choosing to stand outside of the system are the divisive ones, not those elected by the majority of our citizens.

[trotsky]

12. ^^^ This.

Exactly what I was thinking as I read it. They pushed the birther nonsense the whole time, why the hell wouldn't they latch onto this to discredit Hillary?

We are getting into seriously scary territory here.

[kimbutgar]

8. I wish that Clinton would reinstate the fairness doctrine when elected

Shut down the majority of right wing hate radio and make our airwaves equal and balanced.

[panader0]

10. Welcome to DU Mats.