I think you would have risked a 3rd party splitting off. Although the Trumpsters are the minority, they still are a sizable portion of the electorate that votes and is well organized. The Republicans could not win in the short term without them. Yes the Republican party could peel off some moderate Democrats and undecided votes under that scenario........ but not enough.
This. There is a decent number of people that do not want it advertised that they support the rhetoric of Trump but in private will vote for him. People that have a nice home, a nice job in a nice neighborhood do not want to risk giving up their advantages.......and they do not sometimes want poor people or minorities around them..... they like the idea of inclusiveness in theory but not when it can impact their lives or the small comfort bubbles.
Because there is a campaign to label anyone who may vote for him a heretic, even if they don't agree with everything he says. And much of that has been blown out of proportion to make Trump worse than he is. The media has smeared him more than anyone. That means people will silently give the middle finger come election day. So be it.
I agree with the last two post. It's not a defense of Trump to agree that he has been treated very tough by the media. I happen to believe he deserves it and think that the media should be hard on the Presidents in general but in the case of Trump it often seems to get personal. I think that Trump has successfully campaigned on and exploited existing anger at the media by many and I think there are many who might not openly support Trump but do dislike the MSM to want to give them an FU.
Trump's campaign is one of Americanism. I support the president's message that America has been great and can be even better. What the hell is Biden's message? The dude doesn't even know what decade he's in or what office he's running for, who he is, who he's married to, who he's running against... Trump at least isn't the party of the anti-American sentiment and he isn't the party of iconoclasts, extremists, and Marxist losers.
I will add this though that there are people who are ashamed to publicly admit they voted for Trump or might vote for him says a lot about who Trump is.
Many can't not for shame but because people will unfairly target them. They have been scared into silence. The left has a grip on our cancel culture and it's become oppressive to those who don't agree. If people were ashamed of themselves they wouldn't vote. They're not ashamed. They are bullied into silence. And sadly the MOB has no thought behind it. It's mindless and out of control, and the nature of it is dangerous. It's not healthy to see the left, which was once in support of free speech and liberty, become authoritarian. It's very very sad indeed.
There are also a decent amount who are embarrassed by Trump but don't want to face the scorn of their family and friends. Some of those people realize They are no better off with Trump than they were with Obama so Biden is not the boogie man. What are you basing this decent number on and why would giving their vote in a poll ruin their anonymity?
I will point out that many of the sources you have cited including the one today, themselves say there is still a possibility of Trump victory. Also again none of this is predicated on armies of Trump voters. As stated before it actually doesn't take that much of a shift for Trump to win the election through the electoral college. Trump won't win the popular vote. If you want a critical look at Trump's support I think that is pretty obvious. He's going to lose support in states that he won comfortably last time like Texas. He could lose a lot of votes in TX and GA. It's questionable if that will be enough to lose those states. He's trailing in all of the battleground states but demographics still favor the GOP and further on issues favor him. Speaking from my own view in a state that Trump barely lost neighboring a state very similar that Trump barely won the issues of suspicion regarding immigration and law and order resonate a lot with rural and exurban voters. The hidden Trump vote was prevalent in Minnesota as no polls leading up to the election showed that Trump had a chance of winning the state yet he came close. Regarding Clutchfans, yes Clutchfans is very anecdotal, but it should be telling how many here claim to have not voted, and won't vote for Trump, yet still defend him. Further a vote for a third party will likely benefit Trump.
Our employment was better. Much better save for a worldwide meltdown with a pandemic. Our country also stood up to China which Obama couldn't do. WTH are you on about no better than with Obama. That's a bold faced lie. Obama was a failed admin.
"They're incapable of being transparent, of accepting criticism, of allowing reporters to ask them questions that they find uncomfortable" - Pompeo
Why does the "MOB" have that sort of power? If much of culture didn't support that mob there wouldn't be that sort of power.
Victimhood is real folks. The history books will forever be talking about the oppressed silenced Trump voters.
I think there's a need to be careful to distinguish between "defending" the Presidency as an institution (and by implication whoever the current President is) and "Trump" specifically (as President). Those are not the same thing.
True, but a lot of the defense of Trump is defending Trump specifically and not just the institution. I mean you can also criticize Trump with defending the institution.
I get that, but as probably the number one person to get accused of being a "Trump supporter," "Trump voter," or "Trump apologist" on this forum, I am particularly attuned to the likelihood of being misunderstood consistently on this point.
What does that have to do with anything I have said? I have consistently said Trump has a chance to win, who is saying Trump does not have a chance to win? You once again are spouting things that happened in 2016 and ignoring what has happened since and in 2016 he won all of those states with less than 100,000 votes combined over 3 states. You also don't talk about how he barely won NC and FLA, I addressed the hidden vote in 2016 but you have not addressed the fact some of those hidden votes have turned against Trump (Independents). The real reason Trump won in 2016 was not the hidden vote but low voter turnout in Mich and Penn. There is no real 3rd party candidate this time around and those voters are more willing to vote for Biden than Hillary. Once again Trump one because of less than 100,000 votes over 3 states, those people that the message of law and order and immigration allready are baked in, why do you never address the fact that he has lost supporters and democrats are far more likely to get out and vote do you think enthusiasm is not higher t6o erae that 100,000 vote margin?