What happens if Trump wins?

It does to Trump supporters

Yes, agreed.

just as Brexit did to Brexit supporters and not to Cameron and his team.

Nor lots of other people.

'That does not make him a Good Thing.'

It does to Trump supporters, just as Brexit did to Brexit supporters and not to Cameron and his team.

It is amazing the forces ranged against him.

He is such a gallant little underdog.

"Barack Obama is clearly terrified by the prospect of a Trump presidency

Under practically any other circumstances, what Barack Obama just did would strike many people as entirely inappropriate.

The sitting president denounced one of the two major candidates to succeed him in the office as "unfit to serve" and suggested that he wouldn’t be able to "function as president."

Obama suggested that, unlike past presidential nominees of both parties, Donald Trump is uniquely lacking in "basic knowledge," "basic decency," "judgment," and "temperament." He implied Trump wouldn’t respect the United States’ "norms and rules," its "constitutional traditions," or the "rule of law.""

www.vox.com/2016/8/2/12353410/obama-trump-unfit

They are pulling out all the stops to prevent Trump winning. But I doubt it will work for them.

millions of people support Trump

That does not make him a Good Thing.
See shit and flies...

Not only does Trump have to fight the left wing media, CNN, the BBC etc, but he also has to fight Fox. It is amazing the forces ranged against him, but I am fairly certain he will still make it.

Liney, troll hunting, too clever by half.

'Claig' writes in different styles which suggests a collective.

'You said that about ukip in the general election.'

I never said they would win the general election, how could they against the Establishment? I was surprised that they got half the votes that the 116 year old Labour Party got.

You said that about ukip in the general election.

onething, millions of people support Trump.

I think he will still win even though the media and Republican elite are against him. I think he will win the people's vote despite all the bad publicity.

My secret hope is that Claig is just a troll stirring up support for the opposite of what they're writing.

Because that's all it does to me inside.

I think Trump is dangerous and would be a disgrace to the office but there really is a limit to what he can do. He and Pence cannot overturn Roe v Wade. All they can hope to do is fill enough vacancies on the supreme court with justices likely to overturn it - or chisel away at it. But he can't just get any nutjob onto the supreme court. Congress has to approve. Really the US constitution is a good system of checks and balances. And even then, the most conservative judge can be surprising

This is true, Canyou. It's the same thing I keep trying to tell our right wing friends about the 2nd Amendment which they are all 1000% convinced Hillary is going to (literally) 'throw out' of the Constitution. Throw. it. out. all. by. herself. Some of them are voting for Trump on that one single premise, even though they think he will NOT be good for the country on any other issue. And I quote one of them "Fuck, Trump's an asshole. But I'm voting for him because Hillary is going to TAKE MY GUNS!". Sigh, you can't fix stupid.

The real fear, to me, is not so much the stacking of the Supreme Court as the fear of having a GOP House and Senate. This could lead to any number of 'road block' laws that, whilst not abolishing RvW, could make accessing abortion services next to impossible for all but those with the means to travel and/or pay cash. Same for gun control legislation, it could be blocked or watered down to the point of being ineffective.

The Supreme Court stacking is scary. But as you say, any judge can 'jump ship' as it were, if the case warrants it.

Read something earlier but can't find it now but found this.

www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/07/31/is-donald-trump-ok-erratic-behaviour-raises-mental-health-questions.html

Canyou, yes, I did think/hope that how he commented about the bereaved parents of a fallen soldier was beyond the pale and hopefully (if that is an appropriate work in the context of a family having lost their son) that was an indiscretion too far and quite damaging for him, even in his own camp.

I know that many Republican voters are rather horrified to find themselves in a position to either have to vote for Trump or Clinton

There must be some kind of mechanism to prevent somebody with, say, a past history of paranoid schizophrenia from having access to the Big Red Button, surely? Some kind of medical fitness?

Personality disorder or even just certain traits in keeping with personality disorders would be much more difficult to pin down (not talking about anybody specifically, natch ).

Well, lets hope that enough people respect Barack's opinion, then.

Oh, and I don't mean Hillary!

Does Obama's opinion matter? Serious question - does the outgoing president have any say on the suitability of the other candidates??

nope. he gets a vote same as any other citizen.

I believe the only qualifications to run as president are that you are born a US citizen and are over 35.

I think Trump is dangerous and would be a disgrace to the office but there really is a limit to what he can do. He and Pence cannot overturn Roe v Wade. All they can hope to do is fill enough vacancies on the supreme court with justices likely to overturn it - or chisel away at it. But he can't just get any nutjob onto the supreme court. Congress has to approve. Really the US constitution is a good system of checks and balances. And even then, the most conservative judge can be surprising.

The news here over the past few days has been all over the furor caused by Trump's refusal to acknowledge the sacrifice of the muslim family whose son died saving his fellow soldiers and who was awarded the purple heart. He made a comment about the man's mother saying something like "the wife just stood there, I suppose she wasn't allowed to speak" - meaning because she was muslim. Oh, and he and his son both commented on the Fox news sexual harrassment scandal when they were asked how they would feel if that happened to Ivanka by saying "well that would't happen to Ivanka because she is a strong woman". So only weak women get sexually harrassed. Megyn Kelly is going nuts over this one.

The elites and the establishment are certainly running scared - along with anyone with an ounce of decency and human kindness.

I suspect John McCain is about to officially break ranks and "unendorse" him. A republican congressman just announced he is voting for Clinton.

Does Obama's opinion matter? Serious question - does the outgoing president have any say on the suitability of the other candidates??

Dogwood It doesn't matter in a 'follow-me-blindly' way and of course he doesn't have any 'technical' say. But I think it has influence with the voting public. If a voter thinks of Obama as a good president with policies they agree with, and if that person accepts the premise that someone who has been a good president would have 'insider knowledge' of what it takes to be a good president, then yes, his opinion would matter (to that person). That's why same-party candidates generally seek the endorsement of the outgoing president. The only exception I can think of to that (within my 'voting memory') was GW Bush. If memory serves he kept a pretty low profile during the '08 election and neither Republican candidate actively sought his endorsement.

I think the 'measure of fitness' is entirely subjective to each voter. We all want someone we consider upstanding who espouses policies that we believe in. And unfortunately one person's 'ideal' candidate is another person's megalomaniac.

Being a megalomaniac is a pretty common accusation. I can remember the Bushes being accused of wanting to found 'a Presidential Dynasty', and both Bill Clinton and Obama have been accused of intending to 'abolish the next election' and declaring themselves 'President for Life'. This election is the first one in which I actually believe we may be in danger of having someone who just might want to do that.

Says it all really!

Just leaving this here:

m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_579f8fb7e4b08a8e8b5ed586

I am terrified of a Trump victory, for its effect on the Supreme Court if nothing else. He and Pence have vowed to overturn Roe v Wade, just for starters. The man is currently being sued for raping a 13 year old, an event to which there is a witness. His own ex-wife wrote about him raping her. The man is a danger to women, personally and politically.

A US rapprochement with an expansionist Russia? The crumbling of NATO? This will lead to peace? A man who has spent months pumping out poisonous racist rhetoric against Muslims will make the febrile political situation in the Middle East better?

A man whose campaign is full of lies, as proven by independent fact checkers, whose campaign has been promoted by notoriously untruthful right wing journalism? A man whose advisers yesterday accused a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq and the owner of a Purple Heart of being a Islamic fundamentalist who hadn't managed to fulfil his mission before he was shot protecting his troops?

A man with no control over himself, what he says and how he reacts to others, with control over the nuclear button? I can't sleep at night.

Does Obama's opinion matter? Serious question - does the outgoing president have any say on the suitability of the other candidates??

And, is there any kind of measure of what makes a candidate 'fit for office'?
If a megalomanic person simply achieve candidacy by dint of their wealth and rhetoric (just generally speaking, of course ), does that render them 'unfit'??

Obama says Trump unfit to be president - breaking story

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36958126?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central

Based on recent history, the Democrats should be more worried (and campaign accordingly) about election rigging than the Republicans.

Although, Trump doesn't seem to have relatives as Governors in key States.

But, considering all the crap Trump has been involved with, I wouldn't put it past him rigging the election in some way. People usually tend to accuse others of doing what they do themselves.

Reminds me of the stupid useapen campaign before the referendum with lots of predictions that the result would be fixed in some way. Clearly Trump thinks he is going to lose, but as we know, he may be wrong about that.

[clings onto belief in the shining city on the hill]