Audio leak shows Trump bragging about groping women

[VaderBomb]

The establishment's patsy strikes again.

[The Legend]

If Trump did drop out, then Hillary wins straight up or is there any other scenario?

The Republicans would throw in another nominee last minute (probably Mitt Romney), but there's basically zero shot he'd win.

The most likely scenario would probably Pence becomes the Presidential nominee and he'd pick somebody different to be VP, also even if the Republicans didn't choose a replacement Clinton would still have to beat Johnson and Stein in the election. She would beat them, but they'd still hold the election.

[KaiserGlider]

So I think there's several reasons why this is creating a much bigger shitstorm than the other Trumpisms (which the media also blasted him for constantly.)

It's an unedited recording of Trump clearly saying that he can't stop himself from trying to fuck other men's wives, during a time when Melania was several months pregnant with Trump's son. The stuff he has publically said during his campaign could be spun as him saying it just to appeal to the crazies and that he won't/can't actually enforce it, or that it was taken out of context by the media to misrepresent him, or that it's just an allegation and there's no concrete evidence for it. There's no way to spin this. He's speaking about women in general and not targeting a specific individual like Rosie O'Donnell. He's describing something he has personally done, in detail, and everyone can hear it. For these reasons I think this paints a clearer picture of who Donald Trump really is more than a lot of his other "moments" on and off-camera.

And as other people have pointed out, women are a much bigger group than minorities. The Republican base may not give a shit about Muslims or Illegal Mexicans, but these comments hit much closer to home and go against their supposed values. Also the timing of this is really close to election time and REALLY close to the second Trump/Hllary debate tonight, so this is really becoming a straw that could break the camel's back.

[Messiah]

Donald Trump has no chance of winning this election.

[KaiserGlider]

Donald Trump has no chance [IN HELL] of winning this election.

Trump looked defeated at the beginning of the debate. The whole thing felt eerie.

Did Trump actually answer any questions tonight? Seems like all he did was take a topic and talk about how Hillary/Obama/Democrats screwed it up and made it the worst thing ever, or talk about something completely irrelevant.

And I love how on the last question Hillary didn't say something good about Trump himself, and the debate ended with Tump praising Hillary.

[The Legend]

Did Trump actually answer any questions tonight? Seems like all he did was take a topic and talk about how Hillary/Obama/Democrats screwed it up and made it the worst thing ever, or talk about something completely irrelevant.

That's the only thing you can do when you've run an entire campaign based on no actual facts or strategies for how to accomplish anything.

[Suit&Tie]

Did Trump actually answer any questions tonight? Seems like all he did was take a topic and talk about how Hillary/Obama/Democrats screwed it up and made it the worst thing ever, or talk about something completely irrelevant.

That's the only thing you can do when you've run an entire campaign based on no actual facts or strategies for how to accomplish anything.

Wrong. I do have a comprehensive strategy. It's called Making America Great Again. You can read all the specifics and details here.

[DBSoT]

^ Trump is enough of a narcissist that I could totally see him being behind this account.

[Twister]

He's such an odious little man.

[Hanley!]

Today Trump is getting criticised over the hypocrisy of referring to his comments as mere "locker room talk". Apparently back in 2010 he fired Maria Kanellis (yep, the pro-wrestler) from Celebrity Apprentice for "locker room talk".

Link to story

This election is amazing.

[DBSoT]

Even though I am very confident that Clinton will win, I am still going to have a knot in my stomach all day on November 8th. Mostly in the fear of Donald Trump possibly becoming president and the realization that I am rooting for Hillary Clinton as the better option (ugh!). As much as I hate Trump on every level imaginable, I am really pissed off at 2 other republicans, Mike Pence and Mitt Romney. These two guys could have saved this election at various points and actually help their party save some level of face. If Mitt would have ran, he would have wiped the floor with Trump and likely would have given Hillary Clinton a very good run for her money. Actually, considering how close he was against Obama, he would probably have beat Hillary as well. Secondly, Pence is already a piece of shit based on his ridiculous social policies, but he could have done something worthwhile if he would have pulled out of the election after Sunday. The second that Trump went on the debate stage and admitted that he and Pence haven't talked, a day after his "locker talk" scandal, should have been the last straw. He could have left with a legitimate excuse, that would have let him save some face. This was days after he got completely fucked by Trump in the VP debates. He tried as hard as possible to actually talk policy (regardless of whether you agree with them), but every time Trump's name came up, he was forced to try to defend something he clearly wasn't fine with. Seriously, watch his body language, he hated every time Trump's name was uttered. He had the chance to stand in front of the world and say, enough is enough, but he bitched out. Trump is essentially Pence's popular high school boyfriend. He knows Trump is an asshole, but he defends all Trump's shit because of the status it can bring him.

[Hanley!]

I reckon Pence could have set himself up really well as a potential presidential nominee for 2020 if he had dropped out. He'd have the rub of being a former VP nominee, and could promote himself as the Republican candidate with the most principles during the 2016 debacle (I'm soooo not saying that I think that, but he'd get away with presenting himself that way).

But the prospect of potentially being Vice President in a couple of months must have been too tempting to pass up. I can't say that I'm too sad really. It's not like I'd want to see the guy as President.

The Republican Party is self destructing at the moment, which is kinda amazing to see unfold.

[Everlong]

If Mitt would have ran, he would have wiped the floor with Trump and likely would have given Hillary Clinton a very good run for her money.

Nah, not a chance he'd have beaten Trump. The vast majority of the far-right fringe group voting Trump sees Romney as a failure for not beating Obama and a traitor to the party. Romney would have MAYBE stood a chance if there was a contested convention, but there was zero chance of him ever defeating Trump in the primaries.

As far as Pence goes... I mean, we've known forever that he's a disgusting slimeball so I guess I don't know what to tell you there

[Ali]

If Mitt would have ran, he would have wiped the floor with Trump and likely would have given Hillary Clinton a very good run for her money.

Nah, not a chance he'd have beaten Trump. The vast majority of the far-right fringe group voting Trump sees Romney as a failure for not beating Obama and a traitor to the party. Romney would have MAYBE stood a chance if there was a contested convention, but there was zero chance of him ever defeating Trump in the primaries.

Honestly, the problem for the Republicans was that there were too many nominees in the primaries.

Look, pretty much everyone on the planet knew that Hillary Clinton was going to be the 2016 Democratic Party Presidential Nominee. Joe Biden didn't want to do it, Bernie Sanders came out of nowhere to put up a damn good fight, but he was an Independent more than a Democrat who became a DINO just to get some of his platforms on the ticket, which worked. But it was a given that Hillary would get the nod. Whether it was rigged or not is another debate, I personally don't think so, but let's move on.

So, the Republicans know Hillary's going to be the nominee. They also know that Hillary is a notoriously bad campaigner. She has skeletons in her closet, a lot of people think she rides solely on name brand recognition, and she's just not that good at connecting with the general populace. She does well once she's in office, but on the campaign trail, she's generally a poor performer. So with all of this, the GOP knows they can take back the White House if they just put up a solid nominee, and they have plenty of options to choose from.

Some would say, too many options.

Ted Cruz, the face of the "Tea Party" movement that could spin himself as leading a "courageous" shutdown of the government, not giving in to that darn Obama.

Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House, very credible, knows what's going on, can be seen as more middle-ground and bipartisan, reaching undecideds.

Jeb! Bush, has the name recognition, decent politician, seen as the smarter Bush brother, and we got the dumb one elected, so this wouldn't be too hard.

Marco Rubio, the young Latino Senator from Florida! Now this would really signal a good shift for the party, he could be the Republican Obama and reach a broader demographic.

John Kasich, the moderate Governor of Ohio. He could sell himself to the general electorate, pledging to work with both parties to make a better future for America.

The GOP had all of these choices, and more. They could all have performed reasonably well against Hillary, and we would've had a Republican in the White House again. But they all wanted to be the one. They all wanted to be the guy to take down Hillary Clinton, one of their biggest enemies since 1992. And as such, the party, and the voters, could not reach a consensus as to WHICH reasonable nominee should go up against her.

And then along comes Donald Trump, pledging to Make America Great Again! He's not PC, he's not one of these established politicians, he's a guy who says and does whatever he wants! And he goes out and runs for President, saying all of this nonsense about building a wall, kicking out the Mexican Muslims, all of this kind of quasi-racist rhetoric that speaks to the Fringe. The Fringe that doesn't like how things are going in America, that thinks that jobs are being taken away from good, honest, hard-working folk and given to all these unqualified and undignified other people. The Fringe that is afraid that two men getting married means that the country is living more and more in sin and being closer to getting engulfed in Hellfire. The Fringe that the Republican Party wants the votes of, but doesn't want to outright endorse any of their views.

So now the Fringe has a voice, and that voice is Donald Trump... but the GOP establishment is ignoring him. He won't get anywhere, he's crazy, let the grown-ups decide who's going to be our nominee. But while the establishment is split a bunch of different ways, the Fringe is unified, the Fringe is mobilized, and the Fringe wants Trump. So the Fringe starts voting for Trump, and he starts to win, and once the train started rolling, it was near impossible to stop.

Hillary Clinton is a notoriously bad campaigner. She has skeletons in her closet, a lot of people think she rides solely on name brand recognition, and she's just not that good at connecting with the general populace. She does well once she's in office, but on the campaign trail, she's generally a poor performer.

But while the GOP was trying to figure out who would be the perfect candidate to take her down, they let the Fringe get some control. And the Fringe put up the one candidate who would be EVEN WORSE than Hillary. Her Skeletons of Benghazi, the emails, and all that? NOTHING compared to the allegations of racial discrimination, sexism, and more that Trump has shown and refuses to own up to. Riding name brand recognition? Trump is a Reality TV Star who plasters his name in GOLD all over everything he owns, what's a bigger brand than that? Connecting with the General Populace? That point becomes totally moot when you have a guy who goes so far to the Fringe that he alienates the majority population to the point where they connect to Hillary by default!

The only way Mitt Romney could have won the nomination would be if it were already decided that the GOP would nominate him BEFORE the Primaries.

Look at it this way. In the first season of Survivor, there were ten players left when the tribes merged. The votes were split, 4–1–1–1–1–1–1, sending the popular, well-liked teacher Gretchen home. The six outliers did not form a majority, so a minority group of 4 was able to take control.

The same thing happened here. The majority couldn't come together, so the minority took control. The result? An unprecedented disaster for the Republican Party.

[DBSoT]

If Mitt would have ran, he would have wiped the floor with Trump and likely would have given Hillary Clinton a very good run for her money.

Nah, not a chance he'd have beaten Trump. The vast majority of the far-right fringe group voting Trump sees Romney as a failure for not beating Obama and a traitor to the party. Romney would have MAYBE stood a chance if there was a contested convention, but there was zero chance of him ever defeating Trump in the primaries.

As far as Pence goes... I mean, we've known forever that he's a disgusting slimeball so I guess I don't know what to tell you there

Or he runs as an Independent. If he would have jumped in the race early, he would have been on the ballot in all 50 states. All he would have to do at that point is make sure Hillary and Trump don't get the required 270 delegates. That would lead to a House ballot. No way is Trump getting any help from the Republicans in the House. At that point it would become a two person race between Romney/Clinton. Whichever party currently runs the House leads to the next president.

[KaiserGlider]

I reckon Pence could have set himself up really well as a potential presidential nominee for 2020 if he had dropped out. He'd have the rub of being a former VP nominee, and could promote himself as the Republican candidate with the most principles during the 2016 debacle (I'm soooo not saying that I think that, but he'd get away with presenting himself that way).

But the prospect of potentially being Vice President in a couple of months must have been too tempting to pass up.

Mike Pence recently said that the Vice President he most idolizes is Dick Cheney, so that should give you some kind of idea of what kind of VP Pence would be. And then there's this gem:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/magazine/how-donald-trump-picked-his-running-mate.html?_r=0

But according to the Kasich adviser (who spoke only under the condition that he not be named), Donald Jr. wanted to make Pence an offer nonetheless: Did he have any interest in being the most powerful vice president in history?

When Kasich’s adviser asked how this would be the case, Donald Jr. explained that his father’s vice president would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy.

Then what, the adviser asked, would Trump be in charge of?

“Making America great again” was the casual reply.

[The Legend]

This election is amazing.

The amazing thing is that years from now, American History textbooks are going to be filled with references to Access Hollywood, Celebrity Apprentice, Twitter, Miss America and other things.