The Heatmaster Memorial Compendium of Comically Off-Base Statements About Trump

[Simfan34]

I'll start:

Even one of these events would have been enough to take down one of the 2011 flavors of the month.

Not in all cases.  It took quite a few sexual harrassment claims (not to mention a fair few stupid comments and senior moments) to take down Cain.

Well it wasn't so much that it was insufficient to take him down than it was that multiple claims were needed in order for them to be taken seriously.

I just hope Trump doesn't turn into some kind of Berlusconi-esque Teflon man.

Yeah... that's pretty much what's happened.

Here's a twofer!

What's to stop us from wildly speculating? It's just as serious as an actual bid by Donald Trump or Carly Fiorina or indeed most the lot.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

The last season of Apprentice lasted about 3 seconds. He just needs more people to fire. That's all he's preparing for.

In fairness, I was not really on the Trump Train until March or so.

That time, I said Donald Trump ranked below some pretty terrible people:

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OK, so maybe April...I was really on board!

Later that year, I made this classic Atlas thread which must be preserved.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=217291.msg4687567#msg4687567

A snippet in there from two posters I respect greatly:

John Kasich is a longshot and probably very unlikely to get the nomination. Donald Trump on the other hand is Donald Trump, and therefore will never win the nomination ever in the history of ever. The RNC would create more super-delegates or start new restrictions on Presbyterians or New Yorkers before they allow him anywhere near the nomination.

this.

And maybe (?) not comically off-base, but comical nonetheless

Trump has trumpted Walker in race.

[This account no longer in use.]

What does 'Trumpted' mean anyways? Trumped? Trumpeted? Did OC correctly predict the fall of Scott Walker?

[The Other Castro]

Forgive me based Trump, I doubted you but now I have seen the light. However, I stand by my statement that the RNC could have easily stopped Trump if they banned Presbyterians and New Yorkers. Also I had these:

When I thought the McCain war hero comments would end him:

Well, this was fun while it lasted.

Trump will not be the nominee, but neither will Bush.

I did start turning around in October though:

To be honest, I think I've been too quick in the past in judging Trump as closer to a flavor of the month than a phenomenon. Recently, I've realized he's more than that, and has an actual chance, if not a good chance, at becoming the nominee. While I'm still confident he would never win a general election, I believe Trump is now at worst the 4th most likely Republican nominee.

The transformation was complete a month later:

Today marks my leaving the Rubio bandwagon, and jumping on board with Trump as the most likely nominee. I once was blind, but now I see.

[Crumpets]

In hindsight, I'm actually reasonably proud about my statements about Trump early in the campaign. My belief that his biggest obstacle would be Bush, which I held nearly until the primaries started, is much more concerning. This was the best I could find:

Most likely to be the next president:

1. Clinton
2. Bush
3. Kasich
4. Sanders
5. Walker

Odds each candidate wins the nomination:

GOP:
Bush: 38%
Kasich: 9%
Walker: 9%
Rubio: 8%
Trump: 7%
Huckabee: 5%
Cruz: 5%
Carson: 4%
Paul: 4%
Fiorina 3%
Christie: 2%
Perry: 2%
Graham: 1%
Jindal: 1%
Pataki: 1%
Santorum: 1%
Gilmore: 0%

Democrats:
Hillary: 92%
Sanders: 4%
Biden: 2%
O'Malley: 1%
Webb: 1%
Chafee: 0%

Also, probability Trump runs 3rd party: 15%

[Figueira]

Haha, this one is hilarious:

This is September!  I recall this time 8 years ago, Rudolph Giuliani had the field swamped,  McCain was on the ropes and looked at what happened. Also Hillary was the designated front-runner. A vote hasn't been cast yet and the polls merely reflect a snapshot in time, not the outcome of the contest where a vote hasn't been cast. I go by the old adage as coined by Harry Truman, "A week is forever in politics and a month is an eternity.  My money is still in Bush, the polls mean nothing. I mean look at Trump before the Fox debate, not very high & look at his poll rating now. Not very realistic if you ask me. His poll numbers seems to the product of a very fickle & bored electorate. The current flavor if you will 😉

Huh, a mostly reasonable post from heatmaster.

I'm pretty sure this one showed up on the bad posts thread on AAD:

Tier 1, The Frontrunner: Trump.

Tier 2, the Challengers: Carson & Fiorina.

Tier 3, the Competitors: Rubio, Bush, & Cruz.

Tier 4, the Underdogs: Christie, Kasich, Huckabee, & Paul.

Tier 5, the Jokes: Santorum, Pataki, Jindal, Graham, & Gilmore.

That's purely based on polling. In terms of their actual chances, Rubio is the frontrunner.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Haha, this one is hilarious:

This is September!  I recall this time 8 years ago, Rudolph Giuliani had the field swamped,  McCain was on the ropes and looked at what happened. Also Hillary was the designated front-runner. A vote hasn't been cast yet and the polls merely reflect a snapshot in time, not the outcome of the contest where a vote hasn't been cast. I go by the old adage as coined by Harry Truman, "A week is forever in politics and a month is an eternity.  My money is still in Bush, the polls mean nothing. I mean look at Trump before the Fox debate, not very high & look at his poll rating now. Not very realistic if you ask me. His poll numbers seems to the product of a very fickle & bored electorate. The current flavor if you will 😉

Huh, a mostly reasonable post from heatmaster.

I'm pretty sure this one showed up on the bad posts thread on AAD:

Tier 1, The Frontrunner: Trump.

Tier 2, the Challengers: Carson & Fiorina.

Tier 3, the Competitors: Rubio, Bush, & Cruz.

Tier 4, the Underdogs: Christie, Kasich, Huckabee, & Paul.

Tier 5, the Jokes: Santorum, Pataki, Jindal, Graham, & Gilmore.

That's purely based on polling. In terms of their actual chances, Rubio is the frontrunner.

Those were true at the time.  But this year hasn't seemed to play out like 2008.