Was Trump the most electable Republican?

[Cruzcrew]

As much as I hate to say it, Trump, if not the most electable, was relatively well suited to take the Midwest and many swing states due to his highly unconventional politics. I can't see any other Republican candidate hitting free trade as hard as he did or attacking Clinton as vigorously as he did and the attacks definitely did stick on her. I can't imagine emails being an issue in a Rubio vs Clinton or Bush vs Clinton matchup as they probably wouldn't have attacked it hard enough to really stick it into the heads of undecided voters. And in the end, Trump somehow did better with Hispanics than Romney. He may have been one of the most unlikable Republican candidates that could've been the nominee but he effectively positioned himself as a lesser of two evils that would really change things.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

Clinton was an extremely weak candidate and it's not like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are solid D states.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Evidently.

Twitter trolling works.

[LLR]

Given how mindbogglingly weak the Republican field was, even/especially with 17 candidates, I'm inclined to believe so.

[Young Conservative]

Not. By a long shot. John Kasich was by far the most electable, followed by Marco Rubio.

[Roronoa D. Law]

Yes, has anybody ever realize that Democrats loose to incompetent inexperienced Republicans and win against the more establishment type.

[Cruzcrew]

The thing is you would think what Trump does would work out horribly but the twitter trolling and nicknames are pretty effective

[Shadows]

Trump was by far one of the most unelectable. But Clinton was losing to an extremist like Ted Cruz too!

Kasich would have won in a landslide & had a genuine chance of atleast coming close in CA & NY against a total fraud candidate in Clinton - People were desperately looking for a chance to vote for someone other than Clinton.

Rubio would also have won big, would have taken MN, NV, CO, NH, ME easily - Maybe he would have lost WI or MI but PA would also be trending R!

[MT Treasurer]

lolno

[angus]

Was Trump the most only electable Republican?

yes.

[Phony Moderate]

If the other clowns in the primaries weren't capable of beating Trump then they wouldn't have been capable of defeating Clinton. Rubio would have gone down as the GOP's answer to Michael Dukakis, Kasich would have managed to choke and Cruz is a vile creature who would have been battered.

Though Jim Gilmore might have been an exception.

[iratemoderate]

Kasich and Little Marco would have been more electable possibly, but no one else would have won Trump's combination of states.

Personally, if Rubio or Cruz had been the nominee, I would have actually voted for Hillary Clinton. I despise and distrust both men, albeit for different reasons.

Also, neither a Cuban Bush nor a hardened ideologue would have swept the Rust Belt in the general. Ruboto is a Republican Obama but with less charm and more arrogance. A very poor work ethic and EXTREMELY weak on immigration. As for Ted Cruz, need I explain? This was a guy running well to the right of Barry Goldwater who is also exceedingly unlikeable and cunning.

Trump won overwhelmingly with GOP moderates in the primaries except in OH, VT, and VA.

[iratemoderate]

The thing is you would think what Trump does would work out horribly but the twitter trolling and nicknames are pretty effective

That's because they all have at least a strong kernel of truth in them. They do not stick for no reason.

[Xing]

Can we all stop pretending to know who the most "electable" candidate is? Clearly, this election showed us that we need to throw out the old way of determining electability.

[Middle-aged Europe]

He spoke the language of the people. Which doesn't really make the people look good.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Not. By a long shot. John Kasich was by far the most electable, followed by Marco Rubio.

[iratemoderate]

Not. By a long shot. John Kasich was by far the most electable, followed by Marco Rubio.

I agree, although Rubio does not deserve to be president now or probably ever.
Kasich ran at the wrong time, and I am afraid that he has poisoned his chances with the base by not endorsing Trump. He would have been the most qualified, I think.

[iratemoderate]

Trump was by far one of the most unelectable. But Clinton was losing to an extremist like Ted Cruz too!

Kasich would have won in a landslide & had a genuine chance of atleast coming close in CA & NY against a total fraud candidate in Clinton - People were desperately looking for a chance to vote for someone other than Clinton.

Rubio would also have won big, would have taken MN, NV, CO, NH, ME easily - Maybe he would have lost WI or MI but PA would also be trending R!

Polls never showed Cruz winning PA, MI, or the like. Trump always polled better than Cruz in these types of states.

[Bigby]

Jeb would have been sunk by his surname. Cruz is too much of a religious nut to ever sit in the Oval Office. Kasich is a pushover who refuses to pay the naturally dirty game of politics. Rubio would have had his robotic meltdown eventually. In other words, Trump was the most electable by process of elimination.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Cruz/Rubio: can't see them winning in the Rust Belt

Kasich: for all his hype he is a bland dude who'd been in politics for decades, and thus poor alternative to Hillary.

Trump: taped right in to the anti-establishment mood.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

He was exactly what disaffected whites wanted. If Romney couldn't even make a dent in those Rust Belt states, I have a hard time seeing how weaklings like Cruz, Rubio, or Kasich could've. And if you don't make that dent, you don't break the "Blue Wall," which you need to do to win.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Looking at the rest of the Republican field, I'd say yes. Kasich might have had a hope by wresting the middle away from Clinton, but the rest would have been DOA.

[Cruzcrew]

I can definitely see the other Republican candidates performing better in the popular vote but I just have a hard time seeing someone like Rubio or Kasich who wouldn't damage Hillary enough dominating the electoral college more than Trump did.

[7,052,770]

Someone else might have done better in the popular vote, but no other Republican would have gotten as many electoral votes.

[Kingpoleon]

Not. By a long shot. John Kasich was by far the most electable, followed by Marco Rubio.