Trump Admits Even He Thought He was Going to Lose

[Frodo]

And apparently despite his public trashing of the polls, he did actually attach some credibility to them:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/donald-trump-wisconsin-232605

[MarkD]

I thought he was even trying to lose. His campaign was SO inept that it seemed as if he wanted, all along, to help Clinton get elected, to throw the election. Take a dive.

[Badger]

He did.

[Badger]

He did.

Explain?

He thought he'd lose, and he did. By about 3 million votes at last count.

[mencken]

He did.

Explain?

He thought he'd lose, and he did. By about 3 million votes at last count.

And black won this game by 2 points.

[Xing]

Part of him probably wishes he did already.

[Figueira]

He did.

Explain?

He thought he'd lose, and he did. By about 3 million votes at last count.

And black won this game by 2 points.

This isn't a game.

I mean, your point is not entirely wrong, but this isn't a game.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

He thought he'd lose, and he did. By about 3 million votes at last count.

Should not need a stock response to this but...

It isn't particularly unusual in a tennis match for the player who won the most points overall to lose the match, at least if the match is close. If that player were to declare that they had won really then people would be confused; the rules are the rules and the match is decided by how many sets are won (and these by how many games) not by the running total of points and the player knew that at the start of the match, indeed had obviously known it for their entire life. You follow me here?

i.e. obviously the PV lead makes the defeat all the more galling, but it doesn't make it not a defeat.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I mean, your point is not entirely wrong, but this isn't a game.

Indeed but... there are still rules. And the campaigns not only abide by them but also develop their strategies around them.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Was an amazing couple of hours.

It was the Democratic version of the Sausage Party 'Kitchen Scene'.

I can understand why the Democrat's are so traumatized.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

He did.

Explain?

He thought he'd lose, and he did. By about 3 million votes at last count.

The Cubs didn't win the World Series because they failed to score more runs than the Indians over the course of the Series.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I mean, your point is not entirely wrong, but this isn't a game.

Indeed but... there are still rules. And the campaigns not only abide by them but also develop their strategies around them.

Yes, you don't change rules in the middle. Both sides campaigned to win the electoral vote first.

At this point I almost wish Trump would've won the PV after all. It would prevent an easy but dangerous "we've won the PV so we don't have to think about our own mistakes" mentality.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I thought he was even trying to lose. His campaign was SO inept that it seemed as if he wanted, all along, to help Clinton get elected, to throw the election. Take a dive.

Seemed that way until the Comey letter happened and then he seemed like he was actually trying to win.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I mean, your point is not entirely wrong, but this isn't a game.

Indeed but... there are still rules. And the campaigns not only abide by them but also develop their strategies around them.

Yes, you don't change rules in the middle. Both sides campaigned to win the electoral vote first.

At this point I almost wish Trump would've won the PV after all. It would prevent an easy but dangerous "we've won the PV so we don't have to think about our own mistakes" mentality.

I'd think having him not ask for Russian assistance, and denouncing the blatant intervention of the Director of the FBI would add more to his legitimacy. But without them he likely wouldn't have won, making the point moot.

[jimrtex]

He did.

Explain?

He thought he'd lose, and he did. By about 3 million votes at last count.

And black won this game by 2 points.

White won the popular vote.

[emailking]

He did.

Explain?

He thought he'd lose, and he did. By about 3 million votes at last count.

The Cubs didn't win the World Series because they failed to score more runs than the Indians over the course of the Series.

Yes, because sports titles are decided in a way that makes each game exciting, we should use an analogous method for electing our leaders and lawmakers

Also, the Cubs scored the the same number of runs as the Indians. But you actually don't know how many runs "should" have been scored since the home team won 2 of the 7 games, negating their 9th inning chance to score. Using the election analogy, NH and MI didn't need to be resolved, CA and NY could have stopped counting their votes, etc. None of that affects the electoral vote winner.

[Fuzzy Bear]

He did.

Explain?

He thought he'd lose, and he did. By about 3 million votes at last count.

The Cubs didn't win the World Series because they failed to score more runs than the Indians over the course of the Series.

Yes, because sports titles are decided in a way that makes each game exciting, we should use an analogous method for electing our leaders and lawmakers

Also, the Cubs scored the the same number of runs as the Indians. But you actually don't know how many runs "should" have been scored since the home team won 2 of the 7 games, negating their 9th inning chance to score. Using the election analogy, NH and MI didn't need to be resolved, CA and NY could have stopped counting their votes, etc. None of that affects the electoral vote winner.

I agree that the sports analogy isn't the best to use here.

But we are a FEDERAL system.  States elect electors and they choose the President.  That's the way this is decided.

The Electoral College has its flaws.  There is little to stop blue states with GOP legislatures from enacting laws apportioning Electors by CD like ME and NE.  This would really raise havoc, and it would raise the stakes of Congressional redistricting even more.  On the other hand, there is something to the idea of urban America just forcing its will on rural America and rural America being forced to deal with it.  (I recognize that for much of our history, it was the other way around.) 

[Lincoln Republican]

Which makes winning all that much more sweet.

[ApatheticAustrian]

Which makes winning all that much more sweet.

on the contrary, it proves that there was no overall strategy the trump campaign believed into.....they were lucky and they know it. ^^

[Lincoln Republican]

Which makes winning all that much more sweet.

on the contrary, it proves that there was no overall strategy the trump campaign believed into.....they were lucky and they know it. ^^

But think of it this way.

If someone says they are giving you a brand new watch for your birthday, and they actually give you a  brand new Mercedes SUV, I would think getting the Mercedes would be all that much more sweet, since all you were expecting was a watch.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It was a mistake for the media to declare that the election was already won by Clinton and the investigation was going through the process, and that's why Trump had an upset win.

And the Dems made the mistake of not nominating Bernie Sanders and that was the 2016 election

[rbt48]

All the overanalyzing after the fact is too much.

Trump won because Comey decided to send a letter 11 days before the election that made people skeptical of Hillary Clinton.  The ramifications of this were the following:

1) It energized Trump supporters.
2) It energized Trump himself because he started to think he actually had a chance.
3) It brought some doubtful Republicans out to vote who probably would have stayed home.
4) It swung late-breaking undecideds to Trump.

PERIOD.  END OF STORY.  THIS IS WHY TRUMP WON.  I don't even believe it was Russian hacking that did it.  It was the Comey letter.  Whatever his motivations were... that's unclear.  But the letter caused this.  It was not luck, or this or that.  It was the letter.

I believe that these points are basically true.  The Clinton campaign exacerbated the impact of the Comey letter by challenging Comey's action for several days instead of just ignoring it.  By the time they realized this, the negative impact of the letter was even greater than it might have been if left alone.

[IceAgeComing]

He did.

Explain?

He thought he'd lose, and he did. By about 3 million votes at last count.

And black won this game by 2 points.

I mean this is a stupid analogy for two reasons but it helps to actually be correct in your analogy - Black only has a one pawn advantage (Q+2R+4p=23 vs Q+R+B+5p=22); plus the King is generally considered to have an infinite value since checkmate ends the game; so therefore White does have the advantage in the game if you count by points.

[Lincoln Republican]

You can't blame the FBI for the fact that Hillalry Clinton was a flawed, cold, calculating, establishment candidate, who came across as out of touch with working class Americans.

[jimrtex]

He did.

Explain?

He thought he'd lose, and he did. By about 3 million votes at last count.

And black won this game by 2 points.

I mean this is a stupid analogy for two reasons but it helps to actually be correct in your analogy - Black only has a one pawn advantage (Q+2R+4p=23 vs Q+R+B+5p=22); plus the King is generally considered to have an infinite value since checkmate ends the game; so therefore White does have the advantage in the game if you count by points.

But Russians excel at chess.