Why is the race so close (as of September 1st)?

I'm no all-out Hillary Clinton supporter, but I simply cannot understand for the life of me why Donald Trump is polling as well as he is, based on everything he's said and done and well based on who he is and his record (other than managing to amass for himself a pile of dough).

As it sits, he appears to have closed what looked like a 10 point gap to something closer to 3-5, nationally, and things have started to tighten in the battleground states.

He's still losing pretty bad in the electoral college context, but he appears to be moving up from behind.

I know there are a lot of ATS'ers who for some inexplicable reason support Donald Trump and his "policies" for POTUS which appears to echo what you see over at Alex Jones' Prison Planet, which to be honest is another thing I don't get since the guy has all but stated that he'll make America into a type of police state with him as a type of lone dictator and authority figure who alone will save the day and "fix it all" ("believe me, you just watch").

I see it as a byproduct of the dumbing down process that really kicked into high gear during the crazy Bush/Cheney years in the wake of 9/11 (a high precision military false flag event through and through) which sought to grow the MIC and dramatically expand the intel-security apparatus ie: do you remember those color coded, chain-pulling warnings that would go up and down?

That period, or what just passed wherein Obama wasn't really able to save the day and largely continued to run the same ball down the field, without doing away with or seriously altering any of the laws while failing to prosecute for war crimes ("we don't want to be looking back, but forward") or even being able to close Guantanamo Bay, which is a legal black hole right in the heart of who and what the US is and stands for, because SOME of those picked up during the war on terror dragnet were just bystanders in the fog of war, but who were nevertheless tortured anyway, no trial - that period was almost over and behind us!

So we finally start to come out of that nightmare, at last, with a rising sun, if not dawning then making it's appearance after this great "dark night of the soul" and you have this guy, Trump, shouting, that he will keep Guantanamo open and bring back the use of torture, or worse "because they can chop of heads".

He's feeding on the fear and the anger, and the xenophobia generated from 9/11, as well as the dumbing down that's taken place, and for some strange reason the membership of ATS have fallen for it, all the way down the line..

But wait - weren't we opposed to any sort of police state crackdown and the rise of authoritarianism in any and all forms?

I know that there's something about Donald Trump that's strangely appealing where you either love him, love him in spite of yourself, or love to hate him. Somehow he's managed to insinuate his way into our good books by his no-holds-barred, non-politically correct, bombastic rhetoric, and studies have shown that no matter what you think of him, you're nevertheless immediately drawn to him.

But we're supposed to be the most logical and rational and evaluative of the populace, or so I once thought..

But it's not just ATS, it's a HUGE portion of the entire American electorate, to the degree that even in spite of everything that Donald Trump has said and done and what he's done over the years ie: Trump U etc etc to basically con and rip people off left and right for the sake of the increasing pile of dough as the ultimate measure of success - even still, he's only 3 or 4 points behind, and starting to catch up in some of the battleground states.

Pretend for a moment that you're not American, and that you are not a Trump fan or supporter and just step back and take a good look at this, and by all of this, I'm not even really talking about Hillary Clinton as a crooked witch NWO sycophant who secretly worships the devil, but about what you've thrown in with and are on side of, which is the very thing we're been vehemently opposed to all along, the rise of authoritarianism.

I think deep down most people are like children in search of a parental figure, an authority to "make things right" and protect us from harm, and maybe because Donald Trump is like the petulant child we all wish we could express openly, we relate to him as if to a friend and someone who's with us in the struggle, even though there's no real indication that he gives much of a hoot about the little man or has ever done so, unless to the glorification of Trump in some way or another.

He's a very little man, insecure, prone to getting even, temperamental; he lies and flip flops by the day, who wants to rule as if with an American rah rah tight fist, with bare knuckles and no velvet glove of any kind.

They used to say that America was like a perfect gentleman who carries a big stick but who because of his fundamental generosity of spirit, offers carrots whenever and wherever possible.

Virtue is power, restrained.

The rest of the world is very concerned, and it's rather disconcerting to see his poll numbers climbing and the gap closing even a bit. Even if he has only say a 10% chance of being elected President, that's a 10% chance that the very heart and soul of the American we once knew and loved would be stilled in so many ways it's not funny.

It almost makes me cry just thinking about it, as your friend and neighbor to the north.

Hillary Clinton isn't the perfect solution by any means or stretch of the imagination, but I for one long for that time before the nightmare started, and if that's doable, which it is, then that radiant sun can still be seen about to rise over what I describe as an American renaissance, so in spite of my nail biting concern (I've started biting my nails again) I for one am more optimistic than I've ever been, but in many ways my eternal optimism, in this context, is in many ways dependant on a very decisive Trump loss, and that concerns me in and of itself, since it doesn't repudiate him and his ilk, such that even if they form a media channel, you don't have to watch it or participate in it if you don't want to.

It looks like the Democrats will not be able to turn the House blue, so there'll still be a strong counter-balance in place, and most certainly it's understood by now via both Trump and Sanders' campaigns, that the American people are mad as hell and they want the whole system to change to better serve their mutual best interests with accountability and transparency, and they just don't trust Hillary Clinton to do that, so they're prepared to throw in a man who plays the role of their big brother in a playground who will bully the bullies on their behalf, but Donald Trump's interests and concerns are so narrow and shallow, that when it comes to representing the office of the Executive Branch of the United States of America, that's going to be pathetic and a disaster waiting to happen right when we're on the cusp of a technological global village.

And if the CIA do run ops on crazy patsies, then if they ran one under Trump - just how far do you think he'd run with that? Is he counting on that as a probability, hoping that they'll get on with it?

That also concerns me greatly, particularly after his immigration speech in Phoenix last night.

Trump would throw in with the most heinous evil and wicked bastards for the sake and cause of power. You know it. I know it.

Best regards,

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Not meaning to be rude at all but, have you just got here?

For one thing, Hillary has a scandal that keeps dripping out and she seems to be running as if she's actually half dead.

a reply to: smurfy

Yes, I'm pretty new, but was a visitor to ATS a long time ago.

If the MSM and social networks were not acting as defacto arm of the Clinton campaign, then you should expect the election to be this close. If journalist were really impartial, trump would be so far ahead

originally posted by: ketsuko
For one thing, Hillary has a scandal that keeps dripping out and she seems to be running as if she's actually half dead.

You mean the emails? It would have been a smart move to create such a wall, if she'd gotten away with it, because it gives you more latitude in your communications, but she got caught.

As to the other, I don't see how it's possible to know that she's not fit and full of energy and a go get 'em attitude, although she's obviously being very careful not to make any forced errors or anything worse and blow the whole deal, given how close it is.

I wish she was a little bolder in putting forward the platform without making of the whole thing a negative mudslinging camapgin from within a sandbox.

I don't understand why she hasn't done any televised town halls for example, which could even be fairly well choreographed.

I think they know that the majority of people only start really sitting up and taking notice after labor day and in particular the first of the three debates.

Frighteningly, at least from my point of view, Trump could even end up being perceived to win those three debates, in spite of how scared he probably is about it.

Closing a 5 point gap or even a 7 point gap is doable, although the demographics don't seem to favor him much after his immigration speech last night in Phoenix, unless he gets a terrorist incident committed by a refugee or some such thing, which also isn't out of the realm of possible.

The problem with Donald Trump is he would suck the CIA's ___, to gain access to power, and promise anything, and they'd probably be more than happy to serve him up a "sacrifice".

That also scares me, that idea, with Trump talking up what amounts to a much more muscular police-state, at all levels, including as it pertains to immigration - "let me see your papers"..

No... the reason these supposed 'truth polls' are close is because the vote fraud apparatus wants to make the Hillary-v-Donald actual vote seen plausible...

enough so that the wide populist support Trump-Pence have , there will be a close enough loser tally that the fraud-riddled Globalist leadership behind the Democrats will not have to 'show' all the other questionable votes (that were manufactured) in Hillarys' favor that would have resulted in a Landslide Victory (bringing into question the authenticity of the general population 'Vote' tally)...
they-r-smart enough to deceive the dumbed down immigrants/illegals/refugees who somehow get to vote more often than USA Citizens


the electoral college vote was already in the pocket of the Donkey-Jackass Party since the first term of Barrack (the Mahdi)Obama, the other meat-puppet of the Satanic Globalists

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

So you are basically an open borders type of person.

Do you live anywhere or know anyone who has suffered because of the illegal problem in this country? It vicimizes both American citizens and illegals themselves to have them here living in a permanent, illegal underclass.

The Amnesty route was tried once and the borders were left open for the problem to develop itself all over again. In short, it did not work.

Because we are currently in an alternate universe. An "idiocracy" universe, where people cheer a presidential candidate who says things like "we're gonna make everything great and fix things real fast" and "I know lots of words, I know all the best words", and "I wish somebody would punch that guy out", and other real smart stuff.

I wish the Mandela effect would hit me and I could go back to the other universe where Trump would have been laughed out of the primaries.

he ultimately is the republican candidate.
there is no one else for people to vote for, there's hardly a cigarette paper between the differences of the republican and democrat parties, yes one party praises the lord a lot, the other believes in science, but they both support huge corporations and have a knack of getting involved abroad, with military style.
the greens and libertarians are hardly any different however, and therein lays the problem for america, there is no broad spectrum of politics.

here, while blair was in charge of labour they lurched from center left to center right, much to the chagrin of murdoch, in reply the tories became a right wing party, under cameron they moved back to center right while brown tried to push labour back to the center left, murdoch did not like that and cameron with the tories won, labour now are split, one side wants to go left wing the other wants the center ground.

american politics recently has revolved around a failed reality tv stars claims that he can get tough on immigration and homegrown terrorism, because he's rich, while the other is there because her husband once held the oral office.
the way its going tebow will run next time, he's popular with religious types while one of the kardashians would oppose, for the minorities vote.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Every Presidential election from now on is going to be "close". It is going to be a race where the winner wins by 5-8% of the popular vote. Now, the electoral college can be more of a gap...but the popular vote is always going to be close.

It's just the way the country is split up....no one is going to win with more than a 10% difference in the popular vote.

Obama beat McCann by 7.27% and Romney by 3.86% in the popular vote...but neither of those elections were "close" when looking at the electoral college. Obama got 68% and 62% percent of the electoral college votes those years.

This year looks like it will be similar....as of right now, Clinton would win with around a 5% margin of the popular vote, but probably around 65% of the electoral college votes.

a reply to: ketsuko


We have a very smart immigration policy in Canada, and it (immigration) forms a very cornerstone of what and what we've become as a nation and it's vital, the continued population growth, including the reception of many highly educated foreigners
, to our continued economic growth and well being. We are the true melting pot of the world, and proud of it.

Here's some data on the Syrian refugees that we've been resettling here, and we'd happily take in about 2X that (50,000 in a population of 35 million)

www.cic.gc.ca...

They are the most loving people, so appreciative, and proud to participate in the Canadian dream. And they've been vetted just fine.

What Donald Trump is tapping into down there is ugly.

It's unbecoming of America, which isn't white either!

a reply to: kaylaluv

It's funny how you fail to mention a lying, corrupted, murderous criminal, but have a problem with someone who's willing to act fast on solving the urging problems in your country.

Idiocracy universe, for sure

a reply to: Nikola014

You know, I didn't like Mitt Romney, but at least he was articulate!

a reply to: kruphix

Do you think it's possible that the American people might also consider the amount of gridlock in Washington, recognize that if Clinton is going to be POTUS, then you might as well give them a mandate to enact their platform, or in other words, secretly toss your vote in the OTHER direction (to Democrat) all the way up and down the ticket.

If I were running the Clinton campaign, I'd try to pivot to the center, without alienating my base, engage the Bernie Sanders people moreso (by putting Bernie out on the stump), and run a campaign that's directed as much at the Republican Party (who'll live to fight another day in a new form) as it is a negative campaign against Trump at the top of the ticket.

It ought to occur to the American people that the Democratic Platform is actually a very good one, and that another OPTION might be to vote in that direction no matter what your personal feelings might be towards Hillary Clinton, as the safe bet for the country, to navigate through the complex world of an emerging technological and global village 21st century age and for which you want the most experienced person who has your own best interests at heart and by giving her a landslide victory making a clear statement, while at the same time placing her and the Dems on notice that they'd better deliver on their promises or face a reckoning come the mid-terms.

A vote for Trump is in some ways like thinking f-it, and just throwing your vote in the can just to shake things up and maybe see how freaky everything might get, you know, just for #s and giggles.. that scares me too.

Quite honestly . . . at this point I neither know nor care.

a reply to: JDeLattre89

yeah f-it, I'll drink to that!

Cheers!

a reply to: stinkelbaum

You brits are a funny lot! lol

Thanks for the laugh. : )

originally posted by: AnkhMorpork
a reply to: smurfy

Yes, I'm pretty new, but was a visitor to ATS a long time ago.

Right......Then just to bring things up to date, just about every word you have said, has been iterated, re-iterated ad nauseum at some stage here. And Yes, Donald will be a Dicktaytor.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

I truly do appreciate and respect the hard work you put into this post but I just can not support a pathological liar that has caused the deaths of 10's of thousands of innocent lives with no remorse. My opinion is that she is the essence of evil and (anyone) would be preferable to her. I may not be religious but I do believe in good will to my fellow brothers. She is the agent of the 1% and callously evil to her core.