[Hoot Gibson]

What I cannot understand is people who were willing to vote for McCain in 2008 and for Romney in 2012 who are unwilling to vote for Trump in 2016. To me, Trump is a better candidate than either of them ever were. Also, Obama, for all of his numerous faults was charismatic, young, and could stir up a constituency. McCain was a loser and Romney had a small chance but employed the worst presidential campaign strategy I have ever seen.

The difference in Romney and Trump to me from a strategy standpoint is that Romney was rich but hid from his riches. He almost seemed ashamed to have money. Trump flaunts it everywhere. In a down economy when people are starving they want to see an example of the american dream. Trump for all of his bravado and arrogance is doing a genius thing: he is offering to take America up with him. Romney seemed to run away from his riches and change the subject if it was discussed. Was that some of his humility, maybe. Do I value humility, absolutely. Is humility a necessary trait in a presidential candidate? NO! The only two places that humility is a bad thing is politics and a job interview. I've heard it said that running for the Presidency of the United States is the ultimate job interview.

Romney's candidacy sunk when a joke was made of his "binders full of women". Trump has had 3 public marriages/divorces, has made an empire with casinos, has called women ugly, fat, and other things, and the world knows it. Why is he doing so well? It is because the world knew those faults going in. Nobody has ever been as vetted as Trump. The whole world knows his garbage because he has lived in the spotlight. Also, he does not run from his words. McCain and Romney would run from anything and apologize if anyone was ever offended. Trump seems to say, "so what?"

What is happening is that people are starting to hear some good things about Trump. Slowly but surely private stories are coming out when he gets slammed. The best example I can think of is when the New York Times recently ran their slam piece and tons of women came on news radio, tv, magazines, newspapers, etc... to refute the NYT's claims and tell stories of how much they love Donald. What the NYT intended to sink Trump has actually been a factor is his numbers rising.

Last point, just 1 week ago today Hillary was up 50-39 over Trump in nationwide head-to-head polls (not the most reliable but it feeds media stories) but today I looked and the last few polls have Trump by 1 and Hillary by 1.

In battle-ground state head to head polls, (which matter more) Hillary only leads Trump by 2, in Ohio Hillary leads by an average of 1.4 (Trump leads one of the two most recent polls, Hillary leads the other), in Pennsylvania Hillary leads by 1, Trump leads every head-to-head poll in Georgia, Trump leads by 4 in the only polls taken since late April in North Carolina, Clinton is destroying Trump in Wisconsin still, in the only polls posted Trump is destroying Clinton in Indiana, and finally, in the only polls posted Trump is destroying Clinton in Missouri.

So, Trump appears to have a more than considerable shot of winning if he can win over Blue voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida. I say this because the states that are Red states are rather solidly Red and even if people vote for obvious loser 3rd party candidates, enough will still vote for Trump.

Believe it or not, I'm rather confident that Trump will win. I am an ABC voter (Anyone But Clinton) so because I so desperately want her to lose, I will vote for Trump.

I believe that Trump is pro-coal and natural gas and Hillary has been on record as wanting to put coal out of business so that alone should convince KY, Pennsylvania, and WV to vote for him.

Great post, LWC. I agree 100 percent with what you said about McCain and Romney, and I voted for both of them. I also felt the same about Bob Dole, and I voted for him. After Romney ran to the middle in 2012 and refused to aggressively attack Obama's miserable record, I resolved never to settle for whatever candidate the Republicans nominated again. I promised myself to never support another presidential candidate who does not earn my vote. The was my decision before the 2016 campaign even began.

Despite having deep reservations about Trump, I kept an open mind and did not immediately dismiss him as a candidate, as I did many of the 17 candidates who sought the GOP nomination. However, I concluded that Trump lacks the character and integrity that I expect my president to have.

As I have said many times, I do not fault people who have decided that Trump is the lesser of two evils and plan to cast votes for him. That is exactly what I did in voting for Dole, McCain, and Romney (although before the general campaign, I believed Romney had great potential). I was also not a big fan of George W. Bush, but did not feel like I was holding my nose when I voted for him.

I disagree that Trump is a better candidate than the past few Republican candidates. He has been the beneficiary of a GOP plan to split the conservative vote to pave the way for Jeb Bush but Jeb was such a weak president, Trump stepped into his lane and ran away with the nomination. Trump also benefited from having nearly 100 percent name recognition as a reality show host. Now, Trump is facing the weakest Democrat candidate since George McGovern.

A Republican candidate running neck and neck with a liberal Democrat who should already be in jail is not an indication of a strong candidate, IMO. A strong candidate would already be mopping the floor with her.

If I did not believe that Trump is a pathological liar, then I would vote for him based on his comments about the coal industry and his pledge to nominate conservative Supreme Court justices. I considered Romney, Dole, and Bush to be honorable, trustworthy men. Compared to Trump, I consider McCain to be an honorable man, and I absolutely disrespect McCain for his service in the U.S. Senate and find him a despicable human being.

I don't know if you are old enough to have followed the Dole campaign closely, but Dole had a sharp, sarcastic wit before he won the GOP nomination. The GOP muzzled Dole during the general campaign and he became a very boring candidate who stuck to his scripted speeches. I already see signs of the same thing happening with Trump. Accepting a debate with Bernie Sanders was typical Trump. Backing out of that debate had the GOP's fingerprints all over it.

Trump's campaign is nearly broke. He has shown that he is not willing to spend much of his own fortune to get elected. Trump will be just as dependent on the national GOP for funding as past candidates have been. If Trump falters, the GOP will reduce his share of the pie and try to save as many House and Senate seats as possible.

Thanks again for your excellent post. Such posts have become a rarity in this forum.