Is Trump a Better or Worse Candidate Than He Was in 2016?

Way worse, but I'm not his crowd.

Are his odds better? Not sure, depends on his opponent. His support amongst his base certainly seems to be as high as ever.

 

Many, many people are talking about how the dip$hit-in-chief is a big supporter of this guy but most likely he is still a worse candidate...

GOP councilman in Arizona suspends congressional bid after heroin overdose

A Republican councilman in Arizona suspended his congressional campaign Monday, saying he is seeking treatment for substance abuse disorder after overdosing on heroin last week.

Chris Taylor, a city councilman in Safford who is running for a House seat, said in a statement to The Arizona Republic that he plans to fully cooperate with local authorities on matters regarding his recent relapse and overdose.

"I’m not going to hide from this. I’m not ashamed of what happened. I wish to sincerely apologize to the amazing people who have supported me. I don’t know what went wrong. I recently relapsed after having so many solid years in sobriety. I have to figure out where I went wrong," Taylor said in a statement to the newspaper.

Taylor, a combat veteran who has battled opioid addiction since high school, added that he is thankful for the resources available to him through the Veterans Affairs Administration and “the strongest support system one could dream of,” according to The Arizona Republic.

Taylor was one of several Republicans running in the GOP primary to challenge Democratic Rep. Tom O’Halleran, who won the seat in 2016, in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District.

Democrats have held the seat since it was created before the 2012 election, but President Trump won the district by 1 percentage point in 2016, according to The Arizona Republic.

 

Among his base he is a better candidate because he has apparently keep all his promises (at least that's what I've been told) and is no longer an unknown leader.

 

He would be a worse president in 2020 but he is a better candidate in 2020.

This is where Democrats shot themselves in the foot with all the doomsday scenarios about Trump. Nobody is showing up to vote for Democrats. They are simply voting yes or no to Trump. Outside those who would vote for anyone but Trump, They will compare the last 4 years vs their expectancy at the time. This is very favorable for Trump in the election. But Trump will push the boundries much further. And I dont mean dictator mode or over throwing democracy, but enough to consider real legislation on abuse of power.

 

Thru the roof.

 

He's much worse because many people gave him the benefit of the doubt at the time - that some of the stuff he did/said was just campaigning or politics or that his staff would moderate him and such. All of that's proven untrue. We saw the results in 2018.

This is exactly what out-of-power parties want. They want this election to be a referendum on the super-unpopular President.

 

Trump won’t lose any of his base, but 30% of the country won’t win an election. There will be no shortage of attack angles against Trump in 2020. There’s a tweet, sound bite, video clip, speech, etc where Trump shows time and time again he will belittle any demographic or individual for his personal gain.

 

Trump has his base and a slight buffer. His base isn't going anywhere but he doesn't seem like he's expanding it in any way. All that matters is if the Dems can get their base turned out.

 

What a weird question. What a weird man to ask it about.

 

no he didn't. Maybe you meant % of votes.

 

His motivated core who've gotten a taste of being let off the chain might offset the butterflies flitting back and forth in the middle who now know he won't change.

35% of the population can swing the election if 99.9% of them make it a point to show up and vote and the other side is apathetic.

 

The answer is yes and no. It simply depends on how you view his performance.

I was a very, very reluctant Trump voter that voted for him more as a way of avoiding Hillary. But since then he's kept or attempted to keep most of his campaign promises. In 2016, I honestly wasn't sure he would.

Of the folks I've spoken to who plan on voting Trump, they almost to a person say the same thing. He's absolutely solidified his base. I think that makes him a much stronger candidate regardless of how you feel about the man or what he espouses. Like Bernie, you get what you see.

 

Honestly man, no one knows a damn thing that's going to happen come voting day.

Some will tell you that Bernie has the best chance at beating Trump because he's going to energize young voters. Some tell you he has no shot because he's going to scare away older voters and neoliberals.

Some say Biden or a more moderate candidate is a sure thing because people just want someone other than Trump, don't bring Bernie into it and scare them away...while some say a moderate won't generate the enthusiasm that Trump's base will (undoubtedly) have.

At the end of the day, no one knows right now. If he wins we are going to say he was always unbeatable (or how the Dems nominated the wrong person to beat him) and if he loses we are going to look at 2016 as more of a fluke thing. No one can really say whether he's stronger or not right now.

His base loves him, that much is true, but he's going to need a lot more than his base to win this time I think.

 

I know he really stuck it to the liberals and installed a lot of conservative judges. But outside of that, what's his biggest success through 2020 that has had the biggest benefit on your life? Did you expect him to fail in some policy and he pleasantly surprised you?

I'm sure the amount of tweeting has exceeded all expectations.

 

Far far more

In 2016, you could use the message that "the stuff he wants to do will ruin us", some publications were even running complete economic collapse and global war narratives, when someone asked in 2016, what are the chances Trump destroys it all, i said about 3%, i wouldn't have put it at 1% for anyone else, he absolutely had a higher risk profile of unknowns.

Four years in, the economy is good, global geopolitics is uninteresting as an electoral issue, and unless we all start dying of coronavirus, there's been no disaster of his making, and more than that, he has the incumbent advantage which gives him the plus side on the risk of the unknown, despite how much the media loves to talk about "they don't need to run for election again", the 2nd term doesn't really look much different to the first.

There's also no added value from more negatives on Trump, we already know everything, we already knew everything in 2016, because of the nature of his public profile historically, which was blatant and with no pruning, he was probably the most well known quantity to ever run for president.

 

He is a known factor now... he didn't start a major war... economy OK and not hurting because of him but the plague. So I'd say apart from his offensive nature, he will likely get elected because the Dems scare people with socialism and progressive brow beatings.

 

i feel this way.. I will say the biggest advantage for Dems is complacent Trump supporters. Now I think his base grew a bit actually, but they all think they have it in the bag. That's largely what hurt Hilary IMO. Will they be as energized? Trump's main advantage was the energy they had and if he can whip them up enough I imagine they will go vote. But who knows?

 

Worse - if you thought Trump would bring jobs back to the Rust Belt.

Worse - if you are a soybean farmer since the Trade War with China has lead to bankruptcies even with the huge government bailout.

Worse - if you work for an auto manufacturing related job since steel prices have hurt auto sales.

Worse - if you thought that the illegal aliens would self deport.

Worse - if you thought that Mexico would pay for The Wall, what little of the new wall has been built.

Better - if you are the top 1% since the tax bill filled your pockets.