Trump is a very liberal "conservative". He straddles the lines. He gets conservative votes with extreme views on the issues conservatives think are important: gun control, immigration, and wanting to get rid of Obamacare. He is more liberal on many other stances. Just google "how conservative are the candidates 2016 graph" and look at images and try to find one with Trump. Any with Trump have him almost always in dead center.
Being extremely conservative on some issues and liberal on others doesn't make you a moderate. If I think that abortions should be illegal and met with capital punishment, I would be extremely right-wing. If I think college should be not only free but mandatory, I would be extremely left-wing. If I think both those things, It doesn't average out to me being a moderate. I'm still an extremist, even though I "straddle the lines." I get this is an extreme example, but you seem to be more fond of extremism than moderation anyway.
Actually, Trump only fits into the middle because he doesn't belong on the chart. His position "evolves" quite rapidly for someone who doesn't believe in evolution -- oh wait, he changed his mind again, evolution is real! This guy is inconsistent on everything but his more racist, xenophobic, and chauvinistic comments.
He changed his position on abortion, and I'm not joking or exaggerating, FIVE TIMES IN ONE DAY! I watch Colbert's new show and he described Trump as "...He flip-flopped, then flap-flup-flooped!"
This is why Trump is in the middle of the graph. He changes his position rapidly to appeal to as many uneducated or ignorant people as possible, and he knows that his followers will still lap up whatever he switches to. Hell, Trump just took a standard Republican tactic and amped it up to the next level.
I think flip-flopping in policies is often over-exaggerated. You never ever get the context of what was said. And in response to your statement, "Trump just took a standard Republican tactic and amped it up to the next level": both parties do it, it's not just a "republican thing" or "democrat thing", it's a politics thing.
Granted, it is something that politicians do in general, but if you look carefully, Democrats tend to change their positions over longer periods of time and the changes are far less extreme. Republican rhetoric has been shown to change with their current audience. Cruz went out of his way in Iowa to garner an extra 60 votes by saying he wanted to remove the limitations on private firework launching. Several of the Republican candidates railed against progressive immigration reform during a debate, then turned right around and started talking about their parents who were immigrants who could hardly speak English to pander to their immigrant supporters.
Hillary and Bernie stayed consistent on their main talking points throughout the race, but their conservative counterparts had a ball doing the opposite. Pandering like that is one of the ways Republicans have stayed in power so long.
All of those examples are "pandering", not "flip-flopping". That means changing your political stance, not pointing out different things to endear yourself to your constituency.
They pander by changing their positions. I think I just said that two or three different ways. In order to pander to different groups with different opinions, they have to flip-flop in order to garner the favor of as many different people as possible.
So yes, I clearly do know what that word means. Do you know how to put two and two together to make four, or do you always get a fish?
Sorry, my bad. That's not "F-I-S-H," it should be "G-H-O-T-I." Don't ask.
A good point. Extremist responses to extremist actions are part of what caused the majority of our current problems, such as terrorism and nuclear weapons proliferation.
Yeah. You can really see it in our politics, too. On the left we have Trump, Cruz, etc. and on the left we have people like Bernie and his ilk. At this point people's opinions can be so extremely polarized that just stating something about a candidate can start an argument.
He has essentially no chance at winning, but the chance exists that he can get into a debate, so just telling pollsters you'll vote for him even if you don't support him can help raise people's awareness of third parties. Honestly, I want him to get into debates just to watch the chaos that will ensue once everyone realizes there are other candidates. Also, he climbed Mount Everest. Just a fun fact.
Sure it makes sense. They get the most media attention, so ignorant people vote for them since it's the only two names they recognize on the list of candidates.
It's like playing a strictly inferior opponent in chess. You don't have to do anything fancy - just observe the core principles and wait for the weaker player to make mistakes.
Trump also had no chance in winning the nomination. His strength is that he is running as a conservative. One of the advantages this gives him is that he can do no wrong in many of his supporters eyes, because if his position changes, his supporters follow him. Hillary's supporters are liberal and will stick with their moral beliefs even if Hillary slips up or says something insensitive, and will (and have) lashed out to reprimand her for those slip ups. If Trump screws up or says something blatantly racist or offensive to some minority, most of his supporters support him more.
Also, Trump doesn't have a throat to go for. He makes a point not to provide any evidence to support his positions; that way he can't technically be proven wrong. Anything he says his already only accepted by his supporters, so he doesn't have much to lose by slipping up.
That is part of what makes him so scary to many people who can think for themselves and so appealing to those who can't.
You make some excellent points. Since Trump is not a typical opponent / politician, Hillary might not be able to use typical strategies against him. He is just too erratic and unpredictable. To use another analogy, it is like an experienced Hold'em player going up against a novice - the veteran player cannot expect the less-experienced player to make the correct / optimal decisions, or otherwise respond in the expected way. This means that the novice will sometimes end up calling, when really he should have folded. Once in a while, he will get lucky and hit the cards he needs to win the hand.
In any case, I'm still confident in my prediction. I actually gave a buddy 3-to-1 odds on a Clinton victory, risking $300 in order to win $100. Easy money ;P
I'm not that surprised though. He's the guy in the dark room with the super awesome/deep voice in X-Com: Enemy Unknown and X-Com 2.
Fun fact: He's voiced by the same guy who does Honest Trailers on youtube. Though you may not know what those are either... -_-
Re-caption this meme
He changed his position on abortion, and I'm not joking or exaggerating, FIVE TIMES IN ONE DAY! I watch Colbert's new show and he described Trump as "...He flip-flopped, then flap-flup-flooped!"
This is why Trump is in the middle of the graph. He changes his position rapidly to appeal to as many uneducated or ignorant people as possible, and he knows that his followers will still lap up whatever he switches to. Hell, Trump just took a standard Republican tactic and amped it up to the next level.
Hillary and Bernie stayed consistent on their main talking points throughout the race, but their conservative counterparts had a ball doing the opposite. Pandering like that is one of the ways Republicans have stayed in power so long.
So yes, I clearly do know what that word means. Do you know how to put two and two together to make four, or do you always get a fish?
Sorry, my bad. That's not "F-I-S-H," it should be "G-H-O-T-I." Don't ask.
I don't understand how humans can be so stupid at times...
Also, Trump doesn't have a throat to go for. He makes a point not to provide any evidence to support his positions; that way he can't technically be proven wrong. Anything he says his already only accepted by his supporters, so he doesn't have much to lose by slipping up.
That is part of what makes him so scary to many people who can think for themselves and so appealing to those who can't.
VERY
TRUE
...Please?
...Anyone?
Fun fact: He's voiced by the same guy who does Honest Trailers on youtube. Though you may not know what those are either... -_-