Trump's problem is the other GOP candidates were lightweights

[edhopper]

Cruz, Rubio, even Bush were just to ineffective to counter his bullying name calling.

Dems like Schiff, Warren, etc, can counter him and show what a small little man he is.

[NewJeffCT]

1. Hillary Clinton was not a lightweight

the problem was with both the the GOP primary field and Clinton, the media just gave Trump 24/7 coverage every time he said or tweeted something crazy, and that was several times a week. People got glassy-eyed over all the real Trump scandals, but were able to focus on the one big Clinton email scandal, even if it was fake.

[Bettie]

2. No, but Clinton was bogged down

with previous investigations and 25+ years of propaganda against her. So, she was handicapped by that and STILL would have won if it hadn't been for a few last second "miracle" turn arounds of swing states.

The media coverage was an issue, but there are a lot of voting age people who do not recall a time when Clinton wasn't under investigation for something.

[unblock]

4. The Donnie scandals werent presented as anything to bother republicans

The media reaction to Donnie scandals was largely to be dumbfounded at just how brazen and unusual Donnie was.

Democrats were shocked and horrified, but republicans were either not bothered or actually liked that he was novel.

Hillary’s “scandal”, meanwhile, was never protrayed as a made up witch hunt. It was always framed as dangerous to national security if not treason. A ridiculous characterization even if you believe every thing they claim Hillary did.

But agreed, they gave Donnie 80% of the coverage and of what they gave Hillary, 80% of that was anti-Hillary, often donnie’s attacks on her.

For example, somehow *her* health and *her* transparency were an issue in the campaign, but not his.

[edhopper]

9. I don't think she wilted under his bullying

She beat him in the vote.

She lost due to many things, but his whining "crooked H" wasn't one of them.

She trounced him in the debates.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I wouldn't call Jeb! a lightweight, exactly; he had a lot of financial backing

from the GOP establishment. He might have been the least odious of the bunch (aside from Trump), which isn't saying much, but he had the taint of the Bush name and he didn't really seem to want to do it. He was probably the best of a sorry bunch - Rubio is a true lightweight, and everybody hates Cruz. The main thing was that Trump was able to tap into a whole bunch of hate, and Jeb! wasn't enough of a hater for the extreme right.

[edhopper]

10. As a candidate he was

with all that behind him he could not muster any voter support.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. He never seemed to really want it, which is why

he didn't seem to be a very strong or compelling candidate.

[edhopper]

12. I also don't think

he was that smart. He made W look intelligent at times.

[unblock]

5. Donnies key to victory in the primaries was that he didnt expect to win the general

Every other candidate wanted to win the general and so couldn’t go too obviously extreme to the right. They all knew they would have to pivot to the center after they got the nomination.

Donnie didn’t care, so he could go all out and say exactly what the foxnews-indoctrinated republican party wanted.

[mikeysnot]

6. Most of them were up there to pad their resumes

"Former Republican Candidate for President" it looks good on their book jackets and increases their speaking fees.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

7. That and the fact that many GOP primaries are "winner take all"

One doesn't even need a majority of votes just more votes than the other candidate(s).

[FSogol]

8. Don't forget all the free media exposure and Russian troll/social media help.

Easy to make JEB look spineless when media is promoting and reinforcing your every musing.