Silly huh? The Republican who is running for President against Donald Trump. The Republican who, Daily Kos points out, has missed a dozen Republican primary deadlines.
Bret Stephens makes a point in his NY Times Op Ed column: “Every time an incumbent president of either party faced a significant primary challenge in the Granite State, he failed in his bid for re-election.”
Stephens goes on to cite
- George HW Bush in 1992. He won the New Hampshire primary, but Patrick Buchanan got 38% of the vote. George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton in the General Election.
- Jimmy Carter in 1980. He won the New Hampshire primary, but Teddy Kennedy got 39% of the vote. Jimmy Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in the General Election.
- Gerald Ford in 1976. He won the New Hampshire primary, but Ronald Reagan got 48% of the vote. Gerald Ford lost to Jimmy Carter in the General Election.
- Lyndon Johnson in 1968. He won the New Hampshire Primary, but Eugene McCarthy got 42% of the vote. Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for reelection. Hubert Humphrey got the nomination. He lost to Richard Nixon.
- Harry Truman in 1952. He lost the New Hampshire Primary to Estes Kefauver who got 55% of the vote. Adlai Stevenson got the Democratic nomination. He lost to Dwight Eisenhower.
Bill Weld https://weld2020.org/ is not running to win the Republican nomination in 2020. If he doesn’t run in a primary other than New Hampshire’s it probably doesn’t matter. If he can get 35% of the vote in New Hampshire, certainly if he can get 45% of the vote in New Hampshire, Donald Trump should start packing.
