Republican parties in South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona and Kansas are expected to finalize the cancellations in meetings this weekend, according to three GOP officials who are familiar with the plans.More at Politico.
The moves are the latest illustration of Trump’s takeover of the entire Republican Party apparatus. They underscore the extent to which his allies are determined to snuff out any potential nuisance en route to his renomination — or even to deny Republican critics a platform to embarrass him...
The cancellations stem in part from months of behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Trump campaign. Aides have worked to ensure total control of the party machinery, installing staunch loyalists at state parties while eliminating potential detractors. The aim, Trump officials have long said, is to smooth the path to the president’s renomination and ensure he doesn’t face the kind of internal opposition that hampered former President George H.W. Bush in his failed 1992 reelection campaign.
Trump aides said they supported the cancellations but stressed that each case was initiated by state party officials.
The shutdowns aren’t without precedent. Some of the states forgoing Republican nomination contests have done so during the reelection bids of previous presidents. Arizona, GOP officials there recalled, did not hold a Democratic presidential primary in 2012, when Barack Obama was seeking a second term, or in 1996, when Bill Clinton was running for reelection. Kansas did not have a Democratic primary in 1996, and Republican officials in the state pointed out that they have long chosen to forgo primaries during a sitting incumbent’s reelection year.
07 September 2019
The Republican party will cancel primaries in several states
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Might I offer that it is not so much Trump's takeover of the Republican Party, but rather the Republican Party's understanding that, because of the deep division caused by Trump, they are already going to be fighting uphill to reclaim the White House. They know that virtually ANY dilution of time and effort (as in primaries where Trump may need to debate, etc.) will not only lose Trump the White House, but will lose the REPUBLICANS the White House.
ReplyDeleteIt makes just as much sense, I would think, to claim that Trump is taking over the Republicans as it would be to claim that Obama was taking over the Democrats. Make any sense?
Absolutely. And I quite agree.
DeleteThe problem for the Republicans if they cancel primaries will be if Trump becomes even more erratic or changes his mind and decides not to run because polls show him as an underdog. Then the Republicans won't have a backup candidate to replace him. Pence, of course, but the Trump base won't necessarily back Pence. They need to come up with a plan B, and cancelling primaries is not the way to do that.
Yeah, I always thought that if Trump is looking really bad in the polls going into the general election he is not going to want to look like a 'loser' and will bail... using some excuse, bone spurs, whatever.
DeletePence would hold the evangelical vote... and by his association with Trump might be able to pull it off.
They aren't cancelling GOP primaries, they are just not going to have the office of president on the ballot. There are plenty of other offices up for grabs in each state.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that. I wonder if they will count (or publicly reveal) write-in votes?
DeleteThey also cancelled primaries in 2004 and 1984. It appears to be a thing they do for any incumbent. I should also note that 2 states cancelled primaries on the Democratic side in 2012.
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