President Has a Primary Challenger
Monday, August 26th, 2019 -- 7:47 AM
(WRN) -President Donald Trump is being primaried from within his own party. That's rare - but not unheard of.President Donald Trump is being primaried from within his own party, and while that's unusual, it's not unheard of.
"There are some instances where an incumbent president does get seriously challenged, though it's been awhile since we've seen on of those."
UW political scientist Barry Burden says conservative columnist Pat Buchanan primaried Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992.
"Buchanan actually triumphed in the New Hampshire primary, and Bush had to fight his way through the rest of the primaries and caucuses, to make sure that he had the nomination."
And in 1980, Democrat Jimmy Carter had to fend off a challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy
"That battle ran right to the end of the primaries and caucuses, with Kennedy accumulating some delegates, and actually having some momentum near the end of the process."
Bush and Carter both won their respective nominations but, perhaps weakened by those primary campaigns, went on to lose their bids for second terms. But Burden notes, things have changed a lot since then
"The parties have just become stronger and more top down over time. Trump has really made an effort to have control over the Republican National Committee, and over state parties and over the delegate selection process in a bunch of states. And that makes it really difficult for any of these potential challengers to get a toehold."
Burden says such challenges to sitting presidents are rare.
"The assumption normally going into a reelection year is that the president owns the party and they have the right to be be its nominee, without much question. That said, there are definitely instances in the not so distant past where an incumbent president has been seriously challenged, in some cases maybe to a degree where it actually harmed their chances in the general election."
Radio talk show host and former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh announced Sunday that he'll challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 primary, (charging that the president is “incompetent,” “a bigot” and “a narcissist.”) Former Massachusetts GOP governor Bill Weld is also running against Trump.
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