The former South Carolina Governor and Congressman has joined Bill Weld and Joe Walsh * in running against Donald Trump for the Grand ole’ Parties 2020 Presidential nomination ….
His has admitted his chances to beat Trump are remote…
But he is seeking to reach other Republicans who do not support their party leader….
Former South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford said on Sunday that he will challenge President Trump in 2020 as a Republican.
“I’m here to tell you now that I am going to get in,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Sanford said last week that he was focused on Hurricane Dorian would wait until after the storm had passed to announce his decision on a White House bid.
Sanford previously said he would give himself until Labor Day to make a choice.
Since announcing his potential White House bid, the former lawmaker has visited New Hampshire and Iowa, causing further speculation that he would launch a campaign….
There will be more on this….
- Note…I originally left Walsh out…There are now 3 guys (Weld, Walsh and now Sanford) who have announced they are running against Donald Trump for the GOP Presidential nomination right now….
FiveThirtyEight on Sanford’s run…
Back in February, we published a “Primary Challenge Success-O-Meter” to rate the danger posed by different types of primary challengers to an incumbent president. Given Trump’s strengths, Sanford would probably be a weak Level 2 challenger, someone who could make a little bit of a splash but never seriously threaten the president’s chances of renomination. Sanford’s goal would probably be to influence the conversation about the future of the GOP, much as Pat Buchanan did during his unsuccessful yet notable challenge to President George H.W. Bush in the 1992 Republican primary.
And arguably, Sanford sees his potential candidacy as about something besides winning. “Sometimes in life you’ve got to say what you’ve got to say, whether there’s an audience or not for that message,” Sanford said in his interview with the Post and Courier, adding, “I feel convicted.”…
image…Getty
Yawn.
I just added 538 on the Sanford jump in against Trump…
When was the last time an incumbent had 3 primary challengers?
GHW Bush had Pat Buchanan and David Duke.
Nixon had 2–Pete McCloskey and John Ashbrook.
And in 1968, LBJ had Gene McCarthy and RFK, before LBJ dropped out. (George Wallace had competed in the 1964 Democratic primaries, but ran as an independent in 1968)
Before that, I think you might have to go back to 1952 when Harry Truman was in a similar situation to Johnson’s (and I was a three-year old in London, perhaps with a vague, very fuzzy notion that Britain still had a King and Winston Churchill was his Prime Minister). Relying on Wikipedia, it seems that Truman had more than two opponents, although some might have entered the race after Truman had dropped out, and others were their own state’s Favorite Sons running to keep, hold and bargain with the national front-runners.
Rather than enumerate them further, I’ll refer others to the Wikipedia article I consulted:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries
which seems to suggest that Truman’s four significant challengers at the start were Sen. Estes Kefauver (Tenn.), Gov. Averell Harriman (N.Y.), Sen. Richard Russell (Ga) and Sen. Hubert Humphrey (DFL-Minn.) Like Hubert Humphrey in 1968 — but without success — Vice President Alban Barkley (Ky) waited until the President dropped out before launching a campaign of his own.
i met Averill Harriman once…
Tall old timer…..
I’m enjoying some of the Cultists raising the issue of Sanford’s adultery.
And they are serious!
Compared to Trump?
Sanford is a Eagle Scout,choir boy and paragon of virtue rolled into one!
I presume their “ concern” reflects their conservative “ values.”
Republicans don’t give a dann about Trump’s pussy grabbing so it’s hilarious to see them worked up over Sanford’s consensual affair.
Yup!…..
Like the line ‘bending reality’….
Scott, May be hilarious, but no one is laughing.
Never underestimate the ability of the mind to justify what it wants to believe. That is true with all of us, but especially with Trump supporters.
It reflects the total bankruptcy of what now passes for “Conservatism.”
Sure, so called “moral values” were once a bedrock principle of those who called themselves “conservatives.”
However,when you essentially turn your movement over to a practicing philandering carnival barker?Then, you are no longer in a position to practice your “moralizing” upon one in a similar situation.
Is the humor here?Yes.There is also well deserved disgust at the putrid hypocrisy so evidenced.
You are right Zreebs. It really is cult like behavior. Republicans (at least the vast majority of them) view Trump as infallible. It’s why they all need to lose.
So True Z….