There's no surer sign of how weakened a president really is than when she or he begins seriously worrying about a primary challenge. That's exactly how well-positioned Donald Trump is heading into 2020, and his team knows it. The AP reports the Trump campaign is launching an initiative to rig the primary structure in favor of Trump in order to prevent any serious opponents from getting traction.
The plan includes what Trump campaign officials called "an unprecedented effort" to influence local and state party operations through lobbying and rule changes in order to pack the Republican nominating convention with Trump loyalists. In other words, it's a top-down blitz to snuff out any opposition by exerting maximum control over GOP county and state caucuses and installing handpicked people in key state leadership roles in order to dominate the Republican convention. Sounds perfectly democratic, if your definition of "democratic" includes sham intraparty elections with preordained outcomes.
Of course, how frightening the effort really is will hinge on how well it's actually executed.
“They’re not talented, but they’re not idiotic," noted GOP strategist John Weaver, who's an adviser to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. "They rightfully understand that he could be badly damaged or lose in a nomination battle. They’re doing too much. It looks weak."
Correction: It is weak.