Donald Trump is already obsessing over 2020. He won't rule out using hacked data from his rivals, he's glued to the TV sizing up potential Democratic contenders during "executive time," and his minions are busy rigging the primaries to block any potential GOP challengers from getting a foothold. And one of those potential challengers has a question for Trump: "What are you so afraid of?"
Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan wants to know why the Republican National Committee is taking what he calls "unprecedented" steps to kneecap any potential GOP rivals to Trump.
But Hogan isn't the only one calling the Trump campaign's desperate bid to knock out any challengers unprecedented—that's exactly how Trump campaign officials described their effort to pack state and local party operations with Trump loyalists. Bedrock Trump states like South Carolina are even considering scrapping their GOP primary altogether.
But if Trump's support is really that solid, Hogan wonders what all fuss is about. “If he has unanimous support and everybody is on board, why shut down the normal process?” Hogan asked in an interview with Politico. “It’s almost like a hostage situation.”
Hogan is only the second GOP governor to ever win reelection in Maryland and with overall approval ratings in the high 70s, he has something Trump will never ever have: crossover appeal. But the potential for crossover votes doesn't count for jack these days in Trump’s cult-like Republican party. That said, if Trump's a sure thing, why all the bluster?
“Why are they so concerned? Why the puffing out the chest," Hogan wonders. "‘We’ve put together the greatest team ever assembled, we’re going to raise all this money early, we’re going to hire all these people early, we’re going to take over the RNC.’”
Obviously, nothing is more scary to Trump than losing, which his team clearly considers a distinct possibility. What we are watching are the machinations of a campaign whose candidate is absolutely desperate to win and not at all sure he'll have the juice to do it without tilting the field in his direction.