Weakliem writes: In 2016, Donald Trump lost the popular vote to a weak candidate, although the mysterious workings of the Electoral College gave him the presidency. During his first term, he never reached a 50% approval rating. In the 2020 election, despite having the advantage of incumbency, he lost both the popular and electoral votes to a mediocre candidate. So why did the Republicans ignore this record of failure and nominate him again in 2024? Most observers seem to think that the answer is obvious–it was because he had a strong hold on ordinary Republican voters. Actually, though, the polls show that about the same proportion of Republicans wanted Trump to run again in 2024 as wanted Romney to run again in 2016. In both cases, the previous election’s loser had strong support among the rank-and-file, but voters were open to other options. Weakliem continues: Turning from voters to elites, here are endorsements from Republican senators and governors (data from Ballotpedia). Out of…
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