G.O.P. Plans to Drop Presidential Primaries in 4 States to Impede Trump Challengers

The Trump campaign pointed out that in 1992, when President George H.W. Bush was seeking re-election, Republicans canceled primaries in eight states; in 1996, when President Bill Clinton was running for a second term, Democrats canceled primaries in eight states, and in 2004, when President George W. Bush was up for re-election, Republicans canceled primaries in ten states.

“Whether or not to hold a presidential primary is a decision made by our state executive committee every four years,” said Drew McKissick, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. “There is strong precedent on the part of both parties to not hold a primary when they control the White House.”

Mr. Weld acknowledged the precedent, but said the Trump campaign is taking it a step further. “This year the Trump people tried to cancel the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire,” he said. “They did not succeed but it shows you the lengths it will go to.”

But with the potential for further Republicans to enter the race — Mark Sanford, the former governor and congressman from South Carolina, has been toying with a run — political strategists said there is also a case for the White House to confront the challengers head on.

“Our policy in the past has always been, you’re an incumbent president, you have certain advantages, and you’ll probably be nominated again, but go out and win it,” said Ed Rollins, the national campaign director for Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election effort.

For a year, Mr. Trump’s advisers have made moves to block any challenger from gaining traction, saying that incumbents who have faced debilitating primaries have gone on to lose in the general election, as President Jimmy Carter did in 1980 after a strong challenge from Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

David Axelrod, who was President Barack Obama’s chief strategist in the 2012 re-election campaign, said that “obviously any incumbent president works to forestall a primary challenge but cancellation of them? I don’t remember that being fundamental to our strategy. And I’m not sure that it bespeaks a great deal of confidence.”

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