Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), now a conservative talk radio host, announced Sunday that he's challenging President Trump for the 2020 Republican nomination. People are skeptical of his motives but mostly his chances — New York Magazine called it a "beyond-long-shot primary bid," a "quixotic mission" undertaken with "Bill Kristol, a onetime mighty Republican figure who has become an avatar of GOP Establishment impotence in the face of Trump's party takeover." Another prominent #NeverTrump conservative, George Conway, is also on board, figuratively if not officially.
Trump's campaign doesn't seem very concerned about Walsh's bid. "Whatever," communications director Tim Murtaugh told ABC News.
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Journalist Kurt Eichenwald put it this way:
It's true that Walsh "possesses the conservative bona fides" and grit Trump's other GOP challenger, former Gov. William Weld (Mass.), lacks, and "some previous primary candidates have found some success against weak incumbents; think Ronald Reagan in 1976 or Pat Buchanan in 1992," New York adds. "The problem for Walsh — or any other conservative challenger — is that Trump remains extremely popular with GOP voters." Walsh bets the polls are wrong — an idea Trump supporters, at least, can respect.
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