The 2020 GOP is stuck with Trump in the same way the 1980 Democrats were stuck with Jimmy Carter.
The longer I live, the more I am convinced that if Carter had not been challenged by Kennedy he would have been re-elected.
-Kennedy didn't take down Carter. Reagan, the hostage crisis, and the recession did.
If Kennedy had not run, John Anderson's candidacy would have gotten no traction amongst Democrats; indeed, it probably wouldn't have gotten off the ground.
If Kennedy had not run, Carter would probably have saved a number of Democratic votes who went to Reagan due to party disunity and the fact that Democrats, themselves, were questioning his competency.
Kennedy's challenge and Anderson's third party candidacy eroded a good deal of the incumbent advantage Carter had. It was a tough climb for Carter, but he might have made it had Kennedy never happened, because if Kennedy hadn't happened, Anderson wouldn't have happened, IMO.
