Republican candidate seeks to keep Trump off 2020 ballot
By: Nolan Cleary
Staff Writer
Plenty of coverage has been centered toward the record number of Democrats seeking out the White House in 2020 over the past few months, however, one candidate is hoping to take on President Donald Trump in a different way.
This candidate is Republican Bill Weld.
Weld has an extensive political record. From 1981-1986, he was appointed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to become U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. From 1986-1988, Reagan promoted Weld to the position of United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division.
In 1990, Weld was elected Governor of Massachusetts, the first of his party to win the office in over thirty years. He won re-election with over 70% of the vote four years later.
Since then, Weld has run for U.S. Senate as well as Governor of New York State. He ultimately lost the nomination to John Faso, who would later go on to represent the Hudson River Valley in Congress.
Weld was also on the ballot during the 2016 Presidential election as he sought out the Vice Presidency on a third party line.
Now Weld is pursuing another political endeavor, taking on Donald Trump as a candidate for the Presidency.
At Hudson Valley Community College, students are optimistic about Weld’s chances of victory.
Jacob Gertzberg, a student studying to be a fitness specialist, said Weld seemed optimistic about the upcoming election.
“He feels he can do a lot better than Donald Trump,” said Gertzberg.
Psychology major, Nathanial Indilicato said he would consider supporting Weld’s bid for the White House.
“I think having him in it would be good because it shows he’d be a better candidate because he’s a little bit more lenient with stuff,” Indilicato said.
The concept of a candidate challenging an incumbent President from inside his own party isn’t a foreign one. In 1976, many Republicans feared Watergate would hurt the chances of then U.S. President Gerald Ford, who had inherited the presidency from Richard Nixon following his resignation.
A little known former California Governor named Ronald Reagan then decided to take on Ford. The race for the Republican nomination became a bitter one, with the two candidates ultimately taking their fight to the Republican National Convention.
To date, this is the last time two candidates seeking a major political party’s nomination went to the convention without being a nominee. The Republican party chose Ford, who lost the election to Jimmy Carter.
In 1980, Democrats feared Carter’s low approval numbers could hand a decisive victory to the GOP. After years of speculation, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, sibling of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, announced he would be running.
In spite of his name recognition, Kennedy suffered an infamous gaffe, in which he failed to respond to a reporter’s question as to why he desired to be Commander-in-Chief. He underperformed in the primaries, and Carter won the nomination.
Then there was 1992, when U.S. President George H.W. Bush’s infamous 1988 campaign promise, “Read my lips, no new taxes” came back to haunt him. Costly proposals forced Bush to raise taxes, angering Republicans in his own party.
As a result, former advisor to Richard Nixon Pat Buchanan announced he’d challenge Bush in a Republican primary setting. Largely considered the underdog, Buchanan ultimately was unable to rob Bush of the nomination. Regardless, he did overperform, receiving a better than expected 38% of the vote in New Hampshire and getting 23% of the vote nationally.
In this situation, each primary led to the incumbent President losing re-election in the general election that year.
Gertzberg said he believes Weld has a strong possibility of defeating Trump.
“Anything is possible during an election.” Gertzberg said.
However, Weld tends to be an outlier in the Republican Party, taking on positions other members of his party find unpopular. He’s pro-legalization of gay marriage and pro-choice on the topic of abortion.
Weld is also against the idea of a border wall, supports more environmental regulations and supports the legalization of marijuana.
Some people said they believe these positions could ruffle some feathers in the party. According to Indilicato, these positions could hurt Weld amongst certain Republicans.
“There are definitely diehard Republicans who would not vote for him in 2020 because of his beliefs,” Indilicato said.
So far Weld isn’t alone in the Republican primary. Joe Walsh (no relation to the singer), who previously served as a Congressman from Illinois from 2011-2013, is also a candidate in the race.
Unlike Weld, Walsh is running a more traditionally conservative campaign. Walsh himself was a supporter of Trump until 2018, after Trump had a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Walsh said he was disgusted by Trump’s actions, and eventually announced his candidacy for President a year later.
Professor Robert Whitaker, a political science professor at Hudson Valley Community College, said he believes that although Walsh is less moderate than Weld, it’s still going to be a tough road ahead for Walsh’s campaign.
“Walsh and Weld both have a couple problems, number one is name recognition,” Whitaker said. “Few people really know who they are [as] Weld has been out of office for coming up on 20 years [and] few people outside of politics are going to know who Joe Walsh is,” he continued. “The number two problem is they have to run against Donald Trump.”
These may not be the only problems for the two. Republican primaries in Kansas, South Carolina, Arizona and Alaska have been cancelled and another candidate, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, dropped out after being in the race for just two months.
President Donald Trump has also refused to participate in any debates with either of the two challengers. Still, Weld and Walsh hold out a small glimmer of optimism that could possibly keep Trump off the ballot in 2020.
The Iowa Caucuses are scheduled for Monday, Feb. 3, 2020.