Trump's hand-picked primary candidates failed, so presidents should stay out of primaries
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "Candidate Quality Mattered | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." November 4, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that the candidates Trump personally backed in Republican primaries did badly in the general election, costing the party seats. Because many voters judge better than one man, he says Trump should stay out of primaries in the future and let Republican voters pick.
Conclusion
President Trump should stay out of Republican primaries (as in 2028) and let Republican voters choose their nominees, because his interference produced weak candidates and electoral losses.
Premises
- Candidate quality has a significant effect on election outcomes in both parties.
- Better nominees (for example Ralph Norman instead of Darline Graham Nordone in South Carolina) would have won seats Republicans lost.
- Trump broke with custom by imposing himself on state primaries and essentially hand-selecting candidates such as Ken Paxton in Texas, Nordone in South Carolina and Whatly in North Carolina.
- Those Trump-selected candidates 'failed miserably' in the general election.
- Other presidents traditionally stayed out of primaries until voters had chosen, and Trump seems incapable of doing the same.
- In a republic, the collective judgment of many people is better than the judgment of one person.
Assumptions
- The losses by Trump-endorsed candidates were caused by their weaker quality rather than by national conditions, such as a midterm backlash or tariffs.
- Candidates chosen by primary voters without presidential endorsement would have been stronger in the general election.
- Primary electorates select more electable nominees than a president's endorsement does.
- Presidential custom of staying out of primaries is a good norm worth following.
- The outcomes described (Democratic Senate gains in Florida and South Carolina) are accurate and attributable to nominee choice.