Bill Weld?s barely breathing primary challenge

By STEPHANIE MURRAY03/06/2019 05:05 AM ESTBill Weld announced his presidential exploratory bid last month with a flourish, capturing headlines by calling Donald Trump “a schoolyard bully” and dismissing Washington Republicans for exhibiting “all the symptoms of Stockholm syndrome.” Then he went dark.Story Continued Below Aside from a few television hits and public appearances, the former Massachusetts governor has done little to suggest his primary election challenge to Trump is something the president needs to worry about. "To challenge Trump in 2020, Weld, [former Ohio Gov. John] Kasich or [Maryland Gov. Larry] Hogan needs to be building out a braintrust that is fit for mission impossible."The uneven start of Weld's 2020 campaign is a far cry from the 1990s, when as popular, two-term Massachusetts governor he drew mention as a contender for the GOP nomination. He's also been vocal in his support for Democrats: Weld endorsed President Barack Obama over the late Republican Sen. John McCain in 2008 and stopped just short of endorsing Democrat Hillary Clinton just before the 2016 election, saying he was "vouching" for her over Trump."He is in the curious position of having jumped a few ships in recent decades and so he doesn't seem as solid of a Republican now as before," said Massachusetts political consultant Todd Domke, who left the Republican Party the day after Trump was elected. This time around, Weld said he rejoined the GOP because he's got his sights set on defeating Trump, and he concedes a third-party run is an unrealistic way to get there. A majority of likely Republican primary voters — 56 percent — say they plan to vote for Trump.When compared to Weld and Kasich, 68 percent of likely Republican voters said they'd choose Trump.