Thread by @RadioFreeTom

I get that @WalshFreedom or Weld or Amash want to take on Trump from within the GOP, but I'm not enthusiastic about any of these primary ideas. I *really* don't want this to mutate into a 3rd-party challenge, which will only help Trump.
In my view, 2020 is a binary choice. /1

Sure, I'd love to see Joe (or Amash, or Weld) rough up Trump from the right, but I'm not sure it will accomplish much. Who's the audience? What's the goal? Trump voters are a cult. They won't defect. And Trump now owns the remaining detritus of what calls itself the GOP. /2

Now, if the goal is to force Trump to divide his attention (and funds), make him completely melt down, and convince the last two people in America who don't get it that they must vote to turn the Electoral College to a Democrat in order to remove Trump from office...well, hmm. /3

What if the goal is to rattle Trump in a primary and then shave just enough of the vote in one or two states in the general to cost Trump the Electoral College?
I don't think that'll work. Moreover, it's not worth the risk of helping Trump. Easier just to vote D for a cycle. /4

And if the goal is to put up a "Republican" just to protect the GOP brand by saying "this is a real Republican here in the primary," count me out. I want no part of that. Trump is a national emergency. I'm not up for overly-clever strategies to rescue the GOP as a party. /5

I respect Joe for stepping forward, owning mistakes, and defending things conservatives care about. If he runs, I hope he drives Trump crazy. (Or, *more* crazy.) But I'm not in favor of anything that even remotely risks Trump squeaking out another Electoral College win. /6

And two other points. First, I can't very well tell Democrats to get their act together and rally around a unity candidate, and then bolt over to a parallel conservative challenge.
The goal is to defeat Trump, period. So I'm staying with my plan of voting Democratic in 2020. /7

Second, as a moral issue, I don't want anything that gives Republicans a safe harbor, where they can say they didn't vote for Trump - but knew they'd get him anyway. I'm tired of people who are okay with Trump but who also want to avoid the moral stain of voting for the man. /9

This is an existential crisis of government, and "I sat this one out," or "I wrote in Bill Weld" just doesn't cut it for me. Yes, it's your right to do it as an American, as is your right not to vote at all.
But I think 2020 is, to steal a phrase, "A Time for Choosing." /10

My heart wishes there were an alternative, but my head tells me there isn't one. Unless someone can show me the math where a primary challenge helps remove Trump, I think my position is the only logical path.
Carla agrees. /11x