[conservatism_IS_compassion]

To me, the resemblance to 1968 may be the real point:

LBJ was the sitting president, and his renomination was a foregone conclusion. Sound familiar? What happened? Gene McCarthy won New Hampshire - and LBJ decided he was too busy running the Vietnam War and “accordingly I will not seek - nor will I accept - the nomination of my party for a second term as president of the United States.”

[jjotto]

McCarthy did not win the 1968 New Hampshire primary. He dramatically ‘outperformed expectations’.