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"So folks opposing the imperial succession would have had from mid December to the beginning of March, or about 2 and a half months (as a practical matter, only two months since it is hard to get politics organized during the last couple of weeks of December), to line up support and money for the sprint to the May primary."

You're correct that two months may not be sufficient for a candidate to line up support and donors to run for Congress, but it's still far more notice than was given in the cases that I outlined in which the pull-out occurred right before the filing deadline. Had Armey announced he wasn't seeking reelection the day of the filing deadline, his son would have most likely run unopposed---that's the sort of dirty trick to which I was referring.

I'm convinced that the Armeys would have pulled the last minute switch if their arrogance hadn't convinced them that it wasn't necessary.