The reason primaries are rare is because Senate campaigns are extremely expensive and unless the party leaders bless the challenger, the challenger doesn't stand a chance. So then why do the party leaders continue to support Graham (and other RINO incumbants)? Because the relatively few people who give the most money to and/or raise the most money for the state GOP, in general, and Graham, specifically, don't want to see their investments go to waste. They have spent a hugh amount of money bribing their boy -- I mean buying access -- and if they support the challenger and lose, then they run the risk of jeapardizing the relationship with the incumbant that they have brought -- I mean nurtured -- over the years. And financially supporting the challenger means starting from scratch.
and THAT’s the truth!
“...the challenger doesn’t stand a chance.”
That was true here in Ohio. A couple of REAL conservatives ran against DeRINO in the primary, and DeRINO still won. (I voted against DeRINO in the primary.) DeRINO got trounced by the RAT/commie candidate SherRodham Brown. So we went from RINO to RAT. Not much difference, except with a RAT, you know what you are dealing with.