The rules don’t but the RESULTS, which is what matters, do. And the RESULTS are that having a highly contested primary does not preclude winning the general election. In fact the RESULTS show a highly contested primary is often the result of a highly energized base and IMPROVES your chances of winning the general. Notice how many more people are voting in the GOP primaries than the Dem. Results apply equally. And the results say there’s no reason to declare it over in early March and have everybody not the front runner quit so we can move on to the general.
I never said it did, where do you get that from?
I did say it serves the elitist goal of getting people other that diehards like you and me to tune out.
That's why party turnout has become such an issue, which you never addressed.