I hope Shannon does announce and run. That would almost certainly insure a runoff where Jim Bridenstine would advance and defeat the GOPe’s candidate Lankford.
The GOPe HATES the runoff system because, as in Texas last cycle with Ted Cruz defeating the GOPe’s candidate Dewhurst, it defeats their tactic of splitting conservative votes and allowing the GOPe’s candidate to win with a mere plurality.
So come on Shannon and any other candidate—the more the merrier for vote splitting purposes. We want the REAL AuH2ORepublican (i.e., Jim Bridenstein) in the race to win with the Senate Conservatives Fund’s backing. And won’t Rove and his fellow travelers hate that!
You are assuming a lot of things there. And you know what happens when you assume ....
But I don’t think that Bridenstine will run, in which case we won’t get the chance to see whether you’re correct about who would win the election.
As for primary run-offs, I agree with you that they’re terrific (and not just because they allowed Cruz to beat Dewhurst and DeMint to defeat Beasley), and wish that every state had them. Having someone win the primary with 30% makes absolutely no sense.