The difficulty for Trump’s competitors is that nothing — not even about the indictment — seems to be dragging Trump down. Trump’s polling did not appear to budge no matter how many times his rivals noted his mishandling of national secrets, after Trump pleaded not guilty to charges he kept top-secret government documents in his Palm Beach home and obstructed the government’s investigation into his possession of classified material.
“It’s like they are challenging a sitting president, and in some ways, Donald Trump is a legitimate president in the minds of many Republican primary voters,” said Christine Matthews, president of Bellwether Research, who has polled for onetime presidential aspirant and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. “That could explain why there isn’t a bounce. It’s not a completely open field. And we’re considering all these new faces who are popping in, it’s like these are challengers to an incumbent.”
In that environment, it’s become almost impossible for Trump’s opponents to break through. When Trump’s challengers did make a splash last week, it only came in response to Trump.
link
The GOP field discovers there are only side acts in the Trump show
American Buddhist Net 