For a while now, political prognosticators and armchair campaign analysts have mused that the GOP presidential primary is almost a carbon copy of the 2016 contest. A crowded field of candidates, few of whom are willing to confront Donald Trump directly, will once again ensure that Trump will roll-up primary wins and ultimately capture the nomination in 2024. Yet it's also true that things are very different from the 2016 cycle. First, Trump is a lot more popular among Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters than he was in 2015-2016.
