Hillary Clinton lost the presidential general election in 2016 due to a variety of factors, not the least of which were voter disenfranchisement and suppression, Russian hacking, vulnerable electronic polling stations, social media manipulation and disinformation, and an apathetic media bent on normalizing destructive Republican policies.

There were other factors, to be sure, but the bad news about the 2020 election is all those things are still very much in place, which makes the odds on Donald Trump winning re-election significantly higher than one would hope.

But there is good news this week: William Weld has thrown his hat in the ring and is committed to primarying Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

Which makes William Weld a very good ally to the Democratic Party.

Why? Because it's a rare event when an incumbent president is primaried and it inevitably leads to their defeat, as Lawrence O'Donnell deliciously lays out here.

"These challengers have always been history-makers. They have always turned the tide of history against the incumbent president. So far, they have never been there at the end of the road when the electoral votes are being counted on that Tuesday night in November, but the president in their own party who they challenged in the primaries always ends up on the losing side of the Electoral College."

I think it's pretty clear that William Weld does not really believe that he'll win the nomination. It's not really the point. He's taking one for the team, because--as his ad states--America deserves better than Donald Trump.