The same thing happened in recent history when Ross Perot ran as a Reform Party nominee, Bob Dole the Republican nominee, and Bill Clinton, the incumbent Democrat. In my opinion, Dole was a weak candidate/politician to begin with (he lost as VP when he ran with Ford in 1976 to Carter).

I think this is a trademark of Republican politics: they do not seem to come together as Democrats tend to do no matter how weak the top-name candidate is.

Thanks for the read!