Yes, it puts the eventual nominee through a bruising campaign and delivers him tarnished and drained into the ring against Bill Clinton. But the real danger is philosophical, not tactical. It is axioms, not just policies, that are under fire. Buchanan's constituency, by then convinced by their leader that the working man's issues have been pushed aside, may simply walk on Election Day or, even worse, defect to the Democrats. After all, Democrats do class war very well.
Political parties can survive bruising primary battles.
They cannot survive ideological meltdown. Dole and Buchanan say they are fighting for the heart and soul of the Republican Party.