Despite losing every primary contest so far, GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley has vowed to stay on through Super Tuesday on March 5.
News Analysis
Despite suffering a humiliating loss in her home state of South Carolina on Feb. 24 and another in Michigan on Feb. 27, GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley has vowed to fight on.
Ms. Haleyâs campaign said she would stay in the race at least through March 5, Super Tuesdayâthe biggest primary day comprising 15 states and American Samoa.
Nonetheless, in an interview with The Epoch Times, experts share why Ms. Haley may be staying in the race.
1. Give Voters an Alternative to Biden, Trump
Ms. Haley has repeatedly said that she wants to give the American people a choice that is not President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump, as desired by a significant proportion of Republicans.
âWe canât afford four more years of Bidenâs failures or Trumpâs lack of focus,â said Ms. Haley, citing issues such as the national debt, economy, education, wars abroad, and the border and fentanyl crisis. She also remarked that the two are divisive.
âShe wants to give Republican voters in all remaining states a choice, not just voters in the first few states,â said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida.
âThis is the âdemocracyâ argumentâthat elections without choices are undemocratic and the people that donât get to vote until March or April or May are just as deserving of having choices as those in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada,â he added.
In the last three primary contests, Ms. Haley racked up between 26 percent to 40 percent of the votes President Trump would need to win the general election. But in the two contests where Ms. Haley won around 40 percent, a sizable portion of them have been Democrats and independents, as New Hampshire was a semi-open primary and South Carolina was an open primary.
Additionally, polling shows that a majority of voters do not want a Biden-Trump rematch. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 67 percent of those surveyed are âtired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new.â
2. She Has the Campaign Funding
Ms. Haley has the funding to sustain a campaign. It even raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours after the double-digit defeat in South Carolina, according to the campaign.
Ms. Haley, an accountant, has run a fiscally disciplined campaign, unlike former Gov. Ron DeSantis, who burned through cash. She held fundraisers over the past several weeks, garnering millions of dollars.
After all, continuing in a race depends on having the money and resources to do so, said Mr. Jewett.
Moreover, âsheâs on the ballot where sheâs going to be on the ballot,â GOP strategist Matt Dole told The Epoch Times.
âShe doesnât need to spend any money if she doesnât want to spend it,â he added.
However, the funding has not been all positive.
First, President Trumpâs campaign has significantly more cash than Ms. Haleyâs.
Second, the Koch Network aligned-Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Action announced on Feb. 25 that it would cut off its funding for Ms. Haleyâs campaign, which the largest conservative grassroots organization in the United States endorsed in November.
After Ms. Haleyâs loss in South Carolina, AFP Action decided to âtake stockâ of the circumstances and concluded that no âoutside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory.â
âLosing AFP Actionâs support certainly makes it harder to get her message out for Super Tuesday in any case,â said Mr. Redlawsk.
âThe AFPâs decision to turn off the spigot of funding for Nikki Haley will, as it turns out, have the same effect as turning that spigot on: Nikki Haley at home after the convention deciding whatâs next for a wounded political brand,â said Mr. Dole.
In a statement, Ms. Haleyâs campaign expressed appreciation for AFP Actionâs support and called the group an âally in the fight for freedom and conservative government.â
3. Position Herself for 2028
As Ms. Haleyâs path to the GOP nod this year has all but closed, there is the possibility of her running for the White House in 2028. If President Biden or President Trump won in November, both would be ineligible for reelection. In 2028, President Biden will be 86 years old, while President Trump will be 81.
Granted, what the GOP will look like in 2028 will be determined as four years is a lifetime in politics. And the Trump wing of the party may not dictate the direction of the party, said Mr. Jewett.
âPerhaps she also thinks this has the potential to position her in some way for 2028,â said Mr. Redlawsk.
4. Establish Herself as the Leader of the Anti-Trump GOP
Ms. Haley appeared to establish herself as the leader of the GOP wing of the Republican Party that does not support President Trumpâa significant plurality whom the former president will mathematically need to win in November.
âNearly every day, Trump drives people away,â she said in her speech after her defeat in South Carolina.
Nonetheless, said Mr. Cronrath, âMost of Haleyâs support is coming from so-called Never Trump Republicans and independentsâ as âHaley may be positioning herself as the future leader of a post-Trump GOP assuming Trumpâs form of populism erodes, and there is a reset.â
However, Ms. Haley possibly âthinks this has the potential to position her in some way for 2028,â said Mr. Redlawsk.
Moreover, Mr. Redlawsk added: âBy 2028, it will likely be a different environment, and she may be showing that she has some strength even with Trump around.
âIn some ways, I agree it doesnât seem like a great strategy, but at a minimum, she may be building credibility with the non-Trump wing of the party, which may be a significant factor in 2028, especially if Trump loses in 2024.â
Furthermore, said Mr. Jewett, âShe wants to represent the anti-Trump wing of the party.â
Mr. Jewett went on to note that âaccording to polls, there is a block of Republicans who have indicated that they do not like Trump, and so her candidacy may represent their views and fight back against the idea that the Republican Party and Donald Trumpâs campaign are one in the same entity.â
Indeed, he added: âShe is playing the long game and positioning herself for a future run in 2028 after Trump is off the political stage.
âShe might feel that staying in the race will make her the frontrunner next time around. She is gambling that staying in the race will not permanently alienate the current Trump base that makes up the majority of voters.â
In the meantime, âthe media is covering her more and in a more friendly way as an anti-Trump candidate than they were before Iowa,â said Mr. Dole.
5. Wait Out Trumpâs Legal Battles
President Trump has been indicted in Manhattan, Georgia, and two federal cases, totaling 91 charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
However, President Trump could secure the 1,215 delegates needed to be the GOP nominee by the end of Super Tuesday and, therefore, before the trials begin, according to an analysis by The Epoch Times.
Nonetheless, in the event Republicans abandon President Trump in response to a conviction, Ms. Haley could be in a prime position to be the nominee, given the funding she has and the campaign infrastructure in place. While those who suspended their campaign could jump back in, it would likely take time to get their bands back together and campaign in the remaining primary states.
âIf Trump were to experience a drop in support given his potential legal woes, the GOP could have a contested convention where Haley and others battle for the nomination,â said Mr. Cronrath. âThe 1976 Republican National Convention was the last election in which either party did not have their candidates selected prior to the convention.â
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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