When former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley lost the New Hampshire primary four weeks ago, she defiantly pledged to keep fighting. Just days before the South Carolina primary, with polls showing her down by double digits, Haley gave a speech billed as the “State of the Race,” where she vowed to stay in the race until at least Super Tuesday.
In politics, it’s all about timing.
The polls consistently showed Haley losing her home state, badly. That’s the worst-case scenario for any candidate. Yet Nikki Haley kept meeting with voters, donors and the media. And now that she has finally made this primary about Donald Trump, I think she should stay in the race as long as possible.
In politics, it’s all about timing. Just a day before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race in January, I said that it would make sense for him to get out before New Hampshire if he wants to look toward 2028. Knowing he lost Iowa, and was very likely to lose to Trump in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, it made sense for DeSantis to exit early and preserve his dignity ahead of a potential do-over in 2028.
For Haley, it makes absolute sense for her to stay in the race until Super Tuesday, and hopefully for the entire primary season. The chances of her winning the majority of delegates before the Republican National Convention in July are somewhere between slim and none, but her candidacy has value nonetheless. She is currently one of the only Republicans still willing to challenge Trump head-on.
Money troubles, almost always, doom losing candidates. But as of now, that does not seem to be an acute problem. Haley is running a very savvy, very sustainable campaign. Haley’s fundraising remains healthy; she raised $16.5 million in January, nearly the same amount she raised the previous three months combined. And according to her campaign, Haley also gained nearly 70,000 new donors last month. It seems like Haley’s increasing attacks on Trump are helping her with…
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