Nikki Haley’s Bid for the 2024 Republican Presidential Nomination: A Desperate and Devious Campaign to Prevent a Trump ‘A– Kicking’ in South Carolina

Nikki Haley, the former two-term governor of South Carolina and a former U.N. ambassador under Donald Trump, is making a desperate and devious bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. With Trump predicted to clinch the nomination, Haley is courting independent voters and even some Democrats in an attempt to prevent a ‘big’ loss in her home state of South Carolina.

The final polls in South Carolina showed Trump maintaining a large double-digit lead over Haley, the last remaining major rival challenging the former president. However, Haley is not giving up. She emphasizes that South Carolina is an open primary, meaning that anyone can vote, as long as they did not vote in the Democrat primary on February 3rd.

Trump, who has been the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential race since the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary victories, has predicted an ‘a– kicking’ for Haley in her home state. But Haley refuses to quit. She is focusing on every state before them and is looking to prevent a blowout in South Carolina by courting independent voters and even some Democrats.

Independents played a crucial role in Haley’s 43% showing in New Hampshire, where she lost to Trump by 11 points. However, they are much less of a factor in South Carolina’s more conservative electorate, where evangelical voters enjoy prominence in GOP contests.

A Monmouth University poll about South Carolina’s primary conducted last weekend had Trump with a 72%-to-25% lead among Republicans questioned, similar to how he performed with GOP voters in New Hampshire. Haley, meanwhile, held a narrow 53%-46% advantage among independents. However, nearly two-thirds of those sampled by the survey indicated they were Republicans, with only 28% identifying as independents.

Longtime South Carolina-based Republican consultant Dave Wilson noted that there is no party registration in this state. Haley’s campaign and aligned groups are trying to find people who are so against Trump that they’re willing to step into a Republican booth and choose her name just to vote against Trump. Haley’s allies are also making a pitch for Democrats who didn’t cast a ballot in the party’s relatively low turnout presidential primary earlier this month to vote in the GOP contest.

Haley has repeatedly vowed to march on regardless of her finish on Saturday. Michigan, on Tuesday, holds the next contest, and it’s also an open primary. In early March, nearly 800 delegates are up for grabs on Super Tuesday, and over 150 will be at stake over the ensuing two weeks. Among the states holding contests on Super Tuesday are delegate-rich California and Texas, and other big states like Florida, Illinois and Ohio will hold winner-take-all primaries March 19. Polling in many of those states indicates Trump holding large leads over Haley.

However, Haley’s campaign notes that 11 of the 16 Super Tuesday contests aren’t limited to registered Republicans. Campaign manager Betsy Ankeny in a recent memo highlighted that the upcoming open primaries contain ‘significant fertile ground for Nikki.’

Trump and his allies have repeatedly blasted Haley over the courting of independents and even some Democrats. Trump has accused Haley of siding with a dictator and a tyrant. Haley has fired back, saying that she doesn’t ask donors whether they’re Republican, Democrat, or independent. She argues that they’re fighting for the Republican primary but are also pulling in independents and Reagan Democrats.

Seasoned Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams pointed out that it’s up to each state to choose its process. He noted that when Mitt Romney won the nomination a dozen years ago, they were essentially the establishment and tried to draw in independents to offset what seemed to be a rotation of conservative challengers. They courted independent voters and had an eye on the general election too.

In conclusion, Nikki Haley’s bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination is a desperate and devious campaign to prevent a ‘big’ loss in her home state of South Carolina. She is courting independent voters and even some Democrats in an attempt to prevent a Trump ‘a– kicking.’ While Trump is predicted to clinch the nomination, Haley is not giving up. She is focusing on every state before them and is looking to prevent a blowout in South Carolina by courting independent voters and even some Democrats. The upcoming open primaries contain significant fertile ground for Haley, and she is hoping to make a comeback in the race for the Republican nomination.