Possible Reasons Nikki Haley Remains in 2024 Race and Take My Poll

I don’t believe one politician owes it to another not to run against him or to drop out of a race she’s already in. I’m not sure anyone deserves that kind of loyalty. But that doesn’t mean I can’t wonder why one would continue on a path that will not lead to victory. I don’t get to ask former Gov. Nikki Haley the question, so I’ll ask you. Why is she still in the 2024 presidential race after losing Iowa and New Hampshire to former President Donald Trump and things not looking any more promising ahead?

I don’t believe loyalty to a person should supersede loyalty to a call, and if I felt a call to run for office, I would have to honor that call. Now, I’ve never heard Haley say she felt a calling to run for president; I just know if I’m ever running for president, you can be sure I’m doing it only for that reason. As for Haley, all I do know is that she approached her loss in New Hampshire (Trump: 54.3 percent and Haley: 43.2 percent) as if she won something. It clearly irked Trump and baffled some others. Of course, it excited her supporters and some donors, who obviously don’t mind throwing away their money.

Haley, who was U.N. ambassador in Trump’s administration, made it clear after the race was called for the former president that she wasn’t planning to go anywhere, unlike Flordia Gov. Ron DeSantis who suspended his campaign two days before. “You’ve all heard the chatter among the political class. They’re falling all over themselves saying this race is over. Well, I have news for all of them: New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not last in the nation. This race is far from over," Haley said.

Most of us who are paying attention to polling and the obvious will of the people were saying to our televisions or screens or whatever we were using to tune in, “No, Nikki. The race is over.” But why must we say what she’s smart enough to know? Say what you want about her, she’s no dummy, so she can surely see what’s staring her in the face. But ambition does tend to blind. So what say you? Is she missing what the rest of us see—or the better question may be “Is she seeing something the rest of us are missing?”

Does Haley have any shot in this race against Trump? Polling screams a loud “no,” but not only is Haley staying in the race for now; she’s “attack[ing] Donald Trump more aggressively than she's ever done before,” Steve Hilton at Foxnews.com wrote.

So my question to each of you is what is going on? Does she think all the polling is wrong? Does she believe she can endear herself to Republicans, including the non-establishment types, who, frankly, neither like nor trust her? Does she know this thing is over but is having way too much fun to stop now—like the child on the amusement park ride who keeps yelling, “More! More!”? Or is she praying that Trump’s legal battles will land him in prison, he won’t be able to run the country even if he wins the nomination, and she will be the beneficiary of that “lawfare”? When her response to DeSantis’s departure was “May the best woman win,” maybe what she uttered under her breath after that phrase was “by hook or by crook.”

It’s possible Haley is intent on staying in the race until after South Carolina, which follows Nevada on the primary schedule. But conventional political wisdom would say unless she’s expected to be the runaway winner there, that’s not the right move, as it would be embarrassing for her to lose her home state and would be a cloud hanging over her political future. Already, her fellow South Carolinian in the race, Sen. Tim Scott, endorsed Trump upon ending his bid and fawned all over him. And she is not poised to win the Palmetto State, so her “on to South Carolina” cry upon losing New Hampshire means what? That she’s on to the state that polling on Saturday says Trump leads by 27 percent, as reported here, here, and here? Axios polling put it this way: Trump “is set to deliver a South Carolina smackdown to Nikki Haley in her home state where she is best known.” I don’t think it gets much better for her after South Carolina, and, again, she’s smart enough to know that—isn’t she?

Having said that, I’ve said many times that there are more reasons to run than to win. Maybe Haley has one of those other reasons written down somewhere. Or maybe, just maybe, she believes she can pull it off because she’s certainly going all out and has been accused of employing the left’s identity politics to get ’er done, including, some say, playing the woman card as well as the race card.

And still, Trump appears to be the man most people want, but the woman most people do not want says she’s not going anywhere. That remains to be seen, but in the meantime, I still am wondering what’s really keeping her in it. Share your thoughts in the poll below:

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Photo: Twitter/@NikkiHaley