Haley's Comment

Before she fades into the 2024 background, I think it’s only proper to have a few final words on Nikki Haley. 

So much for “Last Person Standing,” eh? 

That was the whole “argument” that analysts have been giving for the last month or so on why Haley was staying in the race.  It was a ridiculous, meaningless position, as I’ve noted, since it’s not how any party selects their presidential nominee.  In the GOP’s case, you have to get 1,215 delegates.  “Have to” as in It’s Required.  Being the “Last Person Standing” isn’t how it works.  It’s not a cage fight where half a dozen boxers pummel each other until there’s only one less.  And the proof that the “argument” was ridiculous and meaningless (other than Republican Party by-laws) is that once Haley dropped out, not one analyst talked about how she no longer has a chance of being the GOP nominee because she isn’t the “Last Person Standing” anymore.

After all, the way reality works, if for any reason Trump drops out of the race or is forced out, that doesn’t mean Republicans won’t put forth a nominee because they no longer have a “Last Person Standing.”  It means the playing field is wide open – as it always would have been, if for any reason Trump dropped out of the race or was forced out – and Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and even Vivek Ramaswamy…and any Republican on Earth can throw their hats back in the ring and try to get those 1,215 votes.  All the while with Trump ranting at them, and crying out that the whole process is rigged.  (As it almost really would be this time, if he was forced out.)

The additional point is that Nikki Haley’s long-insistence that she was in the race to the end clearly was untrue.  She stayed in the race because it raised her profile and because she had the financial backing – mostly from the Koch Bros.  When that spigot turned off, so did her insistence that she was in the race to the end.

The remaining question is whether or not she will ultimately endorse Trump.  Being Nikki Haley, she pretty much has said, “Yes.”  On the one hand, she’s said that she signed a pledge to endorse whoever the Republican nominee is.  (And she had to know at that point it would almost certainly be Trump.)  One the other hand, she’s said it was just a pledge for the debates and she hasn’t endorsed anyone yet.

I have no idea what she’ll do.  Which is fair, since I wouldn’t be surprised if Nikki Haley has any idea what she’ll do.  If she truly meant what she said when running (which is a near-laughable proposition given her statements like how the Civil War wasn’t about slavery, and then backing off such a ludicrous comment and saying, well, okay, yes, it was) that Trump was a disaster, she would endorse Joe Biden.  But I think we can dismiss that.

So, there are three possibilities –

One, that she won’t say anything.  I don’t think she’ll do this, though I think it’s her best option.  She can say she’s considering what to do, and she’ll announce it when she’s ready, and keep putting it off – and as the race nears an end, everyone will be focus on the two candidates, and Nikki Haley’s endorsement will largely slip through the cracks.  Some people might keep asking, but her silence would be unimportant.

Two, that she’ll won’t endorse Trump, but won’t endorse anyone, and say that people should be free to make their own choice. This is a good option if she doesn’t want to be tied to Trump, in case she decides to run in 2028.  Though if she doesn’t endorse Trump, and said all those mean (albeit true) things about him at the end, I don’t think she has a chance in 2028, since the Trump base will still be so huge to the party.  (Actually, conservative analyst Tim Miller has said he doesn’t think she has a future running for president anymore.)

Third, she’ll say I signed a pledge to endorse the Republican nominee, and I do that now.  But without necessarily saying the name Trump.  (Though she could get away with saying his name, if couched as “I’m required to.”)  I think this is her best bet if she does decide to endorse him.  But it probably wouldn’t placate the Trump acolyte base.  See 2028.  (See, also, Tim Miller.)  Though it might allow her to still be involved in GOP politics.

Which leaves, fourth, endorsing Trump.  Considering how heavily she slammed him at the end, this would be an egregious thing to do.  But then, this is Nikki Haley whose inconsistency has become impressive.  I would say, given what’s she’s said about Trump, it’s almost unthinkable that she would out-and-out heartily endorse him.  But this is today’s Republican MAGOP.  J.D. Vance called Trump American’s Hitler, and now has guzzle the Kool-Aid for him.  Lindsay Graham called Trump crazy and that he’d destroy the Republican Party – and he’s probably the biggest Trump lackey today.  Ted Cruz heard Trump insult his wife’s appearance, and suggest his father helped assassinate JFK, and Cruz slammed Trump as a liar – and has gone Full Trump in his support.  Mitch McConnell (about whose wife Trump made racist comments) said Trump was responsible for the January 6 Insurrection, and said the courts were the proper outlet to try him, and he endorsed Trump, And on and on and on, in today’s Republican Party.  So, could Nikki Haley still endorse Trump???  Absolutely.  But it probably wouldn’t placate the Trump acolyte base.  See 2028.  (See, also, Tim Miller.)  Though it might allow her to still be involved in GOP politics.

I don’t have a clue what Nikki Haley will do.  If I absolutely had to place a bit, it would be for her inconsistency and political self-preservation, and that she will – in one way or another – endorse Trump.  She praised him through the GOP primary, after all, only until she was the “Last Person Standing.”  And if I had to pick one of the “endorsement” options, it would be that she qualifies it as having signed her pledge, but she’ll name him and repeat all the positive things she said about him on the debate stage.

But…I don’t know.  And as I said, she likely doesn’t either.  She’s Nikki Haley, after all.  No longer the “Last Person Standing.”  But waiting with all the others in the wings…