Despite her gentility and poise, Haley is hitting the trigger points of Trump’s rage hard by telling courageous truths about his dementia, incompetence and failure. This incites his anger, making him more unhinged and unappealing to swing voters that he needs to win the November election.
The Republican National Convention is five long months away. If she stays in the race, Haley, youthful and strong, would run Trump ragged and wretched. He would be a far weaker candidate when facing Biden for the grueling general final lap of the presidential election.
Keeping Haley in the race as long as possible will prolong Trump’s repulsive sexist attacks on her. Many more Republican women will vote for Biden.
Trump will spend tens of millions fighting Haley. Meanwhile, Haley is draining money from moderate Republicans and conservative business leaders, who are rightfully fearful of the corrupt Putin-style kleptocracy that Trump’s second term would bring.
In the not unlikely event that Trump has a stroke or dies, Haley would only be likely to replace him if she stays in the race. Otherwise, Trump’s MAGA movement would select a younger fascist, DeSantis or Cruz, who would be just as dictatorial a president.
Haley has stated: “I think what happened on January 6 was a terrible day, and I think President Trump will have to answer for it.” If she won the nomination, Americans would not have to worry that she would incite armed extremists to intimidate and threaten election workers. Or undermine our democracy by lying about winning if she lost. She would not organize criminal slates of fake electors in states with GOP controlled legislatures to attempt a second January 6 coup in 2024. She would not incite a civil war.
If Haley manages to beat the odds and wins the nomination, Trump’s MAGA base will HATE her! After six months of hearing anti-Haley “RINO” diatribes, millions of Trump loyalists would lose their motivation and vote for RFK or stay home. Razor thin margins in swing states make it highly likely that Biden would win if even 5% of 2020 Trump voters chose not to vote for Haley. At the same time, many independents and moderate Republicans who voted for Haley would also be attracted to third party candidates. A January 25-29 Quinnipiac poll shows that in a 5-person race that includes Kennedy, Cornel West and Jill Stein, Biden beats Haley with 36% of the fractured vote to Haley’s 29% and Kennedy’s 21%, with 3% each for West and 2% for Stein.
