“I would not run if President Trump ran.”
— Nikki Haley (April 4, 2021)
So, her very first act as a presidential candidate is a back-peddle and a lie.
Traitor Trump now faces his first Republican challenger. Nikki Haley just announced she’s running for president in 2024. She held her first official campaign rally today in South Carolina.
That’s right, it’s his chip off the old block — ex-Gov. Nikki! Call her what she really is — Trump Lite. Trump in a skirt.
We already know ex-Gov. Nikki. We know who and what she is. She’s the gutless lapdog who is desperately trying to paint herself as a kinder and gentler “alternative” for the G.O.P., but who has never once shown an ounce of courage in the face of very real threats to American democracy posed by her old puppetmaster. She hopes to replace Trump, without (so far) ever actually criticizing Trump, which is sort of like a boxer stepping into the ring and refusing to throw a punch.
So, who’s the biggest winner of ex-Gov. Nikki slithering into what’s certain to be a chaotic Republican presidential race? Easy: Traitor Trump.
See, ex-Gov. Nikki has a MATH problem. Anyone NOT named Trump has a math problem in Republican primaries. It’s all about the numbers. This isn’t a partisan viewpoint. This is fact.
Let’s remember how (most) Republican primaries work. They are “winner-take-all.” That’s important to know. Trump doesn’t need to win a *majority* (he’s never won a majority of votes in ANY election). He just needs a *plurality.” Holding onto 35-40 percent of his party is probably enough to keep him as the presidential frontrunner. And what fractured smidgeon of sanity still exists within the Republican Party (after the Cheneys were ruthlessly purged from the cult), those true men and women of courage who are crying out for an electable alternative to yet another disastrous Trump run, are now SPLITTING THEMSELVES RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE.
As it stands, Gov. DeSantis is probably good for 25-30 percent. , based on polls and projections. Those numbers can and will change. But it’s probably a good estimate. Let’s also give ex-Gov. Nikki 15-20 percent. Then, divide the remaining scraps amongst the other pretenders — “Hang ’em High” Pence, Pompous Pompeo, and a few other clueless wheelbarrow pushers. That’s perhaps another 5-10 percent. The Republican pie looks hopelessly divided but is perfectly baked for Traitor Trump, a renomination, and likely another presidential race.
Don’t be fooled by the new shiny object. Ex-Gov-Nikki will bask in the glow of attention in the next few days. But her golden tan will fade and be short-lived. She did herself absolutely no favors today in her ridiculous speech running away from South Carolina’s ugly history while wrapping herself in some fantasyland of Beavercleaver Americanville. She referred to “Communist China” five times in a 17-minute speech. What year is this–1951?
So long as largely uneducated, conspiracy-swallowing, hateful troglodytes continue to strangle the Republican Party, swell the base into a mob scene, and as so long as potential challengers like ex-Gov. Nikki REFUSE to stand up and call out the ugliness within, nothing will change in Republican Party politics, nor the conservative movement. All I see, all I hear from every Republican is gutlessness and cowardice. On every stage. In every speech. Accordingly, the party that has lost the popular vote in 7 of the last 8 presidential elections will continue to pay the price for refusing to cut out the cancer within
So maybe, in the end, it’s America that wins from all this perpetual Republican dysfunction.
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FOOTNOTE: I don’t like giving Republicans my political advice, because if they take it, they might actually win. But if DESANTIS and HALEY made a joint announcement declaring they are the ticket (DeSantis at the top), that likely shuts out most other candidates and would pose a solid 1-2 punch and alternative to Trump. THAT should have been today’s announcement if any of them had a lick of sanity.