Based Underground is now a conservative news aggregator AND curated newsletter.
Editor’s Commentary: There is actually only one reason Nikki Haley is staying in the race. She and her handlers believe she can make a play at the convention if Donald Trump is convicted of any of the manufactured charges currently attached to him. She’s betting on lawfare winning out and the UniParty Swamp thinks she’s best positioned to take the reins if they’re successful.
There are other reasons she CAN stay in the race and those are listed below, but a variation of the fifth reason is the underlying cause. If the powers-that-be thought there was no chance they could take Trump out through lawfare or other evil means, then the rest of the reasons would be irrelevant. Nevertheless, it’s good to have an understanding of they dynamic driving her futile efforts.
- Preserve your retirement with physical precious metals. Receive your free gold guide from Genesis Precious Metals to learn how.
(The Epoch Times)—Despite suffering a humiliating loss in her home state of South Carolina on Feb. 24 and another in Michigan on Feb. 27, GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley has vowed to fight on.
Ms. Haley’s campaign said she would stay in the race at least through March 5, Super Tuesday—the biggest primary day comprising 15 states and American Samoa.
Nonetheless, in an interview with The Epoch Times, experts share why Ms. Haley may be staying in the race.
1. Give Voters an Alternative to Biden, Trump
Ms. Haley has repeatedly said that she wants to give the American people a choice that is not President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump, as desired by a significant proportion of Republicans.
“We can’t afford four more years of Biden’s failures or Trump’s lack of focus,” said Ms. Haley, citing issues such as the national debt, economy, education, wars abroad, and the border and fentanyl crisis. She also remarked that the two are divisive.
After all, “it may be that Haley simply wants to hammer home the point that many GOP voters are still looking for an alternative,” David Redlawsk, a political science and international affairs professor at the University of Delaware, told The Epoch Times.
“She wants to give Republican voters in all remaining states a choice, not just voters in the first few states,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida.
“This is the ‘democracy’ argument—that elections without choices are undemocratic and the people that don’t get to vote until March or April or May are just as deserving of having choices as those in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada,” he added.
In the last three primary contests, Ms. Haley racked up between 26 percent to 40 percent of the votes President Trump would need to win the general election. But in the two contests where Ms. Haley won around 40 percent, a sizable portion of them have been Democrats and independents, as New Hampshire was a semi-open primary and South Carolina was an open primary.
Additionally, polling shows that a majority of voters do not want a Biden-Trump rematch. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 67 percent of those surveyed are “tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new.”
2. She Has the Campaign Funding
Ms. Haley has the funding to sustain a campaign. It even raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours after the double-digit defeat in South Carolina, according to the campaign.
Ms. Haley, an accountant, has run a fiscally disciplined campaign, unlike former Gov. Ron DeSantis, who burned through cash. She held fundraisers over the past several weeks, garnering millions of dollars.
After all, continuing in a race depends on having the money and resources to do so, said Mr. Jewett.
Moreover, “she’s on the ballot where she’s going to be on the ballot,” GOP strategist Matt Dole told The Epoch Times.
“She doesn’t need to spend any money if she doesn’t want to spend it,” he added.
However, the funding has not been all positive.
First, President Trump’s campaign has significantly more cash than Ms. Haley’s.
Second, the Koch Network aligned-Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Action announced on Feb. 25 that it would cut off its funding for Ms. Haley’s campaign, which the largest conservative grassroots organization in the United States endorsed in November.
After Ms. Haley’s loss in South Carolina, AFP Action decided to “take stock” of the circumstances and concluded that no “outside group can make a material difference to widen her path to victory.”
“Losing AFP Action’s support certainly makes it harder to get her message out for Super Tuesday in any case,” said Mr. Redlawsk.
Take control of your family’s food security with a Harvest Right freeze dryer. There’s a big sale happening right now….
“The AFP’s decision to turn off the spigot of funding for Nikki Haley will, as it turns out, have the same effect as turning that spigot on: Nikki Haley at home after the convention deciding what’s next for a wounded political brand,” said Mr. Dole.
In a statement, Ms. Haley’s campaign expressed appreciation for AFP Action’s support and called the group an “ally in the fight for freedom and conservative government.”
3. Position Herself for 2028
As Ms. Haley’s path to the GOP nod this year has all but closed, there is the possibility of her running for the White House in 2028. If President Biden or President Trump won in November, both would be ineligible for reelection. In 2028, President Biden will be 86 years old, while President Trump will be 81.
If Ms. Haley were to run in four years, she would have millions of dollars ready to hit the ground running. In addition to her own campaign funds, Ms. Haley has two super political action committees or super PACs—Stand for America PAC and SFA Fund Inc.—both of which will likely fundraise even after she drops out of the campaign—an inevitable move. Ms. Haley’s PACs fundraised even before she entered the race in February 2023.
Granted, what the GOP will look like in 2028 will be determined as four years is a lifetime in politics. And the Trump wing of the party may not dictate the direction of the party, said Mr. Jewett.
“Perhaps she also thinks this has the potential to position her in some way for 2028,” said Mr. Redlawsk.
4. Establish Herself as the Leader of the Anti-Trump GOP
Ms. Haley appeared to establish herself as the leader of the GOP wing of the Republican Party that does not support President Trump—a significant plurality whom the former president will mathematically need to win in November.
“Nearly every day, Trump drives people away,” she said in her speech after her defeat in South Carolina.
But “along with the departure of Ronna McDaniel as head of the RNC, the GOP remains solidly the party of Trump,” Daniel Cronrath, a professor in the government department at Florida State University at Jacksonville, told The Epoch Times.
Nonetheless, said Mr. Cronrath, “Most of Haley’s support is coming from so-called Never Trump Republicans and independents“ as ”Haley may be positioning herself as the future leader of a post-Trump GOP assuming Trump’s form of populism erodes, and there is a reset.”
However, Ms. Haley possibly “thinks this has the potential to position her in some way for 2028,” said Mr. Redlawsk.
Moreover, Mr. Redlawsk added: “By 2028, it will likely be a different environment, and she may be showing that she has some strength even with Trump around.
“In some ways, I agree it doesn’t seem like a great strategy, but at a minimum, she may be building credibility with the non-Trump wing of the party, which may be a significant factor in 2028, especially if Trump loses in 2024.”
- Concerned about your life’s savings as the multiple challenges decimate retirement accounts? You’re not alone. Find out how Genesis Precious Metals can help you secure your wealth with a proper self-directed IRA backed by physical precious metals.
Furthermore, said Mr. Jewett, “She wants to represent the anti-Trump wing of the party.”
Mr. Jewett went on to note that “according to polls, there is a block of Republicans who have indicated that they do not like Trump, and so her candidacy may represent their views and fight back against the idea that the Republican Party and Donald Trump’s campaign are one in the same entity.”
Indeed, he added: “She is playing the long game and positioning herself for a future run in 2028 after Trump is off the political stage.
“She might feel that staying in the race will make her the frontrunner next time around. She is gambling that staying in the race will not permanently alienate the current Trump base that makes up the majority of voters.”
In the meantime, “the media is covering her more and in a more friendly way as an anti-Trump candidate than they were before Iowa,” said Mr. Dole.
5. Wait Out Trump’s Legal Battles
President Trump has been indicted in Manhattan, Georgia, and two federal cases, totaling 91 charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
However, President Trump could secure the 1,215 delegates needed to be the GOP nominee by the end of Super Tuesday and, therefore, before the trials begin, according to an analysis by The Epoch Times.
But were President Trump to fall short of the magic number and be convicted, it could change the dynamics of the race. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 55 percent of Republicans would not support the former president if he is found guilty. Even congressional Republicans reportedly said they could not or might not support him were he to be convicted.
Nonetheless, in the event Republicans abandon President Trump in response to a conviction, Ms. Haley could be in a prime position to be the nominee, given the funding she has and the campaign infrastructure in place. While those who suspended their campaign could jump back in, it would likely take time to get their bands back together and campaign in the remaining primary states.
“If Trump were to experience a drop in support given his potential legal woes, the GOP could have a contested convention where Haley and others battle for the nomination,” said Mr. Cronrath. “The 1976 Republican National Convention was the last election in which either party did not have their candidates selected prior to the convention.”
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
TRENDING ARTICLES
OMG: O’Keefe Media Group Exposes Disney’s “Gender Expression Transitioning” Program
by Liberty One News
On Thursday, O’Keefe Media Group disclosed internal documents that uncover Disney’s Gender Expression and Transitioning programs. The G.E.T. program advocates for modifying one’s natural body, and the documents further expose Disney’s health insurance plans covering genital mutilation surgeries. Per James O’Keefe: REVEALED: O’Keefe Media reveals internal videos and documents exposing…
Track Coach Sues After Allegedly Being Fired For Opposing Policy Allowing Male Athletes In Female Sports
by Daily Caller
An Oregon high school track and field coach filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming he was improperly fired after stating that biological males had an unfair advantage against female athletes. John Parks was fired in June after sending a letter to the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) suggesting the regulatory agency…
“They’re Starting Brutal Attacks”: James Carville Says Cackling Kamala’s “Best Day” of the Campaign Is Already Behind Her
by The Liberty Daily
Democratic strategist James Carville on Wednesday declared the “best day” of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential run is already behind her. Biden abruptly withdrew from the presidential race on Sunday and endorsed Harris, who is running based on a Democratic Party insider vote with almost no primary voter approval, after…
5 Ways Kamala Harris’s Democrat and Media Enablers Are Gaslighting America
by Breitbart
Vice President Kamala Harris’s Democrat and mainstream media allies are gaslighting American voters in five ways as her presidential campaign gets underway with just over 100 days to election day. The manipulation is being carried out in various forms: the covering up of President Joe Biden’s apparent cognitive decline, claims…
Major Study of 9 Million Confirms COVID Shots Cause VAIDS
by Slay News
An explosive new study, which analyzed the data of nine million people, has sent shockwaves through the scientific community after proving that Covid mRNA shots are responsible for the global surge in cases of AIDS-like vaccine-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (VAIDS). The peer-reviewed study was conducted by a team of world-renowned South…
The Secret Service Was Obviously Going to Be the Next Vehicle of the Deep State
by The Federalist
Was the assassination attempt a failure because Trump survived? Or was it a failure because he was shot in the first place? The since-resigned Secret Service director conceded before House lawmakers Monday that this month’s shooting of former President Donald Trump was the worst agency security failure since President Ronald…
Emhoff’s Ex Opens up About Kamala Parenting Her Kids
by Headline USA
Kerstin Emhoff, the first wife of Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, has spoken up about the non-existent attacks aimed at Vice President Kamala Harris for having no biological children. In remarks to CNN on Thursday, Emhoff claimed that Harris has acted as a parent to her children, Ella and Cole Emhoff,…
Illegal Alien ‘Got-Away’ Accused of Killing Nashville Restaurateur Matt Carney
by Breitbart
An illegal alien “got-away” has been accused of killing 42-year-old Matthew Carney, the owner of the Smokin Thighs restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee, in a hit-and-run crash. Ulises Raigoz-Martinez, a 24-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, has been charged with criminal homicide, tampering with evidence, vehicle theft, criminal impersonation, and evading arrest…
Kamala Ran S.F. Program That Helped Illegals Who Were Arrested Avoid Deportation
by Headline USA
As San Francisco’s district attorney, Kamala Harris ran a program that helped illegal immigrants arrested for drug crimes avoid deportation, get jobs, and even have their records expunged. The “Back on Track” program was run by the San Francisco district attorney’s office while Harris was district attorney from 2004 to…
Hamas Lovers Hit New Low in D.C. Protest
by PJ Media
So you saw the latest batch of Hamas lovers burning American flags, releasing maggots, and vandalizing our monuments in Washington, D.C., recently since Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited. My friend Stephen Kruiser discussed it a bit in his latest Morning Briefing, as did Athena Thorne, who went into more…
Congress Ordered Research into Military Covid Shot Injuries
by Infowars
Congress has included a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2024 directing the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to investigate the negative health outcomes on military personnel following administration of the Covid vaccination. “Study and report on health conditions of members of the Armed Forces…
FBI Director Debunks Biden’s Claim That J6 ‘Gallows’ Were Designed to Hang Mike Pence
by Headline USA
President Joe Biden said in a recent speech that the infamous gallows built on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, were “erected to hang Vice President Mike Pence.” That’s a strong claim coming from the sitting—at least for now—leader of the free world. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., asked FBI Director…
Legal Group Launches Several Investigations Focusing On Kamala Harris’ Record, Use of Campaign Funds
by Trending Politics
“A lot of her tough on crime reputation goes to her prosecution when she was San Francisco DA, individuals who use marijuana and other sorts of things,” AFL President Dan Epstein said in a statement to Fox News. “Our investigation, however, makes it very clear that Kamala Harris does not…
Kamala Harris Once Mocked Trump’s Warning of Terrorists Crossing Through Border
by Daily Caller
Vice President Kamala Harris mocked the idea that a border wall was necessary to keep terrorists from entering the country during a February 2019 interview in New Hampshire. During the sit-down interview with WMUR-TV, then-Democratic California Sen. Harris mocked President Donald Trump’s assertion that a massive border wall between the…
Ultra-Processed Foods Are Harming Children: What’s Being Done About It?
by The Epoch Times
Ultra-processed foods have become a significant part of many children’s diets, and it may come as no surprise that such foods come with a cost. A cross-sectional study published in JAMA in May revealed that children who consumed high amounts of ultra-processed foods exhibited higher body mass index, waist circumference,…
Democrats Urge OpenAI to Allow Government Access to Models Before They Go Public
by Reclaim the Net
Five Democrat senators have penned a letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, as a form of not-so-subtle pressure to commit “to making its next foundation model available to US Government agencies for pre-deployment testing, review, analysis, and assessment.” But, “pre-deployment testing by government agencies?” Are these guys sure this is…
These Important Election Integrity Initiatives Might Be On Your 2024 Ballot
by The Federalist
From voter ID to mail-in voting, these proposed ballot measures could significantly alter the way states administer their elections. While most political pundits are focused on the pending matchup between former President Donald Trump and (presumably) Vice President Kamala Harris, a major facet of the 2024 contest that’s not getting…
News from across the conservative media sphere! Subscribe for free to the brand new Based Underground Newsletter for a daily uncensored recap of the news and opinions that are most important to American patriots.
The funding she has comes from Dems and RINOs. That tells you everything you need to know about her.
Instead of dividing, she should be uniting the voters for Trump. She’s no leader.