A primary campaign that never really got going may be almost over.
The end of the beginning? |
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EXETER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A primary campaign that never really got going may be almost over, after a frantic weekend in presidential politics. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who was a year ago a rising star in GOP politics — shuttered his White House bid on Sunday, undone by his own missteps, the searing spotlight of a presidential run and Donald Trump's brutal dominance of the GOP. The former president, meanwhile, gathered a phalanx of GOP leaders from South Carolina at a riotous rally in New Hampshire on Saturday evening. His message was meant to be a stark warning for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — that even if she somehow pulls off a massive upset on Tuesday night, she'll get obliterated in the next big primary in her home state in February. |
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| Trump speaks in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Sunday. |
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The former US ambassador to the UN at least got what she wanted all along – a one-on-one race against Trump. She is now the sole obstacle to Trump capturing his third-straight Republican nomination in record time. For years, the theory has been that once this happens, Trump would be toast because all his critics in the Republican Party would unite against him. This was probably true in 2016, when a group of presidential wannabes all refused to get out of the GOP primary race and split the anti-Trump vote, meaning he was able to snap up individual state races with about 30%. But Trump has transformed the party since then, driving out heretics who don't buy into his "Make America Great Again" creed. In Iowa, he got over 50% in last week's caucuses. And in many polls, he's won more support than all of his erstwhile rivals put together. |
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Haley speaks in Franklin, New Hampshire, on Monday. |
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If there's one place Trump can be beaten, it's New Hampshire. The state allows independent voters to pick which party primary they want to join. That means that Haley could get a chunk of moderate Republicans and others who can't stand Trump. But she needs to massively juice turnout among this group; in the latest CNN poll this weekend of her head-to-head with Trump, she trails by 13 points. If Haley can't win here — and with a grueling showdown with Trump looming in South Carolina — the smart move for a politician who used this race to enhance her brand might be to duck out and look to 2028. Don't be surprised if America wakes up on Wednesday morning to the reality of the race no one in the country seems to want: Trump vs. Biden in a 2020 rematch. |
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"America doesn't do coronations. We believe in choices. We believe in democracy. We believe in freedom. I have said I love the 'Live Free or Die' state, but I want to make it a live free or die country. We're not going to stop until we do it," Haley told supporters in New Hampshire on Monday, riffing off the state motto. "When you hear Trump speak, what is he talking about? Grievances, the past, he's talking about vendettas. ... Biden's talking about investigations. Neither one of them is talking about the future. … More than that, you're voting tomorrow in a primary. We've got to think about a general election," she said. |
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'We're not going to have any crime' |
"If you have a president that doesn't have immunity, he's never going to be free to do anything because the opposing party will always indict him as soon as he leaves the White House," Trump argued in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Sunday night. The former president is demanding almost unchecked powers, partly as a get-out-of-jail free card in legal cases where he's being accused of abusing presidential authority to overthrow the 2020 election. But Trump's rhetoric is also a pointer to how he'd behave in a second term that he's said he would devote to "retribution." "You have to allow a president to do his job, they'll make decisions, and you know, it's like the police — they say we have to give the police back their power, we're not going to have any crime. … To me it's the best analogy." |
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