Not Haley’s last stand
Wishing for Republican voters in South Carolina or really anywhere in America to choose anyone other than Donald Trump as their 2024 standard-bearer is like asking for the sun to cool down for a bit. It is likely a fundamental misreading of the very nature of the thing in question. Trump both emerged from and shaped the GOP that now chooses its presidential nominee. He dominates the party because in some of the most basic ways, he is the party, and it is him.
Red states can wonder until they’re blue in the face whether this is more about Trump himself, the dastardly, divisive and demagogic but charismatic performer, or about the issues he champions — in other words whether there can ever be such a thing as Trumpism without Trump. For now, Trump and Trumpism are one, and they seem indomitable within the party.
But we don’t speak for Republicans; we care about the future of the Republic, and from that vantage point, it would be downright negligent not to urge every single primary voter to choose a Trump alternative over Trump himself. Right now, there’s only one left: former South Carolina Gov. and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. It could be a lot worse.
We have disagreements with Haley galore, on economic policy and immigration and foreign policy and abortion and guns. But on almost every issue, she’s a far better representation of good-faith conservative ideas than Trump, whose politics are nothing but a garbled primal scream.
More importantly, she’s a stable individual who respects the constitutional order and the immense power of the presidency. More importantly still, she doesn’t stand accused of multiple felonies. More importantly still, in a general election, she won’t spew a geyser of dangerous disinformation and demand her followers seize the presidency on her behalf even if she loses the election.
Put another way, to support Haley is not to oppose basic American values, which cannot be said about Trump. And if it matters to Republicans, most of whom want to defeat President Biden, Haley matches up better against the incumbent president than Trump does. Shouldn’t Republicans, who’ve been on a pretty nasty losing streak since 2016, care about who’s likelier to help them claim the White House? You’d think — but Trump intoxication seems to prevent voters from seeing clearly.
South Carolina has been a problem for many Republican candidates challenging the frontrunner. This was where Trump dispatched Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in 2016, where John McCain defeated Mike Huckabee in 2008, and where George W. Bush beat McCain in 2000. Since 1980, with one exception (2012), the winner of the Palmetto State primary has gone on to claim the nomination.
This is Haley’s best chance. It is quite possibly her last chance — unless Trump is convicted of a crime and is somehow forced to step aside. Even if the former happens, the latter is a longshot.
She’s almost sure to come up short in tomorrow’s home state primary, but she vows that on Sunday she will be still running for the nomination. But anyone who cares about America should fervently pray that the seemingly impossible happens and she wins it. As the nominee, Trump will be a grave risk to so much we hold dear. Sooner or later, he must be defeated.