NH voters deserve better from Trump
No matter their party affiliation or preferred candidate, New Hampshire voters tend to agree on one thing: It’s great to be a voter in the Granite State. Where else can you shake each candidates’ hand? Where else can you grill candidates directly — and at your favorite local dive? Where else can you take your time getting to know each candidate up close before making a decision?
“It kind of blows my mind that a jackass like myself can shape American politics,” joked Jon Dickinson, a New Hampshire voter who’s been a regular at Chris Christie and Nikki Haley campaign events.
The process might be the reason why New Hampshire voters have often historically waited until the last days before the primary to make up their minds. But New Hampshire voters are being robbed of a crucial final data point before they cast their votes Jan. 23. On Tuesday, ABC announced that it was canceling its New Hampshire Republican primary debate because both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump decided to withdraw.
Haley announced her decision in Iowa on Monday, where the former South Carolina governor said that she’s participated in “five great debates in this campaign” but her next debate will “either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden.”
It’s a savvy — and understandable — decision on Haley’s part. There’s not much to gain by taking the stage again with Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, the only other remaining major GOP candidate. In the last debate, both walked away with black eyes, while Trump, who was absent, remained mostly unscathed.
The best-case scenario for Haley in another debate with DeSantis is another tepid performance. DeSantis is desperately trying to hold onto his fleeting second-place position and will stop at nothing to brand Haley as a Democrat-funded corporatist, running the risk of doing some damage to her ascending campaign. Plus, in Iowa, Haley declared the primary a two-person race between her and Trump, dismissing DeSantis’s fizzling candidacy. To take the stage alone with DeSantis would only undermine that strategy and allow Trump to continue as front-runner, above the fray as his challengers self-destruct.
Trump’s absence from the debate stage is less surprising but also less justifiable. Since April he has maintained he will “NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!” citing two reasons: his commanding lead in the polls and the public’s confidence in “who I am & what a successful Presidency I had.” Perhaps that’s also his rationale for skipping the New Hampshire diner circuit. The former president has only done a handful of large rallies in the state, cutting out most of the on-theground voter interaction. Trump, a germaphobe and wholesale politician to boot, similarly cut down on the baby-kissing in 2020.
Trump may have been walloping the field in April, but today in New Hampshire is a different story. Nationally Haley has managed to become the most promising Trump challenger from a field of 14 candidates. In New Hampshire, recent polls have Haley within single digits — or even tied with — the frontrunner. Should she win on Tuesday, the Republican primary really does become a twoperson race and Haley will have serious momentum going into South Carolina, her home state.
Polls aside, maybe Trump thinks the public’s memory of his “successful Presidency” neutralizes Haley’s momentum. But his campaign emails from the past week tell a different story. “Nikki Haley Loves China,” “Nikki Haley is Funded By Democrats, Wall Street, & Globalists,” “Nikki Haley Is Weak on Immigration And Opposes A Border Wall,” “President Trump Calls Nikki Haley Unelectable.” And that was only one day’s worth of emails — it’s Trump twitter all over again.
If Trump is so unfazed by his challenger, why is he lobbing (mostly false) attacks from the comfort of his desktop? Trump owes it to voters (and my inbox) to save the rants for the debate stage. Say it to her face — Haley is clearly willing to face the former president ahead of their most competitive primary.
That’s in keeping with her campaign, which has been responsive and open to voters on the ground in the Granite State. Trump, who criticized Biden’s 2020 campaign for being run from a basement, has effectively done the same thing in 2024 — picking and choosing his battles based on convenience.
The thoughtful voters of New Hampshire deserve better. On Tuesday, they have the chance to show him as much.
If Trump is so unfazed by his challenger, why is he lobbing (mostly false) attacks from the comfort of his desktop?