Haley’s In

Nikki Haley became the first woman, and second politician to enter the 2024 presidential race on Tuesday. She posted a video that made the announcement. It was widely speculated that Haley would be jumping into the fray against her old boss, Donald Trump.

In Haley’s video, she echoed the mantra she’s been using for quite some time…that it’s time for NEW leadership not only in the GOP, but in Washington. She could not be more correct on that one. “Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections. That has to change. Joe Biden’s record is abysmal, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Washington establishment has failed us over and over and over again. It’s time for a new generation of leadership.”

I’ve personally always thought Haley was a good politician, and has done a great job, be it as South Carolina’s governor, or as the ambassador to the United Nations under Trump. She speaks her mind, she’s intelligent, she’s conservative, and she knows how to play the game. That said, I wonder how long she’ll be able to stay in the race.

Look, there are a lot of people today that are contemplating jumping into the race along with Haley and Trump. Most of them don’t have a chance in hell of winning the nomination, and personally, I don’t think Haley does either. She is at this point, my second choice behind Ron DeSantis, who has the experience, the political savvy, and the wherewithal to make the run successful. While I like Haley, I really liken her to Scott Walker, the former governor of Wisconsin. I liked his policies, I liked his background, but he didn’t have the “oomph” behind him when he ran. I doubt that Haley will either.

Still, you have to give her credit. Nikki Haley loves to mention that she’s won every race that she’s ever run and doesn’t intend to start losing now. Of course, what else would you expect someone entering the toughest race in their life to say? Would you expect her to say, “Well, I don’t have much to do right now, and I’m tired of living on the pensions I got from South Carolina and the US Treasury for serving both of those jobs. So, I might as well increase my name recognition.”? I think not.

Still, I don’t think she’s going to be the one to cross the finish line. All of the polls currently show her in single digits with most of the folks out there either going for Donald Trump or DeSantis, and that should be a close race either way. In the end, my hunch is, there are going to be enough folks liking what DeSantis has to say, enjoying the fact that he is almost half Trump’s age (Trump is 76, DeSantis is 44), and his personality is a “take no prisoners” type of Republican. I think that plays well against the Trump base as well as what he’s done in Florida. Beating Charlie Crist overwhelmingly in Florida for the governorship this past November made him the GOP’s golden boy. I don’t see much that could tarnish that mantle.

There are going to be quite a few challengers to Donald Trump’s nomination for 2024 however. Currently pondering the race are Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who all ran in previous contests, as well as former Vice President, Mike Pence, former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, DeSantis, Texas Governor, Glenn Abbott, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, and a couple of longshots. Those would be former Wyoming Congresswoman, Liz Cheyney, and Fox News host, Tucker Carlson (has he even talked about a run???). That’s a pretty well loaded field.

So, Haley is going to have her work cut out for her. Everyone except DeSantis and Trump are in single digits so far. It’s going to be difficult for anyone to chip away at the two frontrunners and get enough of the support away from them to make a difference. But it is early, and at this point in 2016, no one in their right mind, except maybe Ann Coulter thought that Donald Trump had a chance in hell. We’ll have to wait and see.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

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