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Nikki Haley’s bid for presidency was easily overshadowed by Donald Trump’s on Tuesday evening, potentially hindering her progress towards the GOP convention in July.
On Tuesday, the previous governor of South Carolina was expected to only win one state, Vermont. Meanwhile, her opponent secured victories in over a dozen other states, which may include the two biggest wins of the night: California and Texas. If Ms. Haley manages to win over the former president in the northeast, it will be with a small margin of victory, as she is significantly behind Mr. Trump in all other states.
Her competitor currently has a significant advantage in obtaining sufficient delegates to secure the nomination in a matter of weeks or days. Ms Haley has not released a statement regarding the election results from last night, although she had committed to staying in the race until Tuesday. However, her chances of becoming president may diminish soon. Today, there were 865 Republican delegates up for grabs, with Mr Trump expected to win the majority. He needs 1,215 delegates to secure the nomination and started Tuesday with over 200.
Unfortunately, Super Tuesday did not go well for Ms Haley. Despite campaigning in several states, including Virginia, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, with the intention of defeating Mr Trump, she fell short in all of them except Vermont, where she is only expected to come within single digits of Mr Trump. Her lack of support from conservative Republican voters remains a major obstacle in her efforts to secure the nomination. This is compounded by the fact that a significant portion of the party still holds onto conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election.
Trump is showing vulnerability with Republicans and independents, which could lead to problems for him in November. If polls are accurate and a large number of Haley supporters do not vote for Trump in the general election, it could greatly benefit Democrats, regardless of if they vote for Joe Biden or not. The argument made by “never Trump” commentators remains true: In almost every state, a significant portion of Republican primary voters do not want Trump as their nominee. This sentiment is even reflected in Texas, a traditionally Republican state, where Haley is expected to receive at least 15% of the vote.
Some people argue that this is as much, if not more, a criticism of Donald Trump as it is a praise for Ms. Haley. Even some of Mr. Biden’s biggest supporters mention it when dismissing the current president’s popularity issues.
The current president experienced another minor embarrassment on Tuesday when he was projected to lose in American Samoa, a US territory. His opponent, Jason Palmer, an entrepreneur who qualified for the ballot in less than half of all US states, was expected to win. The 52-year-old focused his campaign on the islands that make up the territory and his campaign website crashed due to high traffic after he was projected to win over the president on Tuesday evening. Mr. Palmer’s victory is likely to be attributed to concerns among Democrats over Mr. Biden’s age (81) and his support for better political representation for American Samoa in the nation’s capital.
Despite some concerns from Democrats about his age and positions on issues like the conflict in Gaza, Mr. Biden is currently facing little competition in the primary race. However, if this dissatisfaction leads to lower voter turnout, it may primarily occur in November. The likely renomination of Donald Trump by the Republican Party could potentially mitigate this trend.
Mr Trump’s campaign and the candidate himself have for weeks largely pivoted towards a focus on the general election. The former president has shifted towards attacking his expected November opponent even while many Republicans privately and in some cases publicly mutter about how they expect Mr Biden to be replaced by a younger candidate before the fall.
One Republican who shares this speculation is Ms Haley, who recently informed her supporters that she anticipates either the Democratic Party replacing Mr. Biden or the current president stepping down in the coming months.
The upcoming competitions in Georgia, Washington, Mississippi, and Hawaii are only a week ahead. It is uncertain if there will still be a contender for the former president when they take place.
Source: independent.co.uk
