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“I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now.”
That is what former President Donald Trump said after winning the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday — an assessment that may be a case of wishful thinking. Yes, Trump won 60% of the vote, but nearly 40% opted for his only remaining rival for the GOP nomination, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. That looks less like unity than deep division.
A recent poll indicates that 25% of Republicans say they will never vote for Trump. Should that turn out to be true and those people vote to reelect President Joe Biden or simply choose not to vote, Trump could find himself far short of a winning margin in November.
As long as Haley continues to contest primaries, she will give these disaffected Republicans a chance to register their disdain for the man from Mar-a-Lago who has turned the GOP into an angry personality cult with an ominous attraction to authoritarianism at home and abroad.
But how long will Haley’s challenge to Trump last? And why is she carrying on with what appears to be a quixotic campaign? There seems to be no political reporter or pundit who can offer more than speculation about Haley’s plans and motivations.
Some postulate that Haley is staying in the race just to be well-positioned to nab the nomination if Trump is found guilty in one of the criminal trials he faces. That assumes one of these cases will be wrapped up before the GOP convention or the general election, a prospect that seems less and less likely, given the Trump legal team’s persistent delaying tactics. It also assumes that MAGA Republicans would lose their enthusiasm for Trump’s candidacy were a jury to find that the ex-president is a criminal and switch their allegiance to Haley — an even more improbable scenario.
There is also the theory that Haley is trying to set herself up to be the prime contender for the GOP nomination in 2028. This analysis, too, seems illogical. Barring a dramatic reversion to old-style Republicanism, rather than improve her standing in the party, Haley’s refusal to end her campaign will have turned her into a political outcast. She will either get blamed for aiding Trump’s defeat or, if Trump wins, he will never allow her to be his successor (assuming he willingly gives up power after four more years in the White House).
It may be that Haley is simply deluded and believes she has a real chance to beat Trump. She would not be the first presidential aspirant who failed to recognize that history has no role for her other than being an asterisk in someone else’s epic biography.
And there is the possibility that Haley is sticking with her campaign for the one right reason; not for personal political gain, but to warn voters that putting a corrupt narcissist back into power would be a disaster for the nation and the free world.
Whatever it may be that drives Nikki Haley to keep running, we should all be glad that at least one Republican is choosing to stand in the way of Trump’s total domination of the once Grand Old Party.
See more of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.news/davidhorsey
View other syndicated cartoonists at: st.news/cartoons
Editor’s note: Seattle Times Opinion no longer appends comment threads on David Horsey’s cartoons. Too many comments violated our community policies and reviewing the dozens that were flagged as inappropriate required too much of our limited staff time. You can comment via a Letter to the Editor. Please email us at letters@seattletimes.com and include your full name, address and telephone number for verification only. Letters are limited to 200 words.
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