Concord, New Hampshire: Nikki Haley had cast herself as the last great hope for anti-Trump Republicans wanting to move on from the chaos surrounding its most dominant figure.
The trouble for the former ambassador to the UN is that most Republicans are simply not ready to move on.
Republican presidential candidate and former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley speaks at a New Hampshire primary night rally in Concord.Credit: AP
Heading into the New Hampshire primary race, the expectation was that former president Donald Trump was more than likely to win; the question was always by how much.
In the end, with most votes counted, he did so with more than 50 per cent in the state that was meant to be Haley’s best shot due to its high numbers of moderate and independent voters.
The result was a massive boost for Trump, who is now the only politician in US history to win the New Hampshire primary three times. The fact that he did so despite facing 91 criminal charges across four different trials is all the more astonishing.
Conversely, it was a blow for his last remaining rival, who had pitched herself as a “new generation” conservative leader without Trump’s baggage.
Whereas Trump was a bridge burner, Haley argued, she was a bridge builder. He was a breaker; she was a fixer. He was chaos; she was normalcy.
Donald Trump at his New Hampshire primary party in Nashua.Credit: Getty
What’s more, polls had shown she was the only Republican candidate who could easily beat President Joe Biden in a head-to-head contest.
“With Donald Trump, Republicans have lost almost every competitive election,” she said, declaring the race wasn’t over.
“We lost the Senate. We lost the House. We lost The White House. We lost in 2018. We lost in 2020 and we lost in 2022 … You can’t fix the mess if you don’t win an election.”
It was a strong argument, but it ultimately failed to win enough votes, leaving Haley in a weakened position and under pressure to drop out of the contest to clear the way for Trump’s third GOP nomination.
Part of the reason arguably comes down to the fact that Haley didn’t do enough to convince more “undeclared” swing voters, who make up more than 40 per cent of the New Hampshire electorate, to rally behind her.
While she stepped up her attacks in recent days, she spent much of the campaign taking tepid jabs at Trump, fearful of angering his loyal base.
This began as far back as the first Republican debate in Milwaukee last August, when candidates were asked a key question: if Donald Trump was the party’s nominee for president as well as a convicted criminal, would you still support him? Haley raised her hand almost instantly.
Even one of her backers, Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, admitted she could have done more to inspire and engage unaffiliated voters.
“In politics, sometimes you’re judged by your friends, but sometimes you need to make the right enemies, too,” he said.
All eyes now turn to the next round of Republican primaries in South Carolina, where Haley was a two-term governor.
She insists she’s up for the fight, but polls already place her behind Trump. Continuing, if there is no clear path to victory, would end up costing her in her home state, both financially and politically.
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Haley urged these voters to move on from Trump. They refused
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24.01.2024
Concord, New Hampshire: Nikki Haley had cast herself as the last great hope for anti-Trump Republicans wanting to move on from the chaos surrounding its most dominant figure.
The trouble for the former ambassador to the UN is that most Republicans are simply not ready to move on.
Republican presidential candidate and former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley speaks at a New Hampshire primary night rally in Concord.Credit: AP
Heading into the New Hampshire primary race, the expectation was that former president Donald Trump was more than likely to win; the question was always by how much.
In the end, with most votes counted, he did so with more than 50 per cent in the state that was meant to be Haley’s best shot due to its high numbers of moderate and independent voters.
The result was a massive boost for Trump, who is now the only politician in US history........
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