Nikki Haley has been rising in the polls because she, like Trump, represents a vision for the future of the Republican Party. NYT/Sienna polling has shown that a persistent section of the Republican Party — between 20-25 percent of it — is implacably opposed to another Trump candidacy. This section tends to disagree strongly with Trump on foreign-policy issues. They are also less socially conservative than the rest of the party. They really like Haley.
To my eyes, if the imperative is to stop Trump rather than to squelch all forms of populism, the smart thing to do would be to line up behind Ron DeSantis who has twice the favorability rating of Haley within the party, and has the broadest appeal of any non-Trump candidate.
The flurry of endorsements for Haley in some ways reminds me of the famous film scene where, surrounded by helicopters (political reality), Geena Davis (an attractive stand-in for the GOP establishment) turns to Susan Sarandon (Haley) in the driver’s seat, and says, “Okay then, let’s not get caught. Let’s keep going.”
Sarandon (as Louise): “What do you mean?”
Davis (as Thelma) “Go!”
You probably remember it.