Nikki Haley is finally rising in the Republican polls. One Des Moines Register poll had her pulling even with perpetually second-place Ron DeSantis. With DeSantis either falling or staying even, and Haley showing the only signs of life, there have been a few voices urging that everyone should drop out but Nikki Haley.
The Haley-now commentators really want to beat Trump, but this plan would immediately prove fatal to their hopes and could even strengthen Trump in the general election. Haley’s rise is a function of the narrowness of her appeal, not because of the genius of her campaign. She is appealing intensely to what has become a minority faction of the GOP. A New York Times/Siena poll this summer found the party divided into a “MAGA base” of about 37 percent, a group of “persuadable voters” of about 37 percent, and another 25 percent who are “not open to Trump.” Three of the most fascinating policy differences that marked out the “not open to Trump” group were their enthusiasm for supporting Ukraine, their support of immigration reform, and their opposition to “punishing” woke businesses.
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