She’ll still lose the war, absent something truly exceptional happening, but she definitely won the battle. Nikki Haley made history today as the first Republican woman to win a Republican presidential primary, according to the Washington Post. That’s an interesting footnote in history. Otherwise, the win is important for a number of other reasons, the main one being that a sea change is happening for Donald Trump. He senses it, Republicans sense it, and the electorate has already begun to deliver on it. First, what Haley’s spox said:
“It’s not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos,” [Haley spokeswoman] Perez-Cubas said in the statement [after polls closed.]
And true to form, Trump figured out a way to spin this not as an embarrassing loss, but as a good thing.
Almost immediately after the race was called for Haley, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt mocked Haley and D.C. Republicans by echoing Trump’s constant claims that the capital city is a “swamp” full of establishment Republicans.
“While Nikki has been soundly rejected throughout the rest of America, she was just crowned Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and DC insiders that want to protect the failed status quo,” Leavitt said in a statement. Despite being in the White House for four years and having the backing of most Republicans in Congress, Trump has long argued that Republicans in D.C. are primed against him. […]
Before Washington’s primary on Sunday, Trump had 244 delegates compared to just 24 for Haley.
That’s a daunting edge as the two Republicans head into Super Tuesday on March 5, when 15 states vote and a third of GOP delegates are at stale. Despite polling drastically behind Trump, Haley has promised to stay in the Republican primary until at least Super Tuesday. It’s unclear what she’ll do after that point.
Haley was campaigning in Maine on Sunday, where she received Susan Collins’ endorsement. A few days ago she received Lisa Murkowski’s endorsement. This is interesting, what’s starting to happen here.
Now, why was this win for Haley important? For one yuge reason: it’s the harbinger of doom for Trump, a doom which has to come eventually. Trump’s improbable rise in presidential politics and his MAGA cult has seen its best days. It’s been on the downslope for some time. If Trump had handled the 2020 loss with any kind of equanimity, he would have admitted defeat and he would be running a very different third run for the White House in 2024.
But he didn’t and he is where he is, both politically and legally. The importance of Haley’s definitive win, 63% to Trump’s 33%, is the first of many political losses. Yes, this victory has not changed the trajectory of the GOP race. It’s still basically Trump’s ballgame. But it’s Trump’s ballgame in the face of ever increasing headwind and resistance. That’s why it is significant.
It’s also significant that the likes of Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins have gone on record as endorsing Haley, as she logically is headed out the back door of Election 2024. Maybe she’ll rise to fight in another presidential campaign. Who knows? That’s not the larger picture here. The larger picture is that this is Step One towards a post-Trump GOP.
Murkowski and Collins unquestionably know that by endorsing Haley they’re making a powerful enemy should Trump get back in office. Clearly, they’re okay with that. Or, they’re making an equally powerful statement that they don’t believe he can possibly get back in office and I think that’s closer to the truth. If they believed he had a snowball’s chance in Hell of being elected to a second term, I don’t think they’d be displaying this cavalier attitude towards their own careers.
And Trump knows that better than anyone. He knows that that is the message that both Collins and Murkowski are broadcasting. They’re saying, “Haley can’t win but neither the fuck can you, so we’re going on record as supporting her.” Collins and Murkowski would not be going out of their way to separate themselves from the GOP frontrunner unless they believed that frontrunner is going to lose.
And even then, it’s a bit surprising, because a lot of Republicans who are supporting Trump don’t believe he’ll win, but they’re kissing the ring just in case. Collins and Murkowski are looking to a brighter, post-Trump day, when they’ll be able to say, “See, we separated ourselves from him. We left him behind to pave a new path.”
That’s the message here. And Trump gets it loud and clear. And ketchup bottles quiver and quake in their cabinets.
All the smart gop members should be looking to 2028. My guess is you could round them up and fit them into a compact car. Addiction is a terrible thing.
Or a phonebox.
I guess Dum-Dum Donald forgot that all those “swamp-dwelling lobbyists and DC insiders” don’t actually live in DC where they could vote in the primary. The vast majority would be registered in other states–where they have their primary residences.
I don’t think New York is done with Trump yet. There’s enough evidence of crimes that he should get to triple figures on felonies. Of course tapping out his money is a good start.
Still waiting for the Grim Reaper to stick it to Trump. I wonder why he’s taking so long.
seriously, when does the IRS get serious with him?
But don’t be surprised if Collins, Murkowski, and Haley all line up to support the orange sh*tgibbon when he wins the nominaation.