May Primaries Coverage Thread

[GeorgiaModerate]

Nikki Haley to meet with donors after surprising showings in GOP primaries: report

Nikki Haley will meet with donors next week after a series of surprisingly strong showings in Republican primaries, a source said in a new report.

A person close to the former South Carolina governor said Thursday that Haley will attend a retreat Monday and Tuesday to thank about 100 of her biggest campaign donors, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Haley is not expected to discuss her political future or encourage them to contribute to other candidates, the report notes.

“Sometimes it takes more than one run to secure the nomination – look at John McCain and Mitt Romney,” said GOP fundraiser and strategist Eric Tanenblatt, who plans to attend the retreat. “She created something of a movement and built a coalition of Republicans and independents and even some conservative Democrats.”

https://www.rawstory.com/nikki-haley-trump-2668212455/

She's probably angling a 2028 run as these numbers clearly show an appetite for her in the GOP electorate. The problem though is that 2028 will be a free for all as Trump won't be running.

This is plausible, although I also wonder if she's preparing for a possible return to the race if Trump is convicted in New York.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Nikki Haley to meet with donors after surprising showings in GOP primaries: report

Nikki Haley will meet with donors next week after a series of surprisingly strong showings in Republican primaries, a source said in a new report.

A person close to the former South Carolina governor said Thursday that Haley will attend a retreat Monday and Tuesday to thank about 100 of her biggest campaign donors, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Haley is not expected to discuss her political future or encourage them to contribute to other candidates, the report notes.

“Sometimes it takes more than one run to secure the nomination – look at John McCain and Mitt Romney,” said GOP fundraiser and strategist Eric Tanenblatt, who plans to attend the retreat. “She created something of a movement and built a coalition of Republicans and independents and even some conservative Democrats.”

https://www.rawstory.com/nikki-haley-trump-2668212455/

She's probably angling a 2028 run as these numbers clearly show an appetite for her in the GOP electorate. The problem though is that 2028 will be a free for all as Trump won't be running.

If he loses, he's running and easily winning the nomination in 2028.

I think the chances of him being physically or mentally fit to run again in another four years are extremely low.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Yes, in theory, Haley could take a third party ballot line, but it's unclear which one she could have. 4 Such lines (We the People, Natural Law, American Independent, and Delaware Independent) have already pledged their support to RFK. Another 2 (Unity and Green Mountain) have already pledged their support to Cornel West. Another 4 (Prohibition, Constitution, American Solidarity, and Socialist Liberation) have already announced another nominee. Among those with ballot access, that leaves the Libertarians, the Greens, Legal Marijuana Now, Peace and Freedom, Unity, Alliance, Approval Voting, United Kansas, and Working Families. Several of these have very limited ballot access, and none is an obvious fit for Haley. It's also significantly too late for a bona fide independent run to work.

Even if Nikki Haley wanted to be 2024's version of John Anderson (running an independent campaign after withdrawing from the GOP contest in 1980); the combination of the hurdles to run an independent campaign and there already being definitely one (RFK Jr.) and probably two if one includes Cornel West independent/non major-party candidates with a high level of name recognition would be too much of a hurdle for her if that unlikely possibility was something she was even considering.

I was an Anderson volunteer in both the GOP primary and general election.  It was a different era.  As there is today, there was dissatisfaction with both major party nominees; Carter was very unpopular, and there were great concerns about Reagan's age.  But the difference is that polarization had not set in to the degree that it has now, so there was more room for a good chunk of the electorate to either cross the aisle or vote for a third-party candidate.  I don't think there's a current Republican, or Democrat for that matter, who could appeal sufficiently to the other party as well as their own to do as well as Anderson did -- and in the end that was only 7%.  (Perot, of course, beat that by a good margin, but he was a true outsider and didn't have any party labels to shake off.)

[GeorgiaModerate]

I was an Anderson volunteer in both the GOP primary and general election.  It was a different era.  As there is today, there was dissatisfaction with both major party nominees; Carter was very unpopular, and there were great concerns about Reagan's age.  But the difference is that polarization had not set in to the degree that it has now, so there was more room for a good chunk of the electorate to either cross the aisle or vote for a third-party candidate.  I don't think there's a current Republican, or Democrat for that matter, who could appeal sufficiently to the other party as well as their own to do as well as Anderson did -- and in the end that was only 7%.  (Perot, of course, beat that by a good margin, but he was a true outsider and didn't have any party labels to shake off.)

I thought the main concern with Reagan was that he was too conservative to win, not his age.
At least that's what a couple of friends have told me who also voted in that election.

That was certainly a factor too.  I can't really say which was the greater factor overall; among people I knew it was his age (but I was young then and so were most of my friends).

[GeorgiaModerate]

A horrific performance for Trump in the early vote in the Omaha area/suburbs, wow. I'm sure e-day will make up for it a bit, but I'm watching to see if this is KS all over again with a surprisingly robust Haley vote here too statewide.

Unsurprising. These are the worst people in America.

You don’t like Omaha?