Nikki Haley has proudly called herself an underdog in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination, telling the South Carolina audience how she defeated or at least outlasted 12 other candidates, all men, then adding, “I only have one left.” . “Guy to catch.”
But in her race in South Carolina to catch up with this guy, former President Donald J. Trump, she ran an exceptionally conventional campaign, driving a bus across the state, her short speech almost verbatim over and over again kept his word and rarely answered questions from the audience or the news media in attendance. Her guest speakers included local mayors and prosecutors.
As the campaign for their home state came to a close on Saturday evening, ending with a quick victory for Mr. Trump, some campaign experts are wondering how such a cautious attempt could ever upset a nominating contest that Mr. Trump had already won the primaries in Iowa and the New Hampshire primaries and had a clear lead in South Carolina.
Lis Smith, who ran Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign, putting a little-known former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, on the political map, said that Ms. Haley once reduced the race to a two-candidate contest gave a huge opportunity to make a splash.”
But in the state where she served as governor, Ms. Haley didn’t do much of what a candidate trying to fill a yawning gap would do, Ms. Smith said – like taking questions from voters or doing stunts, to attract press attention. For example, if you show up at campaign events with surprise guests.
“If you’re the outsider and you’re trying to push the narrative, you have to understand what drives the media,” she said, “and you have to be willing to make headlines and not give staid speeches.”
Ms. Haley’s lone “stunt,” a speech on Tuesday that was billed as a keynote address on the state of the race, actually made headlines. After the announcement of the speech led to rumors that she was dropping out, Ms. Haley took the time to explain why she wasn’t going anywhere despite the polls. And she argued that she wants nothing from Mr. Trump, who has insisted she leave the race and support him.
Chip Felkel, a Republican political consultant from South Carolina and a Trump critic, agreed with Ms. Smith and expressed surprise that Ms. Haley held so few town hall meetings to answer questions from potential voters.
But, he said, the caution comes from experience and belies Ms. Haley’s statement that she doesn’t care about her political future.
She was burned in New Hampshire when she was asked at a town hall meeting what caused the Civil War and neglected to mention slavery, he said. Her interview this week with NBC News, in which she suggested that she agreed with an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos protected human life, offered Mr. Trump a chance on Friday to take a broader, popular position on IVF represent. He issued a statement saying he supports the nationwide availability of fertility treatment and said Alabama should act quickly to protect access.
Given the influence Mr. Trump wields over Republican voters in conservative states like South Carolina, she may have been unable to do anything to change the course of the race, Mr. Felkel added. Their caution could be seen as preserving options for a future comeback should Mr. Trump win the presidential nomination but lose the election in November.
“She says she has nothing to lose,” Mr. Felkel said, “but she behaves the way she does. She’s playing it safe.”
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2024-02-25 01:04:21
www.nytimes.com