The South Carolina governor’s famous malleability could be an asset in contrast to the vivid and unmistakably terrifying Trump.
A complaint about Nikki Haley that has followed her for much of her political career is that she’s an opportunist with very flexible convictions and a habit of trying to have things both ways. Most famously, she was against taking down the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina statehouse as governor until she was suddenly (even courageously, by her own account) for it, before hedging her bets a bit. Most recently, she’s shown amazing dexterity in developing a rap on abortion that begins with her career-long hard-core “pro-life” positioning, and her determination to “save more babies,” that somehow morphs into a call for a national “consensus” on the subject that’s drenched in empathy for her presumably baby-killing opponents.
But the balancing act most crucial to Haley’s presidential candidacy is her now very familiar high-wire routine regarding Donald Trump. She opposed him strongly in 2016 before endorsing him, then went to work for him at the United Nations while letting it be known she was independent of him. After January 6, she was quick to consign Trump to the dustbin of history, but then when he didn’t go away, she quickly said she wouldn’t run for president against him … until she did.
Her ambivalence toward the rival who rather obviously stands athwart her path to the White House has enraged Chris Christie, the candidate who may be losing anti-Trump votes to her, as the Messenger reports:
Chris Christie on Tuesday knocked fellow 2024 GOP hopeful Nikki Haley and accused her of not actually running against former President Donald Trump, who remains the dominant frontrunner in the Republican primary …
The former New Jersey governor honed in on Haley recently saying at a South Carolina town hall that Trump was the “right president for the right time” and claiming “chaos follows him” …
“Come on. Either run against him or don’t run against him,” Christie said on Monday in response to Haley. “If you’re running for second place, tell everybody you’re running for second place. I’m not. I’ve been offered cabinet positions in the Trump administration and turned them down. I was offered White House chief of staff and turned it down. I’m not interested in working for Donald Trump. I’m interested in restoring this country’s commitment to the Constitution above everything else.”
Now that Trump has begun referring to Haley as “Birdbrain,” it’s unlikely she’s dreaming of becoming his veep. But she has an equally compelling reason for confining her criticisms of the former president to the occasional jab: She can’t afford to alienate his fans, who represent a clear majority of Republican rank-and-file voters. So she is ambivalently and opportunistically trying to have it both ways, hoping Trump somehow self-destructs even as she consolidates support from primary voters who don’t like him or are ready to “move on.”
It’s kind of a shame that Haley can’t be loud and proud about her invisible-ink political commitments and her ability to bend her message to whichever way the wind blows. These are qualities that might make her a truly electable GOP nominee and not because of her alleged appeal to independents and swing voters (all very hypothetical at this point).
The easiest path to victory for Republicans in 2024 is to make the election a pure, 100 percent referendum on Joe Biden, who suffers from perceptions the economy is terrible, which he may never be able to overcome (unless he can figure out how to produce lower consumer prices without a recession), a world full of wars and trouble spots, and his advanced age, which isn’t going to get any younger. He may survive because a Donald Trump nomination guarantees a comparative contest rather than a referendum on Biden. Trump is clearly incapable of fading into the background and couldn’t if he wanted to given his infamous past and ominous future plans.
Where Trump is as vivid as your worst nightmare, Haley is as indistinct as your most wishful thinking. For all her talk of being tough and courageous and a sort of Palmetto State Margaret Thatcher, Haley is actually whatever voters want at any given moment. She is potentially the ideal “generic Republican” who won’t frighten anyone into voting for Biden.
“I’m your generic Republican winner” won’t fit on a bumper sticker or a yard sign and might upset MAGA base voters who want holy war. But it’s probably Haley’s best and truest electability argument.
