Nikki Nullified

South Carolina Republicans have fallen out of love with their former governor, Nikki Haley.

She lost the state's Republican primary to Donald Trump by twenty percentage points.  She didn't lose by as much as the polls had predicted, and some pundits will find some way to spin it as being a revealing look at Trump's disadvantages and weaknesses in a general-election matchup with Joe Biden, but it's still a crushing loss.  The one-on-one knock-out, drag-down fight that people had been hoping for between Trump and an anti-Trump has finally happened, but it's Haley who is getting knocked out and dragged down.

This is a loss that Haley richly deserves.  Some pundits have actually applauded her for finding her voice and lashing out at Trump at long last, but the truth of the matter is that she's merely changing her message to appeal to the anti-Trump faction in the GOP after treating Trump with kid gloves didn't work out.  But then bashing Trump for his numerous deficiencies was something Chris Christie had done in his 2024 presidential campaign since day one, and he didn't get any credit for finding his voice. What he got was an early exit from the campaign when he tried to gain traction but ended up in traction.  Haley only bashes Trump with the knowledge that she has nothing left to lose, so why not go full tilt boogie in being the anti-Trump when no one gives a twit?

But I'll be happy to see her continue her campaign long enough to drive Trump crazy. 😉 

Haley vows to stay in the presidential campaign for as long as she has the money.  She could theoretically stay until the bitter end.  But Chris Christie knows better than to plan to vote for Haley in the last-in-the-nation New Jersey presidential primary in June, because Trump will have long before won all the delegates needed for the Republican presidential nomination.