Trump defeats Nikki Haley in her home state

Former South Carolina governor and former Donald Trump appointee to the UN as US ambassador Nikki Haley did not make much of a change in these Republican primaries, and this became evident when she lost the New Hampshire primary in January.

New Hampshire did not have Trump Republicans. The Republicans in that state were the milder variety. But Haley lost out to Trump. The last straw seemed the South Carolina primary, and the counting trend shows that she is trailing nearly 20 points behind Trump even as half of the counting is done.

She is determined to stay in the race, and this is no maverick decision. She said that this cannot be a single party, single candidate contest, and that people should have a choice before them. So she will continue to be on the primary ballot papers for the March 5, Super Tuesday, where the primaries will be held simultaneously in 15 states including Vermont and Colorado.

It is understandable that Trump is not taking into account the presence of Haley in the primaries. He is now certain that the Republican presidential nomination is his, and he is taking on the White House incumbent and Democratic rival Joe Biden. Given the predictable and characteristic Trump bombast, Biden will have to endure a lot of verbal blows. Biden is preparing for that and he is not nervous about it. The president is telling people that Trump’s return as president is a threat to American democracy. It is not certain whether Biden will manage to drive home the point even as Trump is winning the Republican primaries almost unchallenged.

Haley standing her ground against Trump is an act of political defiance, and it should not be seen as a desperate act. She stated the democratic principle behind her decision to stay in the contest: “I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”

This is indeed the truth. Trump‘s victories in the Republicans’ primaries are mainly the thumbs-up from the Republican party members. It is not the voice of the American voter at large. And even those who support Biden have second thoughts about his age and stamina. In many ways, Haley is seeing beyond the day’s headlines.

She said, “South Carolina has spoken; we’re the fourth state to do so. In the next ten days, another 21 states and territories will speak. They have the right to a real choice, not a Soviet-style election with only one candidate. And I have a duty to give them that choice.”

Those are brave words indeed. But Trump’s presidential nomination by the Republican party is not any more in doubt. And America is going to a face a re-enactment of the 2020 presidential contest, and it is something that is not enthusing a large number of American voters. It would however be wrong to assume that Trump enjoys popularity in many significant segments of the voters across the country. The ordinary middle class voters and the white working class are for Trump, and they are clear in their minds that Trump is the man to get the American government out of the American involvements in wars abroad, and stem the tide of illegal immigration.

The one thing that stands in Biden’s favour is that the economy is humming. It has avoided recession which was looming on the horizon till last year. Biden has to convince the voters that America’s involvement in global politics is needed to keep the American economy in the lead globally. America cannot hope to remain the largest global economy without playing the leadership in the global political arena.