Imagine that you are in a position to advise Darling Nikki on campaign strategy. What is her path to the nomination?
My initial reaction is that it reminds me of the old joke in which two guys are being chased by a bear. One of them pauses to lace up his running shoes. When he is told that he can’t outrun the bear, he responds by saying he doesn’t have to–he just needs to outrun his companion.
In this case, Trump is the bear; Haley can’t possibly compete with him for the “deplorables” vote. The companion is DeSantis; if he trounces him, she can win the nomination regardless of what Trump does, because the “deplorables” don’t represent the majority of the GOP.
How can she dominate the anti-Trump lane? She can’t be tougher on wokeness than DeSantis. She can’t be more of a generational choice than he is, either. What she can do is be more normal and likeable than DeSantis. She can be more moderate on abortion, and tougher on Putin. She can flash more charisma and a better resume. She can appeal to everyone in the GOP and to the independents she needs to win the general election instead of putting all of her cards on the reactionary base, which has been shown to be a losing strategy since 2016.
Let’s be honest here: this probably isn’t going to work. Her chances of winning are slim. They are not, however, zero, particularly since DeSantis has decided to go soft on Putin.