DES MOINES, Iowa – Despite finishing third in the Hawkeye State caucuses Monday night, Nikki Haley wasted no time declaring the 2024 Republican race a two-person battle between her and former President Donald Trump .
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who came in second in Iowa, had bet big on support that never really materialized, and with Haley leading the governorship in both New Hampshire and South Carolina, his team insists that his rival has a dead campaign underway.
But DeSantis, who has publicly reveled in his underdog status, believes Haley is in for a rude awakening, on her own turf no less.
“We’re taking her to her home state,” a DeSantis campaign official told The Post this week, saying Haley faces “massive” pressure to win the first primary in the South on Feb. 24.
DeSantis has earned at least 74 endorsements from current and former Palmetto State officials, dramatically surpassing Haley’s 14, even though she served as governor there for six years before resigning to become Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Ron DeSantis’ first stop after Iowa was South Carolina. AP
“She’s really not in tune with South Carolina,” DeSantis told Fox News last week. “Let’s prove it.”
It was no coincidence that DeSantis’ first two stops after leaving Iowa were events in Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday. Only then did he head north to New Hampshire, where he participated in a prime-time town hall with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer.
Florida’s governor is following in the footsteps of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who also went to the Palmetto State after the 2016 Iowa caucuses instead of New Hampshire.
“There’s a reason this is a two-person race between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley. Because our campaign lives in reality,” Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Pérez-Cubas told The Post.
“Ron DeSantis’ campaign lives in Disney’s Magic Kingdom”.
The New Hampshire problem
After running a strong second place behind Trump for months, DeSantis’ standing in New Hampshire has taken a hit as other candidates entered the race with greater appeal to the Granite State’s more moderate electorate.
A Suffolk University/NBC 10 Boston/Boston Globe tracking poll released Wednesday showed DeSantis garnering just 5%, behind Trump (50%) and Haley (34%).
New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, a Haley supporter, told CNN on Tuesday that DeSantis’ meltdown among Granite State Republicans was “shameful.”
Nikki Haley’s camp seems to think an upset in South Carolina by Ron DeSantis is crazy. REUTERS
“He has withdrawn all his money. He has withdrawn all his people,” Sununu said of the Florida governor. “He hasn’t been here for a month. So he gave up on New Hampshire. He made it very clear, which is why, again, it’s a two-person race between Nikki and Trump.
“I guess he doesn’t want to go through all the embarrassment,” he continued. “And then he will come and hold a town hall here and there. But at the end of the day, he doesn’t have the run game. “He doesn’t have the connections.”
Waiting for a rebound in South Carolina
After the January 23 primary in the Granite State, DeSantis will have a month to close the gap with Trump and Haley in South Carolina.
Nevada will hold its Republican caucus on February 8, when Trump and DeSantis will compete for delegates. Haley, on the other hand, opted to participate in the non-binding primary two days earlier, a move that many have seen as a sign of surrender to the former president.
Donald Trump’s control over the Republican Party was evident Monday night. AP
Last week, DeSantis brought two disgruntled South Carolina lawmakers to his fifth debate with Haley.
“Governor. Haley ran as a conservative in 2010. She did not govern as such. And in this campaign, she openly presents herself as a moderate to liberal Republican,” state Sen. Josh Kimbrell told The Post at the time.
“I feel like she’s always looking for the next opportunity and doesn’t really have deep convictions about her political position,” he said later, echoing DeSantis’ main line of attack against Haley.
Haley has had some key South Carolina representatives back her campaign, including U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), who endorsed her in Iowa last week.
Trump is ahead with 52% support, followed by Haley at 21.8% and DeSantis at 11%, according to the latest aggregate from RealClearPolitics.
However, polls in South Carolina have been spotty compared to those in Iowa and New Hampshire, making it difficult to get a true snapshot of the state of the race.
Putting yourself out there
Since launching his campaign via social media in May, DeSantis has apparently become more open and accessible on the campaign trail as time has gone on.
He has diversified his media portfolio and continued to answer voter questions at his town hall events. DeSantis maintains that his rivals have become more cautious and protective, while he has become more proactive.
“I’m the only candidate who actually agreed to come to New Hampshire to debate,” DeSantis said at his CNN town hall in Henniker, NH, on Tuesday night.
“What does that say? We now have four candidates running for president: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and me. I’m the only one who’s not running a basement campaign right now,” the South Carolina governor joked. Sun.
DeSantis is making himself widely available to both the media and voters. AP
Haley announced early Tuesday that she planned to quit the debates unless Trump agreed to participate.
DeSantis’ team also attacked Haley for refusing to answer questions from voters during the final stretch of the campaign in Iowa.
Before the caucuses, DeSantis organized a media blitz on Sunday morning public affairs shows and local media, attempting to illustrate his increased accessibility to the press.
There is precedent for staging a campaign comeback in South Carolina. President Biden resurrected his presidential candidacy with a landslide victory there just four years ago.
However, with many voters seeing Trump as an incumbent in all but name, the dynamic on the Republican side is dramatically different.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn