©Reuters. Campaign signs of Republican presidential candidate and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are seen outside Londonderry High School during New Hamps
By James Oliphant
(Reuters) – Donald Trump wants South Carolina to be the end of the road for Nikki Haley in her battle for the Republican nomination. Haley aims to survive and fight in the multi-state Super Tuesday contest in March.
Opinion polls show the former US president with a clear lead in South Carolina ahead of Saturday’s state primary, despite Haley having been governor for six years.
As Haley’s presidential bid looks increasingly quixotic, her campaign insists it will move forward regardless of the outcome.
Here’s a look at the stakes for each of the candidates vying to challenge President Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the November election:
DONALD TRUMP
Simply put, Trump wants the Republican race to end so he can turn his full attention to challenging Biden.
Trump’s campaign has already signaled that it is pivoting to the general election, escalating its attacks on the president and attempting to secure control of the Republican National Committee.
Trump also has real work to do within the party. Haley’s candidacy has exposed a deep schism among Republicans over Trump’s candidacy, with a solid chunk of that electorate – largely college-educated suburban voters – rejecting what he represents.
His campaign must fear that November voters will defect to Biden, support a potential third-party nominee or stay home.
Trump must demonstrate that he has a firm grip on his party and that he is capable of beating Biden. Crushing Haley in his home state would help.
Nikki Haley
Haley’s motivation to stay in the race will become harder to understand if she is buried by Trump in South Carolina, after also losing to him in Iowa and New Hampshire. The pressure for her to quit will come fast and hard.
But Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, may see the race as about more than her. You now speak for the bloc of Republican voters who can’t stand Trump.
He also has a platform to express his concerns about Trump’s approach to national security, which was brought to sharp relief when he suggested he would give Russia a free hand with NATO countries that fail to meet their security spending obligations. defence.
Haley, however, must also fear that a string of defeats at some point will hurt her prospects of running again as a viable candidate in four years.
Her campaign has pointed to a number of races in play on Super Tuesday on March 5 as favorable for Haley, including Texas, North Carolina and Virginia. Hundreds of delegates will be honored that day, but it remains to be seen whether she will invest in those states to compete.
At some point, he has to win somewhere.