The old conventional wisdom that former President Donald Trump announcing his presidential run as early as possible would scare away any competition seems to be dead and busted.
As she teased days ago, former U.N. Ambassador, and former Governor, Nimrata “Nikki” Haley, is set to declare a presidential run with an impending campaign announcement. Naturally, Haley’s kick-off event will take place on Feb. 15 in her home state of South Carolina:
Cementing what has been in the works for months, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will formally announce she is running for president and will seek the Republican nomination for her party’s 2024 ticket, The Post and Courier has learned.
According to an invitation soon going out to her backers, Haley’s advertised “special announcement” will come Feb. 15 at the The Shed at the Charleston Visitor Center, a downtown gathering spot that could draw hundreds of supporters into the heart of the city’s tourism district. [Emphasis added]
The confirmation she is entering the race came Jan. 31 from a member of Haley’s inner circle.
Haley has teased at running for the White House for months, increasing her footprint on social media and in national interviews that she was leaning toward an official bid.
As far as the field goes, Haley’s in a better position than many of her GOP colleagues. For starters, even if she fails to attract the needed support to win the nomination, she’s going to play well at the top of any list for a possible Vice Presidential pick. Her time spent at the United Nations, serving there under President Trump, was meant to round out her experience and provide her with more background in foreign policy, an area that governors usually lack.
Despite previous promises that if Trump ran in 2024, Haley would defer, it seems to be full steam ahead:
Haley famously said earlier she would not seek to challenge Trump if he ran again, but her message has since shifted to say the country needs to look toward a different path.
“It’s time for a new generation,” she telegraphed on Twitter in recent days. “It’s time for new leadership. And it’s time to take our country back. America is worth the fight — and we’re just getting started.”
There’s almost an heir of a gentle swipe in Trump’s direction by calling for a “new generation,” perhaps an unspoken reference to the former president’s age.
Over the weekend, Trump revealed that Haley had given him a phone call as a “heads up” that an announcement might be coming. From Trump’s description, the conversation was cordial:
During his weekend campaign swing that included a stop at the S.C. Statehouse, Trump told national reporters he recently received a phone call from Haley. Trump said Haley told him “she’d like to consider” a 2024 run of her own.
“I talked to her for a little while. I said, ‘Look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run,’” Trump told reporters, adding that he would welcome the competition.
“She called me and said she’d like to consider it, and I said you should do it.”
At this point in the race, magnanimity is Trump’s best play. Each time he has strayed from that path, by attacking DeSantis, for example, it doesn’t come off pretty. Instead, it appears as some sort of desperate attempt to bash fellow Republicans simply on rumors that they might enter the race.
For Haley to call Trump and discuss the campaign clearly indicates that she doesn’t want to start off on his bad side and doesn’t want to start off by alienating his core supporters.
If she is to have a chance down the stretch, she’ll need all the help she can get. Her polling has been stuck around 2% but with a formal announcement, she might get a small bump later this month.
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