After the first Iowa caucuses on Monday, the Republican field of candidates has shrunk to three people, with the exception of a few nobodies. Donald Trump won by a very clear margin. However, the sometimes panicky reactions were exaggerated: the end result was consistent with the latest survey results.
Iowa is in some ways a special case, whiter and more evangelical than the nation’s average. Success in the rural Midwestern state is not a “free ticket” to the White House. On the contrary: Joe Biden was in fourth place four years ago and Donald Trump lost to Ted Cruz in 2016.
Now the ex-president has triumphed. That doesn’t have to mean anything. Trump has suspended some political rules. Still, Nikki Haley does not want to throw in the towel in the vast corn fields of Iowa, even though her third place behind Ron DeSantis was disappointing. But their prospects are better than DeSantis’.
Rejection for DeSantis
The Florida governor had spent a lot of time in Iowa, working in all 99 counties in the agricultural state. Ultimately, he did not win in either match. In any case, Haley managed to triumph in one go, albeit by a small margin over Trump. Now she is going ‘all in’ in next Tuesday’s primaries in New Hampshire.
Trump’s former UN ambassador wants to make twelve appearances in the small state on the east coast. However, she skips the two televised debates because Donald Trump still refuses to participate. “There’s no one else for me to debate,” she said on CNN on Tuesday, taking a swipe at Ron DeSantis.
Haley wants to attack Trump
At the same time, Haley made a loud announcement: “I will attack Trump.” This is exactly what she has largely avoided so far out of respect for his fans. “We cannot tolerate another four years of chaos. “We will not survive this,” she emphasized. On Fox News, the 51-year-old attacked Trump and Biden because of their age.
“We don’t want any more 80-year-olds in Washington. And we don’t want to hear about investigations anymore. “It’s enough,” Haley said. Her campaign team sent a memo saying Trump was “more vulnerable than expected.” In a commercial from a pro-Haley committee, the ex-president is described as a hooligan and a liar.
Strongly involved in surveys
In New Hampshire, such messages could be caught up. The electorate is more conservative, but also more opinionated than elsewhere in the predominantly liberal northeast. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu is one of the few Trump critics in the party and remains popular. He spoke out in support of Nikki Haley during the election campaign.
The former governor of South Carolina is trailing Trump in the polls, but has made significant gains in recent weeks. And in New Hampshire, “independents,” who make up the majority of the electorate, are also allowed to participate in Republican primaries. They must help Haley pull off a surprise coup.
“An incredibly thin line”
Another victory in her home state of South Carolina on February 24 (where Trump is clearly ahead in the polls) should give her momentum for Super Tuesday on March 5. Their eligibility must contribute to this. Haley points to polls showing she would clearly beat incumbent Joe Biden in November.
American political experts still doubt their chances of success against Donald Trump. Haley is walking “an incredibly thin line,” New Hampshire Republican party strategist Mike Dennehy told Politico. If she attacks Trump en masse, she could score points with independents, but Republicans would lose.
Irritations about racism
Haley knows this dilemma well, which is why she has so far been careful not to attack Donald Trump too openly. At the same time, the daughter of Indian immigrants exposed herself in a Fox News interview on Tuesday, saying the US “has never been a racist country.” Although she admitted that she had experienced racism in her youth.
A spokesperson for her campaign team tried to resolve the contradiction with a subtle statement: “There has always been racism in America, but America has never been a racist country.” Nikki Haley recently raised eyebrows when, when asked about the reasons for the Civil War, she “forgot” the most important one: slavery.
With statements like these, Haley could trigger the devout Trump fans, which she can no more live without than the Republican Party as a whole. Whether she can turn things around and defeat Trump remains doubtful. Haley has “a plausible but very narrow path to the nomination,” an American political analyst told the Financial Times.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
