Registered Republicans in Iowa received less than 8% of the vote, and in New Hampshire they were less than 5 percentage points above the majority. So on Tuesday night, grinning, kissing the ring and surrounded by a disgusting group of pals (Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott, you guys are the sum of your choices), he declared game over. .
Once the game reaches the bottom of the first inning, 62 participants will be assigned. 2,367 still — the nomination would be a loss for him. However, he is also one of those who hates “losers”.
He and the cult-cum-party under his leadership have twice lost national popular votes for the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. His party performed spectacularly in the 2022 elections. And in the numerous legal challenges to the 2020 election results, he recorded 20 fewer wins than the 20-134 record of the Cleveland Spiders, the famously futile 1899 baseball team.
Trump wisely balks at discussing Nikki Haley. Readers who didn't watch her combative and uplifting speech Tuesday night can still watch it on YouTube. Then they will realize that his wisdom is the caution of a coward.
On February 24, South Carolina could extend its nomination process halfway through, into March, giving voters in other areas time to consider what's next.
President Trump's reversal of conservatism is complete. His future program features tax increases at home and withdrawals abroad.
To be fair to him, understanding tariffs is beyond his meager comprehension — he swears by a 10 percent tariff. all import from wherever — a tax paid by American consumers and producers. So he said this to the people who were furious about inflation: promise To finance the living, especially of low-income idolaters who necessarily devote a disproportionate portion of their income to consumption.
There is a possibility that a re-elected Mr. Trump will keep this promise because Congress has denied its constitutional authority to “regulate commerce with foreign countries” (citing spurious “national security” or other “emergencies”). (Article 1, Section 8). This should be of particular interest to South Carolina, which plans to vote on Super Tuesday on March 5, when more than half of the delegates needed for nominations will be elected, and other import-export states such as the Southeast. is.
The Port of Charleston is one of the reasons South Carolina's population is booming. And there's one reason South Carolina has changed more and for the better over the past 50 years than any other state. More than 400,000 South Carolinians have moved since Haley left office in January 2017, making the state the fastest growing state in the nation by 2023. became. They may not know this, but many of them became residents because of her influence.
Haley, like other South Carolina governors and better than most, has turned a state with a 3 percent unemployment rate into an economic dynamo. Trump's understanding of wealth creation, like his own wealth, is vastly exaggerated and will throw sand into the gears of the generator.
In foreign policy, Trump, a leader submissive to his base, has promised to ensure Ukraine's defeat in a war he was certain would never occur. (On President Vladimir Putin in 2016: “He's not going to Ukraine, okay? … You can cut it, you can take it down. You can take him anywhere you want.”) Trump , obsessed with the cost of US aid (rounding errors in the federal budget), oblivious to the fact that almost 90 percent of the US dollars devoted to military expenditures of the Ukrainian military are spent in the United States. His blind frugality is laughable for someone who has casually presided over an $8.4 trillion increase in the national debt.
South Carolinians should consider the plethora of policies that could result if Trump, who has never had 50% approval and never will, becomes a lame duck president in 2026. Republicans would then hold 20 seats in the Senate, and Democrats would hold just 13. The Democratic Senate majority's agenda in 2027 includes ending the filibuster, packing the Supreme Court, implementing card-check procedures to override union elections (and attracting southern investment), and pursuing D.C. statehood. may be included.
Haley's brave “game on” message Tuesday night may ultimately be for naught. But she stands alone against Trump, perhaps the most worthy president in progressive history.