The GOP “consultant” class is once again hard at work totally misreading the Republican base. This time claiming Nikki Haley has the 2024 GOP nomination in the bag.
I saw the tweet for the article at The Hill yesterday, and I couldn’t stop laughing.
Nikki Haley? I don’t think so.
This “consultant” – a guy named Alex Castellanos – claims Nikki Haley is the “front-runner and it’s going to be very hard to stop her.”
(Until, of course, primary voters weigh in. Then it’ll be easy as pie.)
The GOP “consultants” were so good at their job, they were convinced that Jeb! Bush had 2016 in the bag. They christened him the “front-runner” in late 2014.
They’re not exactly known for having their finger on the pulse of voters.
If they were, they’d stop showering fawning praise on Mitt Romney.
Now, I’m not a Republican “consultant.” I’m just a gal with a little website. And if I had to say which Republican is best positioned to get the nomination in 2024, I’d pick Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Now, a lot can happen in two and a half years.
But what won’t happen is Nikki Haley firing up the Republican base.
Haley, like Mitt Romney, is a “stick your finger into the wind” kind of politician.
Which is why just the other day she decided to disavow Donald Trump. See, the “consultants” are all claiming that the key to the GOP’s future success is to completely eradicate “Trumpism.” So Nikki, finger in the wind, decides, “Gosh. I better disavow Trump! That’s the ticket!”
Of course, the “consultants” claimed after 2012 that the key to the GOP’s 2016 success was embracing amnesty for illegal aliens.
How accurate was that assessment?
And I guarantee you, when it turns out that the “consultants” were just as flat-out wrong about “Trumpism” as they were about amnesty, Nikki will do an about-face and start praising Trump again.
She’s Mitt Romney in a skirt.
The Maybelline Mitt if you will.
This thing the Establishment calls “Trumpism” isn’t Trumpism at all; it is America First populism. Put the country first, no more endless wars, stop shipping jobs overseas, and to hell with the globalists. This was the position of the Republican base long before Trump came down the escalator.
The reason Trump resonated was because he was the first candidate to recognize and campaign on what actually mattered to Republican voters.
For years we held our nose and voted for whatever milquetoast loser the Establishment shoved down our throats. Then Trump offered us the very agenda we were begging for but the Establishment refused to even consider.
And now they think they can go back to business as usual and shove some crap candidate down our throats?
I don’t think so.
Nikki Haley isn’t looking to appeal to us voters; she’s looking to appeal to the status quo. So naturally, the “consultants” and the big money corporate donors are going to love her.
Just as they loved McCain.
Just as they loved Mitt.
Just as they loved Jeb!
If I had to guess, I’d say this Alex Castellanos – whoever the hell he is – is auditioning for a job on Nikki’s doomed-to-fail campaign.
Jesse Kelly is right. There is no going back. There is no way to separate America First Populism from the Republican voter base.
The best Establishment Republicans can hope to do is go back to ignoring their voters.
Which is exactly what Nikki Haley will do. And exactly why she will sputter out like a wet fart.
