If Ron DeSantis Drops Out & Endorses Donald Trump, Where Would That Leave Nikki Haley?

By Brian Cates

Its understandable that emotions run high during the primary season.

Then when we all watch multiple candidates competing with each other for the nomination that only one of them can have throw sharp elbows and stinging words at each other. 

Tempers flare, hasty words can be said, hands can be wrung over the nastiness that a race has descended into.

But there’s one political truth that everyone should keep firmly fixed in their sights:  the party that wins the general election is the one that can most quickly repair the bridges burned inside itself during a contentious primary season and unite behind one candidate.

President Donald J. Trump understands this, even if many of his devoted followers do not.

Earlier this week, right after coming in fourth place in the Iowa Caucus on Monday night, Vivek Ramaswamy gave an enthusiastic speech where he announced the end of his campaign, whole-heartedly endorsed Trump for President, then revealed he would be campaigning with Trump in New Hampshire.

When Florida governor Ron DeSantis drops out of the race, this process will very likely repeat itself again. DeSantis will endorse Trump and begin campaigning with him. 

Although this might shock some people, the victor of the primary campaign – if he or she is engaging in SMART politics [not everyone does] has a well-developed strategy for wooing the candidates they defeated on the way to the nomination.

And more importantly: wooing and recruiting their donors and campaign staff. As well as their voting base.

The clear sign of a ‘winning’ campaign in trouble in the general election is one where the candidate wins an exceedingly nasty and vicious primary ‘civil war’ and then **CAN’T** or **WON’T** heal the wounds and rebuild the burned bridges with the losing candidates and their campaign supporters and donors. 

As you just saw earlier this week, Trump has no problem rebuilding bridges and extending olive branches and asking for the endorsement and support of candidates who drop out of the race.

He didn’t have any problem doing it with Vivek and he won’t have much difficulty doing it with Ron DeSantis, either.  Although I’m sure watching Trump turn on the charm and bringing what remains of the DeSantis camp into the Trump campaign fold might surprise some people out there, especially given how exceedingly nasty and horrible some Trump & DeSantis supporters have been to each other on social media the last half year.

How much longer do we wait for DeSantis to bow to the inevitable? From what I saw reporter Byron York posting this morning, not much longer.

After spending major time in Iowa as his campaign pursued an ‘all-in’ strategy, a 30-point shellacking seems to have taken what little wind remained in the sails of the DeSantis campaign.

When DeSantis bows out, we’ll see Trump be the magnanimous victor, and DeSantis will very likely surprise people when he turns back into being a vocal supporter of Trump, now that his own always-kind-of-strange campaign for President is behind him.

But if this develops as I expect, and DeSantis drops out soon, where would this leave the last remaining candidate vying with the Trump for the GOP nomination?

Where does DeSantis dropping out leave Nikki Haley? Or as I’ve come to affectionately refer to her, “NeoCon Nikki’?

Chris Christie dropped out a week and a half ago. Vivek bowed out last Monday, and now will be appearing at Trump’s side when called on. Soon, Ron DeSantis will also be standing by Trump at his rallies and appearances. 

This will leave Haley standing all by her lonesome.

Well, at least, for awhile it will.

Because after New Hampshire on Tuesday, comes Nevada on Thursday, February 8, and then South Carolina on Saturday, February 24.  

Haley is the former two-term governor of South Carolina, having served from 2011 to 2017, when she was offered the position of United States’ ambassador to the United Nations by President Donald Trump.

A quick glance at the polling for the few months in South Carolina reveals that Haley is currently trailing her former boss by an aggregate 30.2 points, according to Real Clear Politics.  

If there’s no sign of life for Haley in either in New Hampshire or Nevada, I honestly don’t expect her to hang on by her fingernails for another entire month just to get her bony warmongering ass kicked by Trump by around 29 points in her own home state.

Will Haley endorse Trump? Campaign with him? Unlike with DeSantis, I think this is up in the air. We’ll have to see what happens when that moment arrives.