Nikki Haley will be welcomed to New Hampshire today for several campaign events. It is expected that the 2022 U.S. Senate nominee, retired Gen. Don Bolduc, will endorse her candidacy for president.
Bolduc was endorsed by Trump in his challenge to incumbent Democrat Senator Maggie Hassan. That endorsement was dinged up when Trump criticized him for changing his mind and saying he no longer believes the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. It is interesting seeing some defections from Trump as a challenger, in this case, Haley enters the race. Yesterday during her formal announcement, Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the Freedom Caucus and strong Trump supporter, endorsed Haley.
Haley is jumping right in and holding a town hall today in New Hampshire and another one tomorrow.
“Republicans are excited, they’re looking forward to it,” former NHGOP vice chair Matt Mayberry said of Haley’s visit. “She’s a serious candidate, she’s got name ID, and I love that she’s doing a town hall on her first visit to the state. That says something about her confidence.”
Haley is scheduled to participate in two town halls during her Granite State visit, at Exeter Town Hall at 6 p.m. Thursday and at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at 6 p.m. Friday.
“There is a lot of interest in Ambassador Haley, especially after her impressive announcement on Wednesday and the fact that she is one of the first candidates coming into New Hampshire,” said NHIOP executive director Neil Levesque. “Republicans are particularly excited about being able to weigh in on their candidates knowing that President Biden’s prospects for reelection are so dim.”
The endorsement from Bolduc is a double-edged sword. It tracks with Haley’s campaign theme that it’s time for entrenched establishment politicians to step aside for new leadership, as Bolduc was not supported by establishment Republicans in New Hampshire when he entered the primary. His endorsement also opens up Haley for criticism from Democrats that she is aligning herself with an election denier. The potential for criticism from Democrats over the endorsement doesn’t matter so much, though, because there are already plenty of long knives out for her, including from Trump. Her decision to hold town halls during early visits is unusual and smart. She can answer questions and show she is ready to make herself available.
A warm welcome from New Hampshire Republicans at this stage in the election cycle does not necessarily equal voters committed to casting a ballot for her but it is good for her campaign. She isn’t being dismissed right away as a serious contender. Republican women are excited to have her jump into the race.
“I think Ambassador Haley will be very well received. She certainly was when she came here to campaign with us last year,” said Matt Mowers, who mounted an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2022. “She’s a strong candidate with an unusual mix of domestic policy success as a governor and foreign policy experience at the United Nations. I think she’ll get an enthusiastic welcome.”
Elizabeth Girard is president of the New Hampshire Federation of Republic Women and while her position prevents her from endorsing candidates, she said she was glad Haley is in the race. “It’s exciting to see a strong, empowered Republican woman like Nikki Haley running for president.”
Girard’s organization is hosting a private, members-only meet and greet with Haley on Friday before her town hall, part of the NHFRW’s new “Women’s Voices” series. “This is a concept we created in an effort to drive more engagement to women voters in the Republican Party,” Girard said.
Nikki Haley’s campaign got into some hot water with “Eye of the Tiger” co-writer, Survivor’s Frankie Sullivan. He is demanding that Nikki Haley stop using the song. It was played as she came out on the stage to make her campaign announcement speech in Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday. It’s not a political objection from Sullivan, it’s not an anti-Republican move, it’s that he wants the song to stay out of politics altogether. He wants it to remain solely in the “Rocky” franchise.
The song’s co-writer and Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan told DailyMail.com that he did not sign off on the song being used at the rally and wants the former UN ambassador to stop using it immediately.
Sullivan said that his decision is not political saying that he would not approveof any politician from either side of the aisle using his songs. In the past, he won cease and desist cases against Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee.
‘No, f*** them. Write their own [songs]. Half of them don’t know what the hell to do, why don’t they try writing songs? They’ll probably be lousy songs but they won’t be any lousier than the way they run everything else,’ Sullivan said.
He added: ‘They don’t belong going anywhere near Eye of the Tiger. That song stays with the Rocky franchise.
Thee man does not want any part of politics. Sullivan also wants the campaign to take down any use of the song on her YouTube videos. He acknowledges that will be a harder thing to do. He said that hopefully Haley’s campaign just receives “a slap on the wrist” and then the issue goes away. In past conflicts, he has filed lawsuits against political campaigns and won.
In the past, Republicans such as Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romne,y and Mike Huckabee have used the song in their campaigns. Sullivan said Wednesday that in those cases he filed lawsuits and won.
He added: ‘I would never let a f*****g politician use that song because entertainment and politics don’t mix.’
Clear enough. Someone get Lee Greenwood on the phone.
Discussion about this post