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“With Donald Trump, Republicans have lost almost every competitive election,” she said, declaring the race wasn’t over.
“We lost the Senate. We lost the House. We lost The White House. We lost in 2018. We lost in 2020 and we lost in 2022 … You can’t fix the mess if you don’t win an election.”
It was a strong argument, but it ultimately failed to win enough votes, leaving Haley in a weakened position and under pressure to drop out of the contest to clear the way for Trump’s third GOP nomination.
Part of the reason arguably comes down to the fact that Haley didn’t do enough to convince more “undeclared” swing voters, who make up more than 40 per cent of the New Hampshire electorate, to rally behind her.
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While she stepped up her attacks in recent days, she spent much of the campaign taking tepid jabs at Trump, fearful of angering his loyal base.
This began as far back as the first Republican debate in Milwaukee last August, when candidates were asked a key question: if Donald Trump was the party’s nominee for president as well as a convicted criminal, would you still support him? Haley raised her hand almost instantly.
Even one of her backers, Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, admitted she could have done more to inspire and engage unaffiliated voters.
“In politics, sometimes you’re judged by your friends, but sometimes you need to make the right enemies, too,” he said.
All eyes now turn to the next round of Republican primaries in South Carolina, where Haley was a two-term governor.
She insists she’s up for the fight, but polls already place her behind Trump. Continuing, if there is no clear path to victory, would end up costing her in her home state, both financially and politically.
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