I've been a fan of Nikki Haley for a long time, but I can't help but wonder lately what the heck she's doing. She's made plenty of unforced errors on the campaign trail in recent weeks, and she lost to "none of these candidates" in the symbolic Nevada primary.
For her part, Haley called the confusing primary-caucus combo a "scam" and wrote off the Silver State. Once again, that's not the kind of behavior that endears you to voters, so it's unclear why Haley thought such candor was in order.
At this point, her continued presence in the race just smacks of stubbornness. It's not hard to wonder if Team Nikki is pondering one important question:
Republican voters have been thinking about it, too, and a new Daily Mail/TIPP insights poll reveals what they think about the Haley Train chugging on.
"Republican voters by a huge margin say former South Carolina Gov Nikki Haley should drop her bid for the GOP presidential nomination, as her chances of catching up to front-runner Donald Trump are 'negligible,'" TIPP reports. "Fully 57 percent of registered Republican primary voters say Haley should exit the race, our DailyMail.com/TIPP poll shows. Less than a third say she should keep running; another 13 percent said they were not sure."
A whopping 70% of voters surveyed say "yes" or "maybe" to Haley leaving the race. It's hard to ignore that kind of response.
Naturally, the biggest Trump supporters are the most vocal about Haley exiting the race — often nastily so. But Haley brushes off the worst of the critics.
"Haley responded to her critics and 'trolls,' saying 'there are always going to be haters and doubters' and vowing to keep her struggling campaign afloat," TIPP reports. "She admits she is trailing far behind former president Trump among Republican primary voters, but says she's better placed to defeat the Democratic incumbent Joe Biden in November's contest."
Related: Nikki Haley Continues to Sabotage Herself
The poll reveals voters' attitudes toward Haley across various demographics. Adults over 25 strongly believe that Haley should bow out, although more voters in the 25-44 category said she should stay in than in any other group. Women and men were relatively close, although far more men than women thought she should stick it out — which signifies that more women answered that they were not sure.
Haley is unlikely to heed such warnings. She's continuing on to her home state primary in South Carolina, followed by Michigan and the Super Tuesday states. I suppose more power to her, but I can't help but wonder what the point of fighting a losing battle is.
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