Things that make me go "hmmmmm"

Christie shouldn't have dropped out. The hope that he pushes Haley to be competitive with Trump was always wishcasting and a honeypot for big donor cash.

A week ago, I seem to recall a general call for Chris Christie to drop out of the race and give a permission structure for his “anti-Trump” voters supporters to pull the lever for the new “not-Trump” star Nikki Haley. Hell, they were certain that Haley would “easily” trounce proto-Human Ron Desantis.

But when I went to bed about 8:00 PM Pacific last night, I checked the Times and Post, and I was astounded. Sure, we all knew Trump would run away with it, but all eyes were on the undercard players, particularly Haley and Desantis. And it looked like Desantis was going to eke out a narrow but definitive second place.

This morning I woke up to this graphic:

Clipped from the NY Times homepage

Wait, I though “Haleymentum” was real, and that all the mega-donors were chomping on the bit to go all in to help her go into New Hampshire next week where she would miraculously eke out a narrow win¹.

Hell, I have been listening to the free daily Bulwark podcast and all the head shaking hopium they were snorting practically daily about there being a “path” for Haley to beat Trump (should he somehow stumble). Sound familiar? This is exactly what drove the execrable Ted Cruz in 2016.

Didn’t work then, won’t work now.

From the Times:

Iowa Republicans, following the lead of party officials across the country, rallied behind the former president despite a list of reasons to reject him. Republicans lost control of the presidency, the Senate and the House during his four years in office. He failed to deliver the red wave of victories he promised in the 2022 midterms. He has been charged with 91 felonies in four criminal cases this past year.

And they stayed with him even as they were offered viable alternatives: Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a popular young governor who embraced Mr. Trump’s policies, and Nikki Haley, one of the Deep South’s first female governors, who credibly promised she could win back voters Mr. Trump drove away.

Yet in the first chance Americans had to cast judgment on Mr. Trump since he tried to overthrow an election, many Iowa Republicans made clear they don’t judge him. They adore him.

Ah, all the best people.

I can’t feel bad for Nikki Haley. As a center-left person, I totally abhor her and her pandering, the fact that she has robotically absorbed a completely fucked up dodge to the Civil War, where she mumbles about freedom, capitalism, and economic destiny, and never mentions that inconvenient fact that the war was really fought to preserve that peculiar institution (ahem, SLAVERY).

No, she is a shitty human being and an even worse candidate.

Then, there is this snippet from Karen Tumulty at the Post:

Haley’s disappointing third-place finish, after showing a small surge in late polling in Iowa, is not likely to provide the boost that she was hoping to see as the race heads to New Hampshire, where she ostensibly has a greater chance of gaining ground with its more moderate, independent-minded electorate.

For DeSantis — once considered to have the potential to be a formidable challenger to Trump — the Iowa result was likely a mortal blow, even though he came in slightly ahead of Haley. He has been an unappealing candidate with a dysfunctional campaign, and it is hard at this point to see how and where he can regroup.

Trump, already unpopular with the national electorate at large, is running ever harder to the right, boasting ever louder of how he would trample democratic norms in a second term in which retribution and vengeance would be his guiding principles of governance.

Expect a lot more spit-takes like this from the punditocracy.

Hang on, its getting bumpier. But I am enjoying my coffee this morning.

1. Why? something something “Christie voters” something something.

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