the Haley Kucinich gambit
Consider the Nikki Haley campaign as analogous to Dennis Kucinich’s campaign in 2004 — the last person standing kind of. Kucinich described his path to victory as a change of decision at the convention as the issue of war becomes paramount — the delegates come over to Kucinich. It was all a pile of fantasy, but Kucinich continued to be an irritant and that for Kerry. Haley is, I guess, apt to the same approach — indictments and court cases will take their hold, and she is the one person standing there as it falls apart. The same sort of fantasy. As to whether she is a real irritant to Trump — it is hard to say. She has to be addressed. I see a sort of psychological analysis tea reading in his declaration that “the party is united as never before” after losing 40 percent of the vote — though this is the sort of doubling down rhetoric a normal politician may take. But there is not much Trump might do to sneak away the 40 percent. The total of Kerry’s handling on Kucinich came down to having Howard Dean as a surrogate at an Oregon primary race appearance, the better to get Kucinich down to single digits.
The question for the most important comparison purpose — how long is it going to take for Haley to get back to supporting Trump? Kucinich came around to that in 16 years — Haley it depends on what her point is.