It wasn't interesting.
Donald Trump He was always going to win South Carolina PrimaryIt was just a matter of margin – the margin of victory and the margin of Republican transformation.
This result moves the party's center of gravity even further, from traditional to Trump.
He's cementing his position as a Republican candidate-in-waiting, as the movement awaits Nikki Haley's next move.
She's vowed to keep fighting — “I'm a woman of my word” — but the question is: For how long?
Before these primaries, her plan was to get to so-called “Super Tuesday,” March 5, when results for 16 states are announced and candidates can garner most of the party’s “one-day” support.
In theory, Super Tuesday could tip the competition on its axis.
The problem for Healey's team is that there was nothing remarkable about Saturday in South Carolina, her home state, that would point to a winning path.
They will be weighing what this result says about their long-term prospects, and their financial backers will be forever thinking about when it's time to stop writing checks and writing them off.
Photo: Reuters
In a losing race, they found a reason to support the tortoise against the hare.
About a third of Republican Party members do not support Trump, and their number will increase if he is convicted.
In those circumstances, Nikki Haley used the primary campaign phase to position herself as an alternative option.
If Donald Trump has to withdraw, he will easily be positioned as a last resort with delegates in the bank.
Her continued pursuit of the party's nomination has antagonized and resigned Republicans supporting Donald Trump.
Read more:
Trump was accused of giving Republicans the “green light” to stop funding Ukraine
Trump promotes gold “Never Surrender Hi-Top” sneakers.
The party establishment rallied around the front-runner is affronted by an increasingly aggressive rival scripting Democratic attack ads, but will no doubt be appeased by polls that position Nikki Haley as a better bet to beat Joe Biden.
This is the case for Nikki Haley, but he is not the type to carry support in winning numbers, on the contrary. How long it lasts is the serious question now.
If she resigns before the end of this month, it will be the shortest contested presidential primary since the nominating process, as we know it, began (she defeated the Democratic race in 2004, which ended on March 3).
In the story of America 2024 presidential racethere's a lot about South Carolina that seems like a footnote — maybe because it is.
