As I write this, the New Hampshire Republican primary results with 50% counted: Trump wins with 53.8%, while Haley trails with 44.8%. However, it must be said that the avalanche of votes that was predicted to give the former president a lead of more than 20 points did not surface.
Most polls put Haley at just over 30%, while some, such as Insider/Advantage or Suffolk University, gave the former president more than 60%. The margin is, at the moment, less than 10 points.
It remains a resounding triumph, let no one misinterpret these words. Former President Trump made it very clear tonight. He is the candidate of the Republican Party. He, as of today, owns the Republican Party. It is his party, and this seems unchangeable. However, for those of us who expected the path to the presidential nomination to be completely cleared for Trump after today, taking into account the results from the Iowa caucuses — in which DeSantis and Ramaswamy decided to withdraw and support Trump — it did not happen.
Nikki Haley, wounded and limping, remains in the race, as she announced in reaction to the New Hampshire results. A speech, that was seemingly triumphant, as if the result were the opposite. But, after all, her campaign does have reason to celebrate. The more than 40% in these primaries gives Haley reasons to not withdraw her candidacy just yet.
It is important to mention that in these Republican primaries, not just those registered with the Republican party voted. That helped Haley a lot, since, according to a CNN poll, almost 70% of those who voted for Haley are independents — only 27% who voted for her are Republicans. However, few paid attention to that and today's numbers give Haley resources to keep the ship sailing.
However, her campaign is sailing towards the inevitable. Although the South Carolina primaries are coming, the state in which Haley was a successful governor, nothing indicates that things are going to change. What Haley is doing is postponing the unavoidable, and it's not clear why.
Since she won't win, and her campaign is doomed to fail, the willingness to continue her campaign has more to do with widening the cracks already existing within the Republican Party than with the mere ambition of being the first female president of the United States.
The ship keeps sailing, but it is now adrift, and shipwreck is unavoidable, only delayed. Sean Davis, the editor of The Federalist, said it very well, albeit bluntly: "If Nikki Haley's primary goal is to defeat Joe Biden in November, she will drop out tonight and endorse Trump. If she continues to stay in a race she cannot win just to attack Trump, then we'll know she's fully owned by the left-wing Democrats who are funding her campaign."
Although it is a harsh accusation, each day that passes in a campaign without viability only strengthens that idea. DeSantis made the right decision and dropped out following the Iowa results, for a pragmatic notion of politics: he does not agree with Trump, he does not like him, but the greater good is to snatch the White House from the Democrats in November. America's prosperity depends on it.
