It’s one thing to support a candidate, but New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu is just embarrassing himself. He’s drunk on the attention and has lost control of himself. Haley seriously underperformed in Iowa and lost by more than ten points in New Hampshire. And now she’s shedding donors.
Rich Democrat funder Reid Hoffman has derailed his money train to Haley, and he’s not alone. With no path to the nomination anywhere in sight, Sununu’s Haley fan club is going to have to do more than yap about how great he thinks she is. There’s no path. It’s Haley or Trump, and Trump’s base won’t vote for her. Neither will a bunch of primary-meddling Democrats who’d never vote for her in general (yes, we heard a few more stories about NH Dems trying to vote for Haley), and even on his worst day, Biden beats a Republican nominee elected by Democrats.
But wait, there’s more.
A Republican fundraiser told CNBC on Wednesday that three clients who each helped Haley raise up to $100,000 for her campaign are now opting out of assisting the former U.N. ambassador.
Others explained that while they plan to speak out publicly in support of Haley, they aren’t convinced they’ll be able to raise much money for her campaign since she’s winless so far in the primary season. -CNBC
Winless and unlikely to win anytime soon. She isn’t on the ballot in the Nevada Caucus, and South Carolina loves Trump. Nationally, Haley is down by as many as 63 points, which means at least 20 points and probably 40, even if Democrats meddle in other states. That’s a “yuge” gap, and on those terms, the calls for her to get out now so the party can focus on November seem justified.
So what value is left, other than to spend a pile of cash against Trump that could be directed at Dem opponents?
There are – I eyeballed it, so this might not be exact – just over twenty mixed or open Republican primaries, of which New Hampshire is one. I’ve heard from insiders and outsiders alike who were not all that keen on the recent effort to close the primary in New Hampshire. The zeal to encourage Democrats to meddle in their election has helped them turn a corner. They are willing to talk about and support a closed Republican primary.
In a state that is 40% registered independent, it will force fence-sitters to pick a side to have a voice in those contests. Some will continue to argue that closing the primary is not fair, but if that’s true, then no private organization should be allowed to decide who votes on their leadership, priorities, principles, or direction. That’s what the primary is, and a small number of Republicans have gone too far to undermine it in their quest to slow Trump’s train.
That’s politics, and it’s part of the process, but so are the side effects.
Regardless of your thoughts about him or her, Chris Sununu has been a great advocate for Haley. But as he serves his last year as governor and transitions to whatever comes after that, it may have cost him the respect of many in his own political party. I should say more, he’d already lost much from many. And for what?
A candidate that can’t beat an opponent for whom he has said he would vote.
