According to an average of polls compiled by Real Clear Politics, former South Carolina Governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (pictured above) continues to trail former President Donald Trump by more than 25 points in her home state.
Jameson Taylor, director of policy and legislative affairs at AFA Action, says Haley knows she is not going to win.
"It looks like Donald Trump is going to win big in South Carolina, and that raises the question of if Nikki Haley can't even win in South Carolina, where can she win?" Taylor poses. "Likewise, thinking about why can't Nikki Haley win in South Carolina, I think it's because the people of South Carolina don't particularly remember anything that she did as governor. As governor, she did nothing of consequence except get behind an effort to change the state flag."
And Taylor thinks that big win in The Palmetto State will propel Trump forward to the Michigan primary on February 27th and Super Tuesday March 5th.
"I think voters in Michigan, and certainly voters on Super Tuesday, already know that Donald Trump is the guy," the analyst submits. "They already know that we need a leader who's going to get out front on issues and give it everything that he has, and that is clearly Donald Trump. That's exactly why the Left hates him. They know that he is the only real conservative leader out there."
But Gary Bauer, chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, thinks Haley is squandering the reservoir of goodwill she accumulated during her years of public service, and he suspects she may be considering a move that would ultimately keep Biden in the White House.
"I think everybody knows how important this November's election is. It literally could determine for good the kind of country our children and grandchildren are going to live in and whether they're fully free or not," Bauer notes. "Every day [Haley] stays in, she squanders money that needs to be raised to stop the disaster that's sitting in the Oval Office right now."
So, he is beginning to wonder if Haley has another agenda.
"She's staying in because she intends to be the nominee of the Third Way, this group that says an independent candidate is what the American people are looking for," he speculates.
If that plays out, then Bauer says it will likely hurt Trump more than Biden.
"She would appeal to suburban, college-educated women, and that would be, I think, a real blow to Donald Trump, unfortunately," he explains.
And unless Haley is elected president that way, Bauer believes her political career would be over, "because the Republican Party would never forgive her for throwing the race to Joe Biden."
Editor's Note: AFA Action is an affiliate of the American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
