WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley suspended her bid for president March 6, leaving her party’s front-runner, former President Donald Trump, without any major rivals for the nomination.
Haley’s announcement came one day after the Super Tuesday primary contests, when the largest number of states hold their primary elections on the same day in the U.S. presidential primary cycle.
But as a general election rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden took shape, with both candidates winning by large margins in most of their respective Republican and Democratic primaries, voters nevertheless showed warning signs for each candidate.
The GOP is Trump’s party, expert says
John White, a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, told OSV News that he believed Haley made a strategic error, and while she did not have to act as a “prosecutor” in the race like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie did, she would have done better to criticize Trump’s candidacy “earlier” in the process.
“Her theme about Trump’s ‘chaos’ and moving on past him is something that she really emphasized in her last days as a candidate,” White said.
“Even then, I don’t know if it would have done her any good,” he added. “Donald Trump Jr. was right on Jan. 6, 2021, when he said, ‘This is Donald Trump’s party.’ It still is.”
Exit polling in Republican contests indicated that Haley’s primary voters said they were voting against Trump more than they were voting for her, which could spell trouble for Trump’s ability to win these voters’ support in November’s general election.
The dynamic was evident in both statements made by Trump and Biden on Haley’s departure from the race. Trump, calling Haley the pejorative nickname he has used for her, “Birdbrain,” added that anyone who made a “contribution” to her campaign “will be permanently barred” from his “MAGA camp.”
“We don’t want them, and will not accept them,” Trump said.
Biden courts Haley voters
Biden, however, made overtures to Haley voters, saying in a statement, “Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign.”
“I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground,” Biden said.
White said Haley’s voters “will be important in what we must presume will be a close general election.”
“Parties should be about welcoming converts, not expelling heretics,” White said. “But Trump seems determined to do the latter as his recent social media posts attest. This creates opportunities for Biden.”
White added that exit polling shows “Trump’s weaknesses with suburban women and college-educated voters are fully apparent.”
Vulnerabilities for the Biden campaign
But Biden showed some possible weaknesses as well: 19% of Democrats in Minnesota voted “uncommitted,” a week after 13% of Democrats in Michigan also voted “uncommitted” in what appeared to be a protest vote of Biden’s support for Israel’s war on Hamas, which has killed 30,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, in the Gaza Strip. Israel declared war in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, involving acts of sexual violence and hostage taking.
Washington state’s largest labor union, 50,000 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers, also endorsed voting “uncommitted” over Biden, citing concerns about his electability. That state’s primary is March 12.
“The uncommitted vote shows weaknesses for Biden and he may have other weaknesses among Gen Z and younger minority voters,” White said. “Some of this is due to Gaza and we will have to see if that carries over to November.”
White added that Biden’s age is another apparent issue with some voters, as recent polling also shows.
A majority of voters who supported Biden in 2020 now say he is too old to be an effective president, according to a poll by The New York Times and Siena College released shortly before Super Tuesday.
White said the upcoming State of the Union address could provide Biden an opportunity to attempt to reassure these voters. The president’s annual address, he added, “is very, very important and allows Biden to set the terms for the general election.”
Biden’s third State of the Union address is scheduled for March. 7.
