47 Comments

Could someone explain this to me like I'm 5?

"Trump wasn’t on the Tuesday primary ballot because of Nevada GOP rules that demanded presidential candidates participate in Thursday’s party-sanctioned caucus in place of Tuesday’s state-sanctioned primary. Candidates had to pick one or the other. Haley chose the primary; Trump picked the caucus because that’s the only way to win delegates bound to the nominating contest.

So now, with Haley out of the caucus, Trump will win all the Nevada delegates in addition to winning a resounding None-of-the-Above victory in the primary. And so it’s Nevada, not South Carolina, that triggered the de facto end of the primary season."

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"What is Haley's strategy"? Possibly: Garner as many delegates as possible on the, not slim but don't take bets, chance that for some reason, health, criminal conviction, sentence to confinement (in descending order of probability), she is the only one standing at the Convention.

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This article is lazy, condescending, and stupid pro Trump propaganda. Trump wasn't forced to abide by the Nevada GOP rules, his campaign created them. Haley had zero campaign here. Trump's campaign had the Governor and the machinery of the state party campaigning for "none". What the primary result seems to show is that about 30,000 Nevada Republicans don't want much to do with the most recent Republican President. Who is that embarrassing to?

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I completely get that it's all futile but I rather like Nikki with a flamethrower.

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There was wind in Nikki's sails? I must have missed that.

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Haley is lighting donor money on fire? At least she’s not abusing donor money by spending it to defend her own criminal activity. She needs to stay in, at the minimum, to be a constant thorn to Trump who wants so badly to be crowned.

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Tony Fabrizio is garbage...period.

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If Haley keeps attacking Trump, whether she has a realistic shot at the nomination or not, I'll consider donations to her as money well spent.

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If the Supreme Court decides that the insurrection clause makes Trump ineligible, won't that go a long way toward making Haley the presumptive nominee? And if her campaign happens to catch fire--the prospect of the first woman president; the 'health' of President Biden etc, isn't it conceivable that Nikki Haley of South Carolina could be the next President of the United States. Might this scenario be her end game? Just sayin'....

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I pitched this exact same argument on Chris Cillizza's Substack, So What (definitely worth a look if you haven't checked it out yet). I agree that Haley's only viable route to the Republican nomination is for the Hail Mary SCOTUS insurrection clause to disqualify Trump. It leaves her as the only person standing in the competition. IF that decision comes true (or the Big Mac that breaks the camel's back) it remains to be seen how that plays out in the actual election, where 60% of republicans wouldn't want to vote for her or Biden.

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"Isn't it conceivable that Nikki Haley of South Carolina could be the next President of the United States?"

No. Because, per Sarah's focus groups, Republicans don't think a woman has the emotional control or the balls to be President. This is nonsense of course, but if enough of them agree, it would deny Haley the Presidency. (Also, highly unlikely SCOTUS would decide in favor of the Section 3, 14A. Sadly.)

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Except SCOTUS will never ever ever ever decide that.

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What is embarrassing is the latest Haley ads. One has Trump and Biden as "Grumpy Old Men".(a take off of the Walter Matthau/Jack Lemon movie) Pathetic. The other is one minute of a clucking Chicken. Donald is afraid of debating Nikki.Get it! What Nikki fails to realize yet is she is about as welcomed as Pence and Christie in the current MAGA Party.She probably thinks it will give her a heads up for 2028. But the probability of that is slim to none and Slim has left town.

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My guess is Nikki is holding out to see what SCOTUS says on Trump v Anderson. A surprise ruling against Trump or to send it back to the states would keep her bid alive.

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I don't get the point of this article. Trump is terrible. Haley should give up. Seems like a non-sequitur to me. Also Trump is not like other non-incumbants. The majority of the Republican Party thinks he was duly elected in 2020 and he is underperforming for an incumbant.

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Haley may be paying attention to what happens in the Supreme Court tomorrow. Will “His” Justices protect him from the Constitution? Everyone expects they will, but the case against Trump is very strong. He will look bad and the court will lose any shred of credibility they have left. It’s getting to be fascism, greed, and racism for the select few.

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I doubt the SCOTUS will even take the case because the appeals court so soundly obliterated Trump's feeble arguments.Also Roberts doesn't want to look political.They already have the 14th amendment case to rule on.

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Tomorrow is the Colorado disqualification case. The court could save the world this week.

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They can but I doubt it.I am looking forward to SCOTUS handing Trump his head on immunity.They will most likely not even take the case defurring to the appeals court ruling.

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If you were a MAGAperson in Nevada and you wanted to stick it to Haley, wouldn't you vote in the primary and choose "none of the above" (sort of like a Biden supporter in New Hampshire voting for him as a write-in, only meaner and more pointless)?

And if those are really Trump votes rather than Anybody But Haley votes, has she really done any worse in Nevada than elsewhere?

The ONLY two things I like about Nikki Haley are that she stands up well to adversity and she's a pain in Trump's 'okole. But those are two good things. I think she'd be an awful president. But for now I hope she stays in and keeps kicking. (At the rate I'm going, though, as soon as I press "Post" on this she'll concede.)

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and probably endorse him down the line

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PPS How did Nevada get such a dumb system, anyway? Just more Republican goofery?

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The legislature voted to have a primary. The GOP kept the caucus and said that only the caucus winner would get the delegates. The primary winner gets no delegates. This is the first year for the primary. An example of GOP excellence.

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Why would a legislature rather than a political party even make a call on this?

What is the point of it if it doesn't produce delegates?

What were they hoping to accomplish?

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Per NYT, the legislature replaced the caucus with a primary in 2021 due to irregularities in the 2020 Democratic caucus. The Dems had a primary this year. The GOP party decided to have a caucus, keeping the delegates, since they did not like the primary, including the vote-by-mail process. No more detail or reason than that was given. From what I gather, state political parties generally have most, if not all, the say about primaries. Once these are done, state election boards, secretaries of state or other state officials manage the general election.

Based on general reporting about the GOP, my guess is that the Nevada GOP wanted to keep the caucus because the voters get to meet in person and collegially discuss the merits of each candidate. Hehehe. I think they really just want to kick their voters asses and take names. Fear is their favorite tactic.

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Buffoonery

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Nevada’s voting system is no better than the one in Iowa. The Iowa voting plan is crazy and bizarre! What does it tell you?

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No wonder it is fly over land

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PS /Candidates/ can only be in the primary or the caucus, but can /voters/ do both? just curious.

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Yes.

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That is correct.

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Well in that case I can't imagine that the "none of the aboves" were anything /but/ Trump votes. So basically, dog bites man while man eats nothingburger in the silly season. Doesn't seem particularly embarrassing to me by 2024 standards.

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The final tally in the primary shows that at least a third of Nevada Republicans want anyone but Trump.

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I hope she stays in, just as a thorn in Trump's side. It will drive him nuts.

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Just as a thorn in his side and driving him nuttier than he already is

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Its worth it.

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Trump could rightfully say the 2024 GOP nomination contest is "rigged." From New York Magazine's March 4, 2023 article: "How Trump Rewrote The GOP Primary Rules To Favor Him" by Ed Kilgore: "In 2020, about 60 percent of the convention delegates were chosen in winner-take-all primaries or in contests in which a candidate (Trump) who won over 50 percent (or sometimes a bit more) of the vote received the entire delegate haul. This time around, states have until October 1 to decide how they are going to allocate their delegates. But in all likelihood, inertia will rule."

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