Nikki Haley eyes strong second place finish in Iowa
It looks like a race for second place in the Republican primaries, but former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley still gives herself a chance of taking the gold.
It looks like a race for second place in the Republican primaries, but former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley still gives herself a chance of taking the gold.
Diehard voters braved potentially deadly -24C temperatures outside Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday night (Monday AEDT) to hear Ms Haley sell herself as the only candidate able to wrest the GOP presidential nomination from Donald Trump.
On the eve of the opening of the Republican primary season for the 2024 White House race, about 100 hardy voters heard Ms Haley speak at her last campaign event before voting begins.
There was a mixture of Ms Haley’s true believers and GOP voters simply curious about a post-Trump future at the little wedding venue she hired out in the small town of Adel for her final pitch before heading off to the New Hampshire primary, where she has an even better chance of besting Mr Trump.
But rapid stardom also brings its detractors, with both a protester dressed as a carrot, and her rival Mr Trump, determined to spoil her campaign on Monday.
More than 180,000 Iowans were set to vote in the 1657 caucuses in the rural state’s 99 counties on Monday night from 7pm (noon Tuesday AEDT), in the first contest to determine which Republican will challenge Democrat President Joe Biden in November.
A landslide for Mr Trump seemed all but inevitable on Sunday night, with the former president leading in most polls by up to 30 points for both the Iowa caucus and the wider national contest for the nomination.
In his final rally to hundreds of supporters in Indianola, Mr Trump had his former cabinet ally, Ms Haley, in his sights.
“She’s not up to the job, OK, I can tell you. I don’t want to be mean,” Mr Trump said.
But in her final Iowa stump speech, Ms Haley was selling herself as the future of conservatism.
“It’s finally time we put an accountant in the White House,” she declared, radiating confidence to a throng of supporters holding “pick Nikki” signs.
“I think President Trump was the right president at the right time … but, rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him,” she said, continuing her delicate political balancing act of both praising and criticising her former boss, who remains the firm favourite, so as not to alienate his supporters.
In a contest dominated by the former president, who has maintained a seemingly unassailable polling lead over Ms Haley and Florida governor Ron DeSantis, focus has turned to who will finish second, and thus attain the nomination by default should a health or legal misfortune knock Mr Trump, who is facing 91 criminal charges, out of the race.
“We’ll go back to the “remain in Mexico policy” so that no one even steps foot on US soil, and instead of catch and release, we will go to catch and deport,” Ms Haley said, stressing she would take a hard line on illegal immigration.
Iowan healthcare worker Peggy Brady said she was “very disillusioned” by the prospect of a Biden-Trump rematch. “I feel very strongly that we don’t go down that road again,” she told The Australian, citing Ms Haley’s international experience as reason she would caucus for her instead of Mr DeSantis.
“She’s just got common sense, she’s more genuine … And I think she can beat Biden because she will attract more middle of the road people.”
A series of gaffes in the last few days of the campaign, and what was widely seen as a poor performance in the final televised debate – against Mr DeSantis on Wednesday, hosted by CNN – hadn’t dented her political momentum, according to the highly regarded Des Moines register poll published on Saturday.
Mr Trump would attract 48 per cent support at the Iowa caucuses, compared to 20 per cent for Ms Haley, 16 per cent for Mr DeSantis, and 8 per cent for Vivek Ramaswamy, the poll showed.
A victory or strong showing in Iowa, the first state in the US to formally pick a presidential nominee, typically delivers significant political momentum for a candidate, and comes one week ahead of Republican primaries in New Hampshire, where Ms Haley’s polling has come within single digits of Mr Trump’s.
Dressed in black and white and standing between two giant US and Iowa flags, the former ambassador to the UN stressed her international experience in facing off against Russia, China and Iran. She also promised to balance the budget, close the southern border to illegal immigration, and boost energy – including nuclear – production to reduce inflation and attain “energy independence”.
“If 8 per cent of our budget is interest (payments), then quit borrowing, cut up the credit card,” she said, burnishing her push for greater fiscal rectitude while promising to cut the US federal petrol and diesel tax.”
In contrast to Mr DeSantis, whose campaign has steadily imploded over the past few months, Ms Haley’s star has risen sharply, bolstered by more supportive press coverage and improved polling of late, and her position as the “establishment” Republican alternative in a field dominated by candidates more closely aligned with Mr Trump.
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