Nikki Haley appeals to Democrats in last stand against Donald Trump
Joe Biden’s hopes of shining in South Carolina may be overshadowed by the Republican race.
Staff at the Regal Lounge Men’s Barber Shop and Spa in downtown Columbia are still in shock that the president of the United States dropped in before the Democrats’ first official primary election on Saturday in South Carolina.
“It was kind of surreal. I’m still in awe of the opportunity,” said Alton Chisolm, 37, a barber. “As soon as I got pictures I sent them straight to my mom. She was just as happy as I was.”
President Biden’s campaign was probably just as thrilled with images on the local TV news of the elderly white president chatting with several stylish young black men at the popular salon in the state capital.
Biden’s prospects could do with the Regal touch: most polls put Donald Trump ahead in a national rematch in November’s general election.
He really needs the black vote that turned out in force in the 2020 South Carolina primary to save his campaign, but he is facing two big problems: motivating supporters in a race that is a foregone conclusion because he faces only token opposition; and convincing voters who want to stop Trump not to vote in the Republican primary later this month to support Nikki Haley. South Carolinians can choose which party’s primary they take part in.
“I’ve had conversations with a couple of black voters who said they’re going to vote for Nikki Haley,” said Nikita Jackson, 51, the first black head of York County Democrats near Charlotte.
“They are falling down that rabbit hole of not wanting Trump on the ticket but not looking at the big picture. It’s more than just voting for Nikki Haley – you will be listed as voting in the [Republican] primary, so will miss getting Democratic information.”
Biden upended the Democratic calendar to make South Carolina the first official vote of the 50-state contest to pick his party’s presidential candidate, in recognition of his victory in 2020 after dismal results in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
This was expected to give him a flying start in this year’s primary but there are barely concealed fears among senior Democrats that black voters who make up a majority of their vote here are beginning to drift away, and that the state may add to the narrative of frustration with Biden rather than enthusiasm.
Turnout on Saturday will be watched closely for signs that this key constituency is still firmly on board and that the party can put on a show of support for the 81-year-old incumbent.
Amy Hayes, a Democratic activist in Rock Hill in the north of the state, said that party members were receiving text messages from the Haley campaign to vote for her rather than Biden.
Hayes said it was “foolish” for Democrats to try to boost Haley, given that she is so far behind Trump: the 538 polling aggregate puts him on 62 per cent and her on 31 per cent.
Both Jackson and Hayes denied that they don’t want Democrats voting for Haley simply because they would prefer to see Biden facing Trump, with Haley thought to have a better chance of beating the president in November.
This has been a big part of Haley’s own pitch to voters this week.
“The worst-kept secret in politics is how badly the Democrats want to run against Donald Trump. They know Trump is the only Republican in the country Joe Biden can defeat,” she told supporters.
She faces a huge disparity in local endorsements: she is backed by nine South Carolina legislators compared with 43 for Trump, who also has the governor, lieutenant-governor, attorney-general, treasurer and secretary of state on his side. Haley blames this on her unpopular reforms while governor to force votes to be recorded so politicians could not hide their records.
Many are wondering why Haley is pursuing what seems like a lost causeand facing a humiliating defeat in her home state, but analysts say South Carolinians do not see it that way.
“Let me give you two strategic scenarios,” Scott Huffmon, director of polling at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, said.
“An Iowa Republican caucus-goer in 2028 is sitting down and saying, ‘Why should I support Haley when she lost her own state?’ That’s how a lot of people are looking at it. But on the flip side, if Nikki Haley loses South Carolina, makes it to Super Tuesday, loses there and pulls out, then if Trump loses to Biden in 2024 she is the only candidate who can say, ‘I stood up to Trump as long as I could’.”
Huffmon forecast an “abysmal” turnout for the Democratic primary.
“In a competitive year, the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary is really make or break,” he said. “We’re the first test of African-American support and enthusiasm which any national Democrat needs. This is not really a competitive year and there does not seem to be a whole lot of enthusiasm to turn out for it.”
The Times
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