DAVENPORT, Iowa – With a second-place end in Republicans’ first presidential contest of 2024 in sight, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Saturday evening implored a crowd of supporters to courageous subzero temperatures Monday and “set the tone” for the remainder of America.
“You know you set the tone for where the rest of the country needs to go. You know what you need to do, and I know that you’ll do it,” she stated.
Haley has been climbing in polls for weeks, and not too long ago was simply a number of factors behind former President Donald Trump in New Hampshire, which holds its major eight days after Iowa’s caucuses. And supporters stated they hoped a stronger than anticipated end Monday – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had been forward of Haley in Iowa for many of final yr ― might result in outright wins in New Hampshire and past.
“I think a strong second would be a very good result for her,” stated Chris Cournoyer, an Iowa state senator who launched Haley Saturday. “And I think we’re going to surprise some people on caucus night because I have so many independents and Democrats that have told me that they’re going to caucus for her Monday night.”
Despite near-zero temperatures, a frigid wind and lots of smaller roads nonetheless lined with snow from Friday’s blizzard, Haley was in a position to pull some 100 attendees into the Thunder Bay Grille simply south of Interstate 80. She delivered her now-familiar stump speech for about 25 minutes – incorporating most of the strains she has utilized in televised debates – after which spent one other 25 minutes posing for images and speaking to voters individually.
James Mercer, a semi-retired 76-year-old automotive supplier and two-time Trump voter, stated he’s satisfied that Haley is the one Republican nonetheless operating who can really defeat Democratic President Joe Biden in November. “Because she’s going to resonate with women,” he stated. “And I want someone who’s going to win.”
Haley was amongst all however two of the eight Republican hopefuls on the primary debate stage 5 months in the past who stated they might nonetheless help Trump because the nominee even when he have been a convicted felon by then from a number of of the 4 prison prosecutions he’s dealing with. This week, although, she took a brand new tack concerning her former boss.
At a one-on-one debate towards DeSantis sponsored by CNN, Haley stated that, regardless of Trump’s claims, Jan. 6, 2021, was a “terrible” day and Trump would now have “to answer for it.”
That method might flip off voters who consider Trump did nothing incorrect, however has received over others, together with Tiffany Lensch, a banker from close by Bettendorf, who stated Trump’s habits main as much as and on Jan. 6 was the final straw for her. “I think that was the breaking point for me,” she stated. “I’m not a fan of Trump.”
Lensch stated she had seen Haley in particular person beforehand when she visited Bettendorf and was impressed sufficient to come back out regardless of the depressing climate to listen to her once more. “I really like her message,” she stated.
Haley started her marketing campaign final February, changing into the primary main candidate to declare after Trump, who jumped into the race simply weeks after the election-denying candidates he pushed within the 2022 midterms all flopped.
But she languished within the low single digits in polling for many of the spring and summer season, resulting in hypothesis her marketing campaign would run out of cash earlier than the tip of the yr. Her fortunes, although, started enhancing with sturdy performances within the Republican National Committee’s collection of debates that started in August.
And as DeSantis’s ballot numbers started to fall, she started to win over influential donors who had initially backed him as the perfect potential challenger towards Trump.
HuffPost reporter Liz Skalka contributed.
