Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis — One Will Lose, The Other Will Lose Even More!
Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis — One Will Lose, The Other Will Lose Even More!
The thrilling race for distant second in the Republican presidential primary heats up!
Koch-endorsed Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are hammering each other, as polls show Haley gaining and DeSantis lagging in the Republican presidential primary. They’re both losing badly to Donald Trump, but that doesn’t seem to matter much to them. It’s almost like they’re pretending he’s not running at all. I wish we all had that luxury.
Monday, the New York Post reported that the Stand For America super PAC, which is pro-Haley, had spent more than $3.5 million on anti-DeSantis messaging over the past two months. That seems like a lot, but it’s easy to blow a fortune reminding people how terrible DeSantis is. An estimated $28 million has gone toward building Haley’s national brand — not the best return on investment — and $25,000 was spent on ads against President Joe Biden, which is really getting ahead of herself.
Hilariously, though, the Haley PAC has spent absolutely nada, zilch, zero on attacking Trump, the clear frontrunner who is also facing 91 felony indictments across four different jurisdictions. That seems like a good place to invest her new Koch dollars.
The pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC has spent a piddly $375,000 against Trump, who is months away from humiliating him in Florida, where he’s currently governor. It might be worth at least $400,000 to avoid becoming the next Marco Rubio.
Never Back Down might run and hide from the mad MAGA king but it’s burned through $4.5 million attacking Haley on issues that will absolutely not decide this election.
Stand For America spokesperson Brittany Yannick told the Post:
Ron DeSantis’ lies and desperate mudslinging aren’t working; it’s backfiring and costing him support. We won’t allow DeSantis to spread lies about Nikki’s record when it comes to China or terrorism in the Middle East. We’re focused on ensuring voters understand Nikki Haley’s record and DeSantis’ latest attempts to rewrite history amid his sinking ship of a campaign.
Yannick’s right. DeSantis’ campaign is taking on water, but another Super PAC has emerged to bail him out. Fight Right, Inc. was formed last month to supplement the similarly pugnacious Never Back Down. According to its website, “Fight Right exists for one purpose: to shed light on the failed records and leadership of Governor DeSantis’ opponents.”
Never Back Down has experienced its own reality TV-style drama, as the political operation struggles to halt “Haley-mentum.” NBC News reports that tensions got so bad a physical altercation almost occurred between two board members during a private meeting. Shockingly, people who work for an organization called “Never Back Down” are not good at constructive conflict resolution.
Fight Right, Inc launched a 30-second spot slamming Haley in Iowa and has spent about $970,000 against her in this key early state. Trump, the accused felon, is averaging a 30-point lead in Iowa.
Fox News host and professional terrible person Laura Ingraham invited DeSantis and Haley to debate on her show, which isn’t even on prime time anymore. DeSantis was all in, but Haley obviously has better things to do. A separate debate on Fox would actually disqualify both candidates from the Republican primary debates, which few people watch, but at least they don’t air during supper time at the rest home.
Like most simpering, toxic men, DeSantis assumes the reason Haley doesn’t want to spend more time around him than necessary is because she’s scared of his masterful debate skills.
“Well, she probably wouldn’t like what the debate would be about,” DeSantis told Ingraham Monday. “I mean, I think she has taken very, very establishment-oriented positions. We know she had the social media proposal to force everybody to give their names, which we know would be weaponized against conservatives.”
Haley has called for name verification on all social media profiles and said anonymous accounts and misinformation-spreading bots are a national security threat. DeSantis is probably looking out for all his Nazi supporters. This might prove relevant in a debate if Republican primary voters were normal and cared about actual policies, but they’re not and don’t. But Haley and DeSantis should keep beating up on each other. It’s fun to watch.
PREVIOUSLY:
Follow Stephen Robinson on Bluesky and Threads.
Subscribe to his YouTube channel for more fun content.
Catch SER on his podcast, The Play Typer Guy.
Quote/
Hilariously, though, the Haley PAC has spent absolutely nada, zilch, zero on attacking Trump, the clear frontrunner who is also facing 91 felony indictments across four different jurisdictions. That seems like a good place to invest her new Koch dollars.
/Quote
I wonder if maybe it's not an investment for 2028 (or possibly even '32), rather than this cycle. I mean, unless they're blind they have to figure this cycle is a bust, unless PAB is in jail before November. PAB is going to coast to victory as the GQP candidate, and then he's (probably? hopefully?) going to lose again at the polls. Then after four more years for things to improve and people to forget how bad Rs are at running things, here's Reasonable Republican Haley stepping up to run against Harris (let's assume she wins the Democratic nomination). And if Haley wins the nomination, then hey -- if you're going to have to put up with having wimmen in charge either way, it might as well be one of your own, right?
Although I have to say, if it ends up with the current incarnation of the **Republican** party being the first to elect a WOC to the White House, my head just might 'spode.
I suspect Koch is investing in the "After Trump has died, in prison" era. This next election is a write-off.