LOS ANGELES.–With 60-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris’s abysmal loss to 78-year-old President-elect Donald Trump Nov. 8, some wonder what happened to her campaign of “joy,” as it ended with a face-plant, watching herself lose all seven battleground states, something that defied hosts-and-pundits in the mainstream press, broadcast and print. Kamala spent $1.5 billion in her abbreviated campaign only 107 days, flooding the market with campaign ads, largely to remake her beleaguered image as Vice President with only a 36% approval ratings. When 82-year-old President Joe Biden dropped out the race under duress from Democrat party bosses July 21, Biden anointed Kamala as his heir apparent, bypassing any need for a competitive convention, instead handing the reigns to Kamala. Political junkies wonder if she’ll return in 2028 for another bite at the apple.
Lurking in the background in 2028 on the GOP side is 52-year-old former U.N. Amb. and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley who some tout as a possible first woman president. Haley didn’t play her cards too well, serving as a Trump critic, largely because she represented the Never Trump wing to the Republican Party, a sad group of disgruntled Republican who thought during the 2024 primaries they could adopt Haley as a rival to Trump. As other GOP candidates, like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, dropped out, Haley hung on, despite winning no primaries. Haley said she would continue her campaign to Super Tuesday, beyond the South Carolina primary where she was trounced by Trump. Never Trumpers still held their sick fanstasy that Haley could give Trump a run for his money. Turned out, that Haley finally threw in the towel after Super Tuesday.
Now some lingering Never Trumpers think Haley could become the next Ronald Reagan by hanging around like Reagan did after losing the 1976 GOP nomination to President Gerald Ford. Some Never Trumpers see Haley with the same staying power as Reagan, not having a clue what they’re talking about or knowing their history. Reagan spent years [1975-1980] delivering personal commentaries on national TV with an audience of 20-30 million on every subject imaginable focusing on economics and foreign policy. So, when comparing Haley to Reagan, the only comparison was that Haley was blown out of the 2024 GOP primaries running against Trump. Reagan was a two-term California governor who honed his knowledge of domestic and world events by staying in the public’s eye with his 1,027 commentaries delivered on national TV between 1975 and 1980.
Haley has no such talent or inclination to writes about her ideas on the economy or foreign policy, only talking about her sour grapes after losing to Trump in an embarrassing fashion. Haley was a big supporter of 82-year-old President Joe Biden’s Ukraine War, something that distinguished her to many GOP voters with Trump. Trump has consistently opposed the Ukraine War, saying it does more harm to the U.S. Treasury and national security than working on restoring normal diplomatic relations with Russia. Haley likes to give the Never Trumper talking points that Trump is a “Russian asset,” part of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2016 campaign attacks on Trump. Hillary called Trump a “Putin puppet,” prompting an illegal FBI investigation of Trump for the purpose to sabotaging his 2016 presidential campaign.
When it comes to Haley’s political future, she doesn’t have much of one, because she showed she had no common sense when it came to Trump. Haley drank the Cool-Aid from the Never Trump crowd thinking that the likes of buffoons like George Conway or William Kristol had much of a following in the GOP. If Haley had any future ambitions in the GOP, she would of gracefully bowed out of the 2024 race and zipped her mouth about Trump but, no, instead, she kept pandering to the Never Trump crowd, now in the dustbin of history. Haley showed she has bad political instincts now doing everything possible to mend fences with Trump. Some think Haley could emerge as a dark horse candidate in 2028 but, if Trump accomplishes a fraction of his promises, Vice President J.D. Vance would be the GOP front-runner in 2028, having proven himself over four years.
Any comparison of Haley to Ronald Reagan is preposterous, other than saying she lost a GOP primary and can somehow plot a political future. Haley wasted all her political capital on a group of has-been Republicans opposing Trump, managing to get some anti-Trump GOP donors to keep her campaign going. But had Haley played her cards right, she would have gracefully existed the GOP campaign and wholeheartedly backed Trump. Haley didn’t do anything of the kind, continuing to show oblique support of Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign by not endorsing Trump. Haley shows her sour grapes knowing that Trump has no trust of her knowing her loyalties to the failed Never Trump movement, something sadly irrelevant today. Instead of planning her future, Haley burnt her bridges and now must go it alone in a very unlikely future in GOP presidential politics.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
