DUBUQUE, Iowa — Nikki Haley’s chances of upsetting former President Donald Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential race hinge on her ability to close the deal with voters like Rich Lindenberg.
The 66-year-old shuttle driver previously voted for Mr. Trump. But now, worried the former president has become too much of a lightning rod, he is trying to suss out whether Ms. Haley is a stronger option.
“I think Trump did a great job. But as far as uniting the country, I think, half the people are always going to hate him and the other half will be for him,” Mr. Lindenberg said, as he waited in a hotel ballroom for Ms. Haley to arrive for a town hall event. “We need the country together to make it go somewhere, and when you got half of them hating the president, fighting him, it’s gonna be tough to make our country go forward again.”
“I don’t know a whole lot about Nikki,” he admitted. “So that’s why I’m here.”
Ms. Haley’s campaign events are gathering grounds for a mix of voters who are yearning to move past Mr. Trump and others who are playing footsie with the idea.
The list of their lingering concerns includes Mr. Trump’s legal baggage, his age, his overall disposition, his ability to win a general election against President Biden, and his divisive approach.
SEE ALSO: New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says Nikki Haley’s Civil War comments were a ‘mistake’
Lisa Beatty said Ms. Haley is shaping up to be the “viable alternative” because she answers a lot of those concerns. Ms. Beatty is starting to take into account polls that show Ms. Haley is a better general election candidate than Mr. Trump, the prohibitive favorite in the Iowa caucuses and the nomination race.
“I think that has caused people to say, ‘Hey, maybe it’s worth another look,’” she said.
The opportunity and challenge for Ms. Haley as she scrambles to win over fence-sitters was laid bare here after she asked how many of the people in the audience were catching her in person for the first time.
Over half of the crowd shot up their hands.
“A lot of you — good,” said Ms. Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. in the Trump administration and a former South Carolina governor. “I don’t know where you have been, but I am glad you showed up.”
Even turnout can be deceiving. Some of the people who showed up for Ms. Haley’s event had no plans on caucusing for anyone, while others said there was only a chance.
Ms. Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are locked in a tight race to become the chief alternative to Mr. Trump in Iowa, but Ms. Haley has a firm hold on the second spot in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire, according to polls.
But a pointed question about the causes of the Civil War, and her omission of slavery in her response, threatens to muddy her message and zap some of the momentum she had heading into the new year.
The episode played into the hands of her rivals who cast her as a finger-in-the-wind politician who is beholden to the Washington establishment — traits that make Trump loyalists snarl and others hit the pause button.
GOP White House hopeful Chris Christie said Ms. Haley has exhibited a pattern of behavior where “she’s unwilling to offend anyone by telling the truth.”
Mr. Christie, a former New Jersey governor and outspoken Trump critic, also accuses Ms. Haley of refusing to say Mr. Trump is unfit for office because she is afraid of offending his supporters and torpedoing her chances of being tapped either as vice president or secretary of state in a new Trump administration.
The jury is out on whether Ms. Haley’s slavery omission will haunt her over an extended period.
The attack, for instance, did not resonate with Stephen McCue, an aerospace engineer who is leaning heavily toward Ms. Haley.
Mr. McCue dismissed it as a “setup” question and said Ms. Haley has a lot to offer.
“She’s got a more positive approach of how to take care of those same issues without the drama and baggage that the other ones have,” Mr. McCue said, referencing Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis.
Yet, voters harbor strong doubts about Ms. Haley’s ability to pose a serious challenge to Mr. Trump.
“I don’t know she can, but I hope she does,” said Mike Shultz, a 70-year-old retired factory worker who is leaning in her direction after backing Mr. Trump. “Like she says, it’s time for some new blood.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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