She’s not my cup of tea, but I don’t really have anything against Nikki Haley. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was my preferred candidate, but he lost and “read the room;” dropping out and saving face for a future run. Haley hasn’t. But it is time, Nikki, to read the writing on the wall that clearly spells out, “You need to quit.”
I understand that it is frustrating to have worked so hard for something, for such a long time, only to see it not happen. It’s called like, and it happens all the time. You’ve been lucky in that you’ve never lost an election before, but that streak is over. You cannot win, and even if Donald Trump decided to drop out of the race before the convention and released his delegates to vote for whoever they wanted, it wouldn’t be you.
That’s harsh, I get it, but it’s true. And you know it’s true too.
I believe that sort of feeds your decision to stick around as long as you have – it’s a little liberating to know you’ve lost but the game isn’t over, especially when you have other people lining up to foot the bill.
The problem with that is you are doing actual damage to what you claim to care about most. If you are a conservative, smearing who will be the nominee is counter-productive. Your small slice of the electorate, those who are Republicans and not Democrats crossing over to prolong this mess, are needed in the general election. The longer, more bitter your campaign becomes, the less likely that is to happen.
I get that this has gotten personal to you, prolonged races always do, and to be accused to the innuendo floating in your direction by someone married 3 times who paid a porn star to “go away” is galling. But none of that changes the fact that the party has spoken. Putting your fingers in your ears won’t either.
Donald Trump is an imperfect messenger, but he is the messenger. If you are being honest in your campaign, the issues you care about most have one chance of coming into being or not getting worse, and it is him. The more damage your rich donors enable you to do, the less likely any of those things are to improve.
Every dollar you spend is one dollar less Democrats have to spend in the fall, every drop of blood you draw is one less drop Democrats have to go after. So, the real question is: Do you mean what you say on the campaign trail?
If you don’t, then you will continue. If you do, the choice is obvious.
It’s tempting to continue because others are willing to foot the bill. The real question you have to ask yourself it “Why?” Why would people continue to pay for a lost cause? It’s possible they are simply true believers and have difficulty accepting defeat. But, what is more likely, is they have an ulterior motive.
What would cause someone to throw good money after bad, especially when these wealthy donors would never do it in the business world? Because it’s not about you, it's about Trump. They either hate him because they are Republicans and he’s rocking the boat they are far too comfortable on, or they hate him because they are Democrats and have less faith in Joe Biden’s ability to lead a coherent campaign than Joe’s handlers have in his ability to walk up a regular flight of stairs.
What both of those options have in common is you are irrelevant to them. That’s harsh, I know, but you are the delivery device, not the vessel, if you see what I’m saying.
Don’t be used up by the anger, don’t be someone else’s club to beat Donald Trump. 2024 is not your year to win the presidency, but it doesn’t have to be the year you completely implode; it does not have to be you do actual damage to what you claim to care about.
Every once in a while, you have to suck it up and deal with a reality you simply do not like, one you wish simply was not. But reality does not depend upon your liking it, it just is. It’s not your year, it may never be your year. But for the issues you care about, you can still have a positive impact: help defeat Democrats up and down the ballot and the causes you care about will be advanced. If, that is, your campaign is really about those causes and not you. The choice is yours.