Three Republican presidential primary candidates have dropped out this week and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is ticking up at the right time, two developments that are not disconnected, according to political experts.
"She's breaking through at the right moment," GOP strategist Mike Murphy told Politico. "Everything else has been ridiculous preseason coverage, like baseball teams at summer training.
"I think it all starts now."
Former Vice President Mike Pence, conservative broadcaster Larry Elder, and Michigan businessman Perry Johnson have all decided to end their GOP primary campaigns, while Haley is picking up steam and gaining the endorsement of former New Hampshire Gov. Judd Gregg.
"Our party needs someone who can win and lead," Gregg wrote in the New Hampshire Union Leader this week. "Nikki Haley is that person."
Haley's campaign is boasting its strength among those who trail runaway former President Donald Trump.
"It’s coming at a great time for her," GOP pollster Whit Ayres told Politico. "Sometimes the direction of movement is as important as the absolute level of standing — and she's going up, while the other candidates are either going down or remaining flat."
Among them is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who can no longer stake claim to being the de facto leader of the also-rans, according to Politico.
"The rise is real," Ayres told Politico of Haley. "It reflects her debate performance in the first two debates, but also her performance on the stump."
Notably, Haley spoke right before Trump at Saturday's Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, after the other top GOP primary challengers DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
The removal of non-Trump candidates should only help the leader of the also-rans close the 30- to 50-point polling lead held by the former president.
"There are still too many of them, and they'll all go down with the ship," a pro-Haley Iowa caucus voter Tom Thompsen told Politico.
"It needs to be her."
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