Even though former President Donald Trump easily won on Nikki Haley’s turf -- it looks like Haley’s going to stay in the race and continue to clash with Trump.
“Did (Haley) outperform expectations? Yes. (Trump) was favored by five touchdowns and he won by three touchdowns. That’s still a pretty significant win,” said News4JAX political analyst Rick Mullaney, who joined me on this week’s “Path to the Polls.”
(Press play above to watch this week’s “Vote 2024: Path to the Polls” episode On Demand.)
Since she’s vowed to stay in the race, we talked about the path forward for Haley.
“She’s going to hang in there through Super Tuesday, and then we’ll have to see from there,” Mullaney said. “There is really a very limited path, if any path, for Nikki Haley. I think she knows that realistically. I think her donors know that realistically.”
Michigan’s Primary on Tuesday is next for Haley, Trump and President Joe Biden.
In fact, it’s Biden’s first big test. With large Arab-American communities in Dearborn and Detroit, we’ll see if his stance on Gaza is a problem.
“You’ve seen some Progressives urging Democrats to vote ‘uncommitted’ (in Michigan). They want to see that. They want to see a protest vote to send a message to Joe Biden not to take them for granted,” Mullaney said.
Mullaney said that although the issue of the economy seems pretty straightforward for many voters, Biden and the White House seem to be missing the mark.
“Prices are up. Interest rates are up. It’s just the practical challenge. The inflation factor is a big one. It’s a permanent loss of wealth for many,” Mullaney said. “I think there is this disconnect. You want to talk about the number of jobs that are created or talk about economic growth. That sounds good. But when someone goes to the grocery store and they’re taking back half what they used to bring back or they go to the gas station or they try to buy a house, they know very, very well that times are different.”
Mullaney said the big issue for many Americans is uncertainty and concern about the future.
We also talked about what Democrats running for re-election want in return for joining Biden on the campaign trail, what to expect on Super Tuesday and the big schism among Republicans over a whole host of issues with Russia.
Watch “Vote 2024: Path to the Polls” on Demand on News4JAX.com, News4JAX+ and the News4JAX YouTube channel.