To defeat Trump, Nikki Haley is trying to speak to all sides of a fractured Republican Party
Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist and former aide to Mitt Romney who has known Ms. Haley since she first ran for governor as a state lawmaker, said she has “always been a pragmatic conservative.” ‘She feels comfortable in her own skin. and she is going to win or lose based on her own values and beliefs,” he said. Still, the difficulty for her, as for all candidates trying to emerge as a Trump alternative, is that “what a conservative is has been redefined.” by Trump himself,” he said.
Mr. Trump’s lead in this area is dominant nationwide and in every early state surveyed, and it remains uncertain whether Ms. Haley, regardless of her approach, could steal enough of his loyal followers to emerge the winner. And what has propelled her so far could also become a burden if she were to alienate herself from one or more factions. Her rivals, including Mr. Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, have tried to portray her as insufficiently conservative and as someone who panders to Democrats. Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison labeled her a “snake oil salesman” who will “say whatever she needs to say to gain power.”
Her campaign officials and surrogates argue that her politics have remained the same while the country and world around her are changing. “Nikki has always been a hardline, anti-establishment conservative,” said Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokeswoman for Ms. Haley.
Ms. Haley’s push to push through abortion is already being tested as she has faced skepticism from Iowa’s evangelical community, a critical voting bloc. Addressing a conservative Christian audience in Iowa, Ms. Haley said that as governor she would have signed a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
Democrats seized on Ms. Haley’s comments as proof that, despite her tone, she is not moderate on this issue. Influential evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, who previously indicated that clear opposition to abortion would be the driving factor in his support, subsequently endorsed Mr. DeSantis. But a few days earlier, Mrs. Haley had received it a seemingly improvised endorsement from Marlys Popma, the former head of the Republican Party and one of Iowa’s most prominent anti-abortion activists — who indicated she was comfortable with Ms. Haley’s position.