Someone is giving Nikki Haley a lot of money
I’ve noticed for a while that Haley is being very heavily advertised on YouTube.
And a short while after I wrote the above sentence as a draft for a post, I saw this article that seems to provide the source:
The Koch network-backed super PAC endorsing presidential candidate Nikki Haley is reportedly set to spend $70 million in a bid to get her a “strong showing” in Iowa behind GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
The large chunk of change indicates that the Charles Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity Action hopes Haley has enough fuel to surge past 2024 rival Ron DeSantis and is not recruiting Trump supporters, Bloomberg reported.
I guess I missed the official announcement a few weeks ago that the Koch group had endorsed Haley as a Trump alternative. But I sure have noticed the result: the ads.
But I still wonder, why Haley? I know the Koch group doesn’t like Trump, and Haley is less conservative than DeSantis, but do they really think she can gain the nomination? The idea that they are positioning her as Trump’s VP candidate doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, either. Perhaps they’re counting on Trump being in prison by November of 2024, and they want her positioned in second place to take over?
NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN.
Yeah, it’s odd. Perhaps they believe that Trump will be in jail or dead before the election is held? Or perhaps the Koch brothers just enjoy setting giant piles of money on fire?
well they were big donors to walker, so maybe,
The Koch’s LOVE open borders and open markets. Trump is a stark threat on both counts. Ergo, this is unsurprising.
It’s the old strategy to lose gracefully to the D placeholder.
Nikki will smile, shed a meaningful tear & shake hands with the next follow-up donation after Biden’s replacement takes office.
How much of this is Conservative Culture war verses Republican Establishment? Seems I have read some things where Haley was critical of DeSantis verses Disney.
Only one of Koch brothers is still alive.
They are Libertarians or establishment Republicans or just corporatists of some stripe.
The Koch brothers were the root of all evil, according to the media, during the first Obama junta.
IIRC the Koch political organization is not interested in social issues nor interested in a secure border. Big business mostly.
Could be worse, I.e., the Chamber of Commerce or the AMA.
She keeps sending me texts and voicemails. I block them and they pop up at another incoming number. I scrolled thru my last two weeks of blocked items and no less than 8 different numbers are her crap. (Am in Ohio). WTF? I would vote for Biden over her.
I love this movie!
David Koch died in 2019 at age 79. I didn’t remember if this was David or Charles (it was David) that survived a runway collision at LAX. His plane was taxiing and was struck by a plane that was landing. Thirty five of Koch’s fellow passengers died.
Good comments. I’m not sure what to make of Charles’ motivations beyond what’s been said. Except, I recall a Bill Gates comment from decades ago. He said it’s great being very wealthy, but being the world’s richest man wasn’t good at all. He implied that it paints a big bullseye on you.
I think that when you have that kind of wealth, social acceptance can be a huge factor. Then there is the notion that in a presidential general election, having a moderate woman candidate, either as #1 or #2 on the ticket, would be a draw.
I don’t think this is too odd or that the Koch’s motivations are obscure. GOPe overall is coalescing around Haley. They believe if she can knock out DeSantis early enough, she will be the default alternative in the event Trump stumbles (most likely due to his legal issues). Is that likely to happen? Nope. But there’s a possibility and they GREATLY prefer her to DeSantis.
What is the percentage of voters that will never vote for a woman for president let alone a squish like Nimarata Nikki Haley.
This Iowa Republican not living in our version of a metro area agrees with shirehome. No traction here at all. DeSantis might have some since our popular governor endorsed him.
Occam’s Razor suggests that they have no one else that the GOPe donors will support. Haley will not be VP. Koch/Bush is grasping at straws. Now if we can only get rid of Bitch McConnell….
Doug Burgum was running about as many commercials on Boston radio as Haley without having much effect. But then, he was probably paying his own money for the airtime.
There’s been some comment about the Kochs, who have a libertarian reputation (David Koch was the 1980 Libertarian candidate for vice president) giving money to warhawk Nikki. The lesson drawn by some observers is that the surviving Kochs care more about cheap immigrant labor than about staying out of wars (or other libertarian policies).
For years I have found Nikki Haley impressive. I thought she’d be a good President prior to this cycle (and she still may be). And I mostly like how she has performed this campaign, but about a month ago I noticed a huge push across many media fronts. It was a big change in 1 or 2 days. This makes me nervous. When I see big movements across multiple platforms quickly I get suspicious that strings are being pulled somewhere.
I have no idea what is going on. To paraphrase George Carlin, “It’s a big club and I ain’t in it.”
But, I agree neo, something is definitely up with Nikki Haley. I know the Trumpers and Vivek think she’s bought and sold by the “deep state” and the military industrial complex. That seems too on the nose to me, and, as I wrote, I respect her. But something in Denmark smells a bit overripe.
If she were the republican nominee I would vote for the democrat rep in my swing district along with most of the Trump base across the US. Maybe that’s the plan, but at that point I won’t care because it can’t get any worse.
Whatever @12:56am,
“… it can’t get any worse.”
Be careful what you wish for…
Haley’s ads are just boilerplate — what Republicans are always saying and rarely doing. We have gotten tax cuts, but budget cuts and term limits don’t happen. I suppose it’s folly to think that any politician is “sincere,” but I get the feeling that Haley’s not going to follow through on her promises.
This quote can easily be seen as an excuse starting at least in 2015 against Trump, a friggen once registered Democrat.
Thing is, this is not about Democracy or our republican version, but just about power and power only.
We, the United States give sup to democracy and constitutionality. It’s in form and process, but not reality.
Hillary to this day is an election denier, but she gave way to form and process. Kerry did so too, except only due to a Supreme Court intervention. Many Democrats believe W stole it, ditto for Trump in 2016.
Pretending you believe in constitutionality all the while you act in ways that is clearly unconstitutional is hypocrisy at it’s finest.
And cynical as heck.
When Haley is nominated at the Republican convention, and she will be, it means the Dems will win the presidency without any need for 3 AM ballot drops or voting machine irregularities. She will politely concede at 11 PM EST, and get a job at CNN. Haley is such a repellent candidate that she won’t win a single southern state (thanks to her spearheading of the destruction of confederate monuments as SC governor)
Dont forget Fox News corp and it’s ownership… Fox is trying to make her look like the greatest thing since sliced bread. Every time she takes a dump there is a new article on fox about how it smells like roses…