You'd do exactly what Nikki Haley just did
“You fight like hell. When the game’s over, you’re red or you’re blue."
If you’re among the libs or anti-Trump Republicans who are dismayed or outright incensed by Nikki Haley’s decision to publicly support Donald Trump in November, first ask yourself if you’d act any differently.
Imagine you’re up for a top tier promotion at your current employer. You’ve nailed the interviews, put in the extra hours, exemplified loyalty to the brand and notable excellence in your delivery to it.
It goes to your colleague instead. Someone who you may not like. An ass kisser who lingered in the boss’ office for morning coffees and flattered his yappy children at the holiday reception. You’re miffed. Downright pissed.
Do you burn it all down? Resign in defiance. Go public with your objection. Take it to the higher ups and make a scene. Quit instantly and proclaim your joining the rival firm?
Many of us have probably contemplated these options when we’ve been passed over, but few of us act on it.
What do you do? You bite your tongue, grind your teeth, curse under your breath and fall in line.
It seems that’s what Haley did. She didn’t run to endorse Trump; she held back her political capital, ginned up media attention around the importance of it, went away for awhile, took long runs and slept 10 to 12 hours a night.
Eleven weeks later she reemerged clear-eyed about her own political preservation.
As David Urban told me for my piece for McClatchy Newspapers on Haley’s decision, anyone who thought the former Trump Cabinet official was going to endorse Biden or stay on the sidelines was “delusional.”
“You fight like hell. When the game’s over, you’re red or you’re blue.”
“She’s a young person. She’s got a lot of political road ahead of her…At the end of the day, never say never, maybe she’s vice president ... or secretary of state. Not a bad gig.”
“People on MSNBC and that crowd can’t understand, Biden sucks. It’s a binary choice!”
Read the entire piece HERE.
Yes, the obvious interpretation of Haley’s decision is a calculation towards the future. At 52 years young and the Trump runner-up in 2024, she’ll be among the initial front-runners for 2028 — even if her ultimate path in a party still guided by Trump looks dim. In her tacit endorsement of Trump, she gives herself some hope, an outside shot that an increasingly populist and nationalist party will turn back toward her.
But if she went with Biden? Or stayed silent and Trump lost Georgia by 5,000 votes? (The conspiracy-minded inside right wing media were already floating her as a coup threat at this summer’s RNC.) She’d be blamed, shunned, and likely ruined.
So she did what most politicians do — and what most of us would end up doing: Taking the safe bet to stay in the game.
It’s not a profile in courage, but it’s the path most chosen for any pol.
And it makes total sense to me.
As Lord Palmerston said two centuries ago, "No permanent friends or enemies. Only permanent interests."
We know that Trump operates on a transactional basis. He exemplifies the Palmerston dictum. Governor Haley is learning that and adopting it.
I would be willing to bet (a small amount) that Trump sometimes says to himself, "Why do they think it's so hard to deal with Putin and Xi? Try keeping three wives (largely) happy while having one's one-night-stand lovelife chronicled in the tabloids." His simple (unstated) dictum: my wives have permanent interests.
Haley is doing this brilliantly. She will eventually fully endorse Trump. But she's drawing out the negotiation with the Master of the Deal.