By Mike McCombs
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley held a rally Wednesday evening, Feb. 21 at Beaufort’s Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park on a bus tour stop on her 2024 campaign for the GOP Presidential nomination.
Haley made it clear she wasn’t bowing out of the race anytime soon, even though she trails Donald Trump by more than 30 points with Saturday’s South Carolina Republican Presidential Primary looming.
“I am not going anywhere,” Haley said Wednesday.
Michigan’s GOP presidential primary is next, Tuesday, Feb. 27, followed by Idaho, Missouri and Michigan’s convention (March 2); Washington D.C. (March 3; and North Dakota (March 4). Super Tuesday (Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia) looms on March 5.
Haley spent 40 minutes speaking about the age and viability of the two men running for president – former President Trump and President Joe Biden. And she made it clear she was the only remaining candidate who could beat Biden, criticizing Trump and his self-centered campaign.
Gary Overbay and his wife, who live in Chicago but were vacationing in Bluffton, attended the rally. Overbay was impressed.
“She’s incredibly impressive,” he said. “To speak off script like that for 40 minutes … and she understands what she wants. To have a clear plan, … I don’t agree with all of it, but most of it is good.”
Overbay said Haley had to be his choice of the three remaining candidates.
“She’s the only one with a clear plan,” he said. “One guy may have a plan, but he can no longer articulate it (Biden), while the other guy doesn’t really have a plan at all (Trump).”
Among Haley’s traits Overbay likes are her respect for the military, support for NATO and Ukraine, and her desire to rein in spending and taxes.
And he likes her composure and leadership.
“Your leaders can’t be angry all the time,” he said. “Think about it, do you do your best work when you’re angry? No. It’s impossible. And if you’re always angry, everybody that follows you will be, too.”
This was Haley’s fourth trip to Beaufort County since the beginning of December and the third this month. The first three appearances were south of the Broad River, once in early December at USC Beaufort in Bluffton, and twice in the past two weeks – Feb. 8 at Forrest Fire BBQ on Hilton Head Island and then again Feb. 13 at Oyster Factory Park in Bluffton.
The Wednesday, Feb. 14, Winthrop poll shows Trump with a 36 percentage-point lead over Haley among those likely to vote in South Carolina’s primary.
If she loses the S.C,. and then the nomination, would Overbay vote for Trump.
“No,” he said. “Not a chance.”
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
