"Has this been the plan the entire time?” he said, adding, "We are all pretending there’s a primary when everyone on stage combined equals 35%. The goal is to do as well as we possibly can.” “But we are just head-down, putting in the work. “Who knows what the world looks like in a few weeks?” this person said. DeSantis has argued that he, unlike Trump, would be laser-focused on policy wins the conservative base desires and could ensure eight years of right-wing leadership while a term-limited Trump can offer only four.Īsked about whether they see the battle for second as potentially having more immediate value than in years past, a Haley official said: “Our goal is just to do as well as we can in all three early states.” Haley has positioned herself as more electable than Trump, whom she has called “the most disliked politician in America,” while recently arguing that voters want to reject the “ chaos” of recent years. And while Haley and DeSantis have spent a lot of time sparring with each other in recent months, they each have carved out anti-Trump messages. The Republican candidates have said their focus is on not finishing a decisive second, but on actually winning. Those trials are set to get underway next year, and they could have Trump spending a large chunk of the campaign in court. His legal proceedings are advancing rapidly in four jurisdictions, where he faces charges connected to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, alleged mishandling of classified documents and hush-money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Trump, who turns 78 next year, recently released a note from his physician reporting that he is in “excellent” physical and cognitive health, though it didn’t include details to support the findings. So it makes sense that some Republicans view an unorthodox path to the nomination as, increasingly, the only path. It’s a similar story in New Hampshire and South Carolina - states where Trump enjoys roughly 30-point edges over Haley and wider leads over DeSantis. The NBC News/Des Moines Register poll of Iowa from slightly more than a month ago found Trump up 27 points on both DeSantis and Haley, who were tied. But surveys there show DeSantis and Haley trailing significantly. Of course, presidential primaries are determined on a state-by-state basis, and Trump’s rivals view Iowa as perhaps their best shot to take him down. Ted Cruz of Texas, his lead in national surveys was just 13 points. At this point in 2015, when Trump went on to lose Iowa to Sen. The RealClearPolitics average of several polls has Trump up nearly 50 points on DeSantis nationwide, while he leads Haley by more than 50. Nationally, NBC News’ November survey found Trump up 40 points over DeSantis and 45 over Haley. 2 behind Trump, but Haley has gained momentum with each passing primary debate, catching up to him in polls in Iowa while surpassing him in New Hampshire and South Carolina.īut both have incredible polling deficits to make up against Trump. As the primary campaign got underway, DeSantis was viewed as a clear No. Performance and separation from third place matters for making that case.”ĭeSantis and Haley have been locked in a brutal battle for second place over the past two months, with each lobbing a stream of near-constant attacks at the other. But “it’s also about coming in a strong second. “Whoever comes in second would have the best shot,” the operative said. And neither Haley nor Christie nor DeSantis should get out of the race until this plays out.”Ī Republican operative echoed Kilberg, saying it’s a notion among the rival campaigns that the race for second place is important not just for who would take on Trump in a one-on-one matchup, but also for who could be the one to replace him should he be forced from the race. “This is all part of the donor conversation. “I do think it is possible that Trump could not come in first place in one or more of the first three primaries, not likely but possible,” she said. Chris Christie in the primaries, said she believes the fight for second may be worth more for the field than simply being the first-place loser. Ron DeSantis and others to stay in the race longer than the delegate math may otherwise suggest they should.īobbie Kilberg, a prominent Republican fundraiser who was an adviser to the four GOP presidents who preceded Trump and is supporting former New Jersey Gov. Though it is obviously a long-shot strategy, such scheming could lead former South Carolina Gov. A handful of GOP donors and strategists acknowledged in recent conversations with NBC News that insiders are starting to put more stock in a strong second-place finish, thinking that, should Trump’s legal woes or his advanced age catch up to him, the next best finisher would have the most legitimate claim to be the nominee at next year’s convention.
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