Can ‘Electability’ Save Nikki Haley?

A long time ago, in a Republican Party far, far away, a seasoned former governor suggested a theory for winning the 2016 election.

The nominee must be willing to “lose the primary to win the general,” Jeb Bush advised, alluding to the tension between the demands of primary voters and the broader electorate. His adage didn’t hold up in that campaign: Bush did indeed lose the primary in 2016 to Donald Trump, badly, but then Trump rode a nativist, populist and grievance-laced message all the way to the White House.

Eight years later, Trump has only strengthened his grip on the Republican base, despite, or because of, his litany of legal troubles. His 30-point win in the Iowa caucuses this week signaled how fully he has remade the party in his image.

But to a dwindling number of Republicans willing to criticize Trump out loud, the tension Bush described rings more true than ever: Even as Trump has inspired extraordinary loyalty among the Republican base, the party lost the House, Senate and White House during his time in office.

In the final days before the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, it’s an argument Nikki Haley and her supporters are explicitly making in her uphill bid for the nomination.

“Don’t you want someone who can win?” asks a new video from the Haley team titled “Haley wins, Trump loses.”