Haley courts Democrats and independents in South Carolina ahead of Saturday primary

Nikki Haley’s campaign is pulling out all the stops as she hopes for a showing of life in South Carolina’s Republican primary this weekend.

The former governor of South Carolina continues to trail Donald Trump by a significant margin in all available polling, She vowed to stay in the race at a media briefing on Tuesday but clearly heads into the weekend with little to no expectation of beating the former president in the state where she built her political career.

But Ms Haley is clearly doing everything she can to avoid a blowout defeat. And that includes doing everything possible to drive up the turnout of South Carolina’s independent voters, who make up about 10 per cent of the state’s total electorate. As part of that push, Ms Haley sat down for an interview with The Breakfast Club host Charlamagne Tha God, a fellow South Carolinian who grilled her about her past support for Mr Trump and her gaffe in response to a question about the cause of the US Civil War.

It also includes an effort by the super PAC backing her campaign, SFA Fund, to reach Democratic voters and encourage them to vote in the Republican primary for Ms Haley. A mailer reported by NBC News was sent to Democratic voters in the state imploring them to “please participate by voting for Nikki Haley and making your voice heard.” Under South Carolina’s open primary rules, registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters can participate in either (but not both) major party primary contests in the state.

“If you did not vote in the February 3rd Democratic primary, you are eligible to vote on February 24th,” the mailer helpfully notes.

Ms Haley has lost every primary and caucus so far. That includes Nevada, where she lost an uncontested stakes-free primary to