What to expect as South Carolina hosts the next (and maybe last) Trump-Haley showdown

Nikki Haley needs to make something happen.

With the Nevada debacle in the rear view window — an embarrassing defeat to “none of these candidates” in a primary in which Donald Trump declined to participate, it’s officially time for his sole remaining challenger for the GOP nomination to prove that she’s still competitive in the literal sense, rather that just on cable news.

South Carolina is the arena. It’s by no means an ace in the hole, but the state where Ms Haley was governor for eight years is the place where she theoretically should be strongest. It has an open primary, meaning that independent voters can participate. And she’ll be back across the state this week, hitting campaign stops in Myrtle Beach, the Charleston suburbs, and a former steel town.

But don’t be surprised if this is the end.

A defeat in one’s home state is hard to walk away from: Marco Rubio couldn’t in 2016, when he dropped out shortly after losing the Florida primary (a humiliating debate-stage thumping from Chris Christie didn’t help matters). And 2024 Donald Trump is in a much better place electorally than 2016 Trump was at the time. The former president is staring down Ms Haley in the Palmetto State with an undefeated record and a polling lead as high as 30 points in South Carolina, according to some surveys.

Ms Haley has already begun looking ahead. She has held three rallies in Super Tuesday states so far this month; one in California, and two in Texas. After Saturday, the March 5 primaries loom just a few weeks away, when roughly a third of the delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination will be up for grabs.

It would be overly optimistic, though, to expect this to be drawn out too much further should Ms Haley be dealt a