2024 Update

With the Iowa caucuses over, it’s New Hampshire’s turn in the national spotlight.  Last night, Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy held an impressive event in the Granite State.  It must have been a new experience for Trump to hear one of his competitors say very positive things about him. 

Ramaswamy articulated Trump’s “Make America Great Again” message and also made it clear that this is the moment when conservatives and values voters are either going to save the country or not.  And he was equally clear that Donald Trump understands this and has the strength to do it.

It was an encouraging moment of unity for the Republican Party. 

At the same time, Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump’s main competitor in the 2016 primary, “enthusiastically” endorsed Donald Trump and urged the remaining candidates to unify behind Trump.  And speaking of 2016 competitors, Trump also picked up the endorsement of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

As of now, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis are showing no signs of wanting to unite the party by leaving the race so Trump can focus on Joe Biden and win in November. 

We just got a new poll out of New Hampshire, a state with one of the smallest percentages of evangelicals in the country.  It finds Trump and Haley tied at 40% each. 

Among self-identified Republicans, Trump leads by 12 points.  But the New Hampshire primary is not a closed primary or limited to just registered Republicans, and there is an organized effort among Democrats to boost Haley in the New Hampshire primary.

Meanwhile, DeSantis knows he’s going nowhere in New Hampshire.  The latest poll there showed him stuck in the single digits. So, immediately after the Iowa caucuses, he went straight to Nikki Haley’s home state of South Carolina, where he’s hoping for a surprise upset. 

That doesn’t seem likely.  The latest poll of South Carolina voters found Trump leading by 29 points over Haley and 47 points over DeSantis.

And if Haley can’t win her home state among those who know her best, it’s hard to see how she will perform any better in November.