Thank you, DRJ -- I've kept up with that particular podcast ever since and have enjoyed it bigly.
I'm not sure I've blogged about it at all, though.
To me, the best way to blog about pretty much anything is to grab something I disagree with, and explore the disagreement. So, let's talk about Friday's episode:
One of Young's guests, Michael Cohen (no, not that Michael Cohen) makes some assertions I disagree with concerning Nikki Haley's political future. I've actually blogged on that before here, in pretty much the opposite direction from Cohen, so let's talk about it a little more.
Cohen's take is that if Haley wants a "political future" -- which pretty much means the presidency, although I suppose an eventual US Senate seat or cabinet appointment could also qualify -- she needs to drop out of the Republican Party's presidential nomination contest before her home state's February 24 GOP presidential primary.
The only case he can really see for her staying in the race is to convince future corporate employers that she's not a quitter. Continuing to run and losing badly (as she looks set to do) in the state she served as governor of for two terms would kill any political aspirations.
I come at it from exactly the opposite direction.
If Haley wants to go back to the corporate board career she's been building (since leaving her post as Trump's UN ambassador), she's better off quitting right now and just going and doing it. She's already got the "was a politician, became a corporate shill" resume. Staying in the race lets that resume go stale. It also gives her less to offer benefactors who might be inclined to give her a second golden parachute if she jumps out of the plane now so that they can pivot to supporting Trump or Biden with less loss of face.
If she wants a political future, the remaining primary races are where she lays the groundwork for that future.
Four or eight years from now, after Trump either loses the general election or runs another complete shitshow of an administration, she needs to be the one who can go to Republicans who didn't believe her and credibly say "I told you so. I told you so over and over and over. I begged you not to make this mistake. I kept telling you even after the situation became hopeless, because you needed to hear it, while others took the easy out and just went with the flow. Are you ready to listen now? Are you ready to fix what you screwed up? Because I'm still here to help you do that."
And four years or eight years from now, she needs to be able to reactivate battle-hardened campaign organizations and offer herself again to currently supportive voters, in all those future primary states, which will be a lot harder to do next time if she abandons them before the fight is over this time.
I don't ever expect Nikki Haley to become president, and I'm glad she probably won't. But if she wants to become president, she needs to stay in this race until it's actually, officially over, not just until she realizes she isn't going to win it.
But, still a great podcast that you should listen to so you can hear the thoughts of Young, Cohen, and other guest Cate Martel.
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