#TheFinal5: Nikki Haley officially running for president

Welcome back Nikki Haley officially entering the 2024 race for the White House this week. Of course she joining former President Trump and others in vying for the Republican nomination. And when this happened I said I could ask Jack Calvertino what he thinks about it. So he came in late with me tonight on the final five to take a look at where things stand so far. I love picking your brain on stuff like this. Thanks. I love talking about 2024 and the upcoming races.

Well, there was really no time after the midterms. We knew that the conversations were going to start soon. First of all, for people who may not be initiated on this, we're talking February, the former president jumped in, Nikki Haley jumped in. Is this too early or is this the right time to do it if you're trying to raise money? Oh, for her, I mean it makes a lot of sense. She has just distinguished herself from this whole field, most of whom are in like the single digits. But, I mean, smart move for her and she did it in two days and so she's sort of got two different hits from this to sort of reintroduce herself to the American people. She had been hinting about this for a while that she was possibly looking at it saying that there needs to be new blood in the Republican Party, an argument that other people have made.

But she also said in the past that she wasn't going to run if former president Trump jumped in. That's her former boss. She served in his administration. Yeah, no, she did. And she had some zingers today. I mean, one of them was that she talked about having a cognitive test for any presidential candidate over the age of 75. She had one about, you know, we don't need 20th century politicians to lead us into the 21st century.

And there was a third. I mean, she took some veiled shots today in a very nice speech that I thought that she gave to position herself forward. So what's interesting is in years past, up until George W. Bush, he was the last president elected who had served as governor somewhere. And for years, people were thinking, well, governor, that's the key because you have the executive experience. But ever since then, we've had Senator, Senator Billionaire. I mean, we're at this point now where she will likely play into that executive experience in trying to make her case to the American people.

This is a good point. I mean, governors have always had the advantage. And people used to go back to JFK and say, well, look, there's an example of a member Congress who won. But you're right, we've shifted away from that. I think she's going to have to sort of remind people that she was governor because if anyone's thinking about her, I think they're mainly thinking about her as her time at the UN, how tough she was on our adversary. So I think she's going to have to reintroduce herself. That's where DeSantis sort of has an edge because he's been the COVID governor that people know of and either respect or may not.

But he's top of mind. But he also won this resounding victory in Florida, which really the day after the midterms, I mean, that I'm on front page of newspaper saying he is, I believe it was the New York Post and said, the future. So clearly a lot of people were looking at this Trump-DeSantis matchup that seems to be fomenting itself. But how does Haley figure in and what does Ron DeSantis do now at this point? How long do we wait until he makes it official? I mean, I don't know, I'm not in sort of their brain trust, but I've got to believe that when it comes to fundraising, it's an advantage to get out there. So I mean, who knows, maybe later this spring or early summer. But you're right. I mean, he was really the only good, shining, great news for the GOP coming out of the midterms and what he did in Florida, the resounding victory and the support that he received across the board from Independence and Hispanics.

It was something that was big time national news. Yeah, it wasn't necessarily. He ran against the former governor, ran against Charlie Christ, who was a Republican, then he was a Democrat, kind of shifted on that. But I mean, that victory, that was a huge victory and really something that I think people were expecting him to win. What do you think the fact, again, he has not announced yet. It already seems like he and former President Trump had been going back and forth about insults and nicknames. But I feel as though DeSantis has tried to stay above the fray when it comes to that.

Well, he has. That's why I don't think the only time I'm going to discreet is it wasn't really back and forth. It's Trump going after him with these ridiculous nicknames, DeSanctimonius and Meatball Ron. I don't even know what that means. But DeSantis has held his fire. But I think he is very well positioned. I think someone like Haley is, if not Trump, then Haley.

If not DeSantis, then Haley. And I was with some conservatives today and that's sort of how they felt as well. There really aren't that many other candidates that you see people really actively talking about. They've distinguished herself from the pack. You know, down the road, there's a lot of other names being thrown into the mix and another name that had come out was Tim Scott, who was appointed to the Senate by Nikki Haley to serve South Carolina after Jim DeMint had resigned. And I think it just speaks to the fact that regardless of how you look at politics, it is so intertwined. There are so many connections out there.

It's just the nature of the game. It's the nature of it and the two of them from a relatively small state by population, super important state in terms of both parties with the Democrats shifting to South Carolina first and for the Republican Party. He is a star of the party as well. Just out of curiosity there, because you mentioned that and that's something we'll be watching is going into the primaries. New Hampshire though, when you look at the Republicans, New Hampshire has always been a great jumping off point for them. That's not going to change. No, it's not going to change at all.

And you have Governor Sununu who's talking about running. I don't see that happening in terms of him gaining any traction. But yeah, New Hampshire is going to be the first primary. I think we're all going to watch this very much with a lot of baited breath. And again, just Nikki Haley, somebody who has been, her national profile was really boosted in the last couple of years. So as we look towards the summertime, that's when we start seeing things kick into full gear and then we are less than a year away from the first primaries. And serious times demand serious people with a serious background.

And sometimes foreign policy is the 10th most important. Sometimes it's the first or second. And right now it is jettisoned up the list of someone like herself, someone like Secretary Pompeo. Their stock is going up. But I mean, it's an eternity between now and the first primary a year from now. Jack Calvertino is always good having you in here. Thank you, Jim.

Our pleasure. Thanks for this.

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