Nikki Haley Seeks an Iowa Surge as the Last G.O.P. Moderate in the Race

“All the fellas are giving me so much attention,” Nikki Haley told supporters over the weekend in Iowa, on her second-to-last campaign swing before the caucus. Haley was referring to former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, both of whom were devoting more and more time to attacks against her. “She likes the globe,” Trump said of Haley. “I like America first.” Late last week, I came to Iowa to see whether Haley could gain enough momentum to make Trump feel threatened, or at least knock DeSantis aside. “If they’re lying, they’re losing,” she said. She seemed to welcome the attention. On Saturday, Haley travelled by plane from one Iowa town to the next; I followed as fast as I could in a rented Nissan.

Haley had come to a vineyard in Indianola to argue that her brand of moderation—a return to normalcy, an end to the chaos—could beat Joe Biden in the general election. New Hampshire’s governor, Chris Sununu, walked into the packed room and introduced Haley with a story about how he had run a ski resort before he became governor. Since endorsing Haley last month, Sununu has served as Haley’s warm-up guy and affable interlocutor on the trail. He told the audience that they should expect “customer service out of government.” A Haley flack wearing Vineyard Vines held up two fingers—two-minute warning—trying to get Sununu to wrap up his riff. Haley walked out in flare jeans, smiling and oh-hi! waving as “Eye of the Tiger” blasted. She asked who was seeing her for the first time. When more than half in the room raised a hand, she paused and, reassured, launched into her classic town-hall speech.