Haley loss another reminder: GOP can’t go back

HALEY LOSS ANOTHER REMINDER: GOP CAN’T GO BACK. What does Nikki Haley’s loss in the Republican presidential primaries, a loss in which she gathered a substantial amount of votes but was able to win only in Vermont and Washington, D.C., tell us about the Republican Party? Among other things, it tells us, as if we needed another reminder, that the GOP cannot return to the days of leaders like George W. Bush, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Paul Ryan.

Some loyal Republican voters have always been uneasy about the style of former President Donald Trump. They felt more comfortable in the GOP world of Bush, McCain, Romney, and Ryan. Even when Trump won the 2016 Republican nomination, and then the presidency, they expressed reservations about his tone or his manner or the “drama” that surrounded him. Trump supporters often mocked those concerns, suggesting that those Republicans were more worried about “mean tweets” than the fate of the nation. But the concerns were real.