Nikki Haley’s decision Wednesday to end her presidential campaign but forgo an endorsement of Donald Trump has pushed her political career to a crossroads: She can either stay in the GOP and fight for her increasingly marginalized vision of Republican governance or effectively leave the party to become a respected but ultimately powerless cable news pundit.
It’s a predicament that’s landed some in the Senate (see: Mitt Romney) and others on television (see: John Kasich). For Haley, who has won over billionaire donors and nearly a hundred delegates, the path she chooses in the coming months and years could define her future and the future of her corner of the modern Republican Party.
“She’s laid a blueprint for people who want to grow the GOP,” said Mark Harris, who ran a well-funded super PAC backing the former governor’s campaign. “And the polls show that in a general election, obviously, that’s not going to happen, but she had a chance to realign American politics in a generational way. But there is a pathway for someone to bring together and unite Americans, and that’s exciting.”