MANCHESTER — Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley makes her closing argument in New Hampshire on Jan 21 even as the latest polling shows former President Donald Trump widening his lead in the state ahead of Jan 23's Republican presidential primary.
Trump is the first choice for 50 per cent of likely Republican primary voters, widening his lead over Haley, who has 39 per cent support, according to the final CNN/University of New Hampshire poll released on Jan 21. The poll, conducted Jan 16 through Jan 19, had a 2 percentage point margin of error.
The poll showed Trump gained supporters since early January, when 39 per cent of those surveyed said they would vote for him. Haley's support level also rose — from 32 per cent in the earlier poll — as other Republicans have exited the race.
Time is running short for Haley, who served as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, to topple the Republican presidential frontrunner.
Trump's Iowa caucus victory last week underscored his dominance among the party's voters despite facing four criminal cases and growing concerns about his authoritarian language.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and says the cases are politically motivated.
If she cannot score an upset win in New Hampshire, Haley's already-narrow path to the nomination could close altogether.
"She needs to shock everybody on Tuesday," Dante Scala, political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, told Reuters. "She needs to reset expectations."
Haley has stepped up her attacks on Trump in recent days with a last-minute move to draw contrasts with a businessman and politician whose four years in the White House were characterised by chaos and who faces 91 criminal indictments, including for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost to now President Joe Biden.
"Chaos follows him," Haley said, in an interview on CBS News on Jan 21. "He's just not at the same level he was in 2016."
Haley again knocked Trump, 77, for his age after he seemingly confused her with former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi at his Jan 20 night rally in Manchester, telling CBS: "I don't know if he was confused, I don't know what happened. But it should be enough to send us warning signs."
Haley, who turned 52 over the weekend, has long cast herself as a fresher alternative to Trump or Biden, 81, in November's general election.
Trump, who often attacks Biden for his age, brushes off criticisms about his own.
"I feel better now, and I think cognitively I'm better than I was 20 years ago. I don't know why," he said at a Jan 17 campaign appearance, according to multiple US media accounts.
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Reuters/Ipsos polling has shown that Americans worry both about Biden's and Trump's age, though more are concerned about Biden. Some 77 per cent of respondents to a September poll said Biden was too old to be president, while 56 per cent said that of Trump.
Trump has also intensified his already fierce offence against Haley, including racist attacks on social media targeting her Indian name and amplifying false claims about her US citizenship. Haley has responded that they are a sign that Trump is "insecure."
The daughter of two immigrants from India, Haley was born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa but has long used her middle name Nikki and later took her husband's surname.
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Despite the late slight shift in Haley's tone, some Republican and independent voters say she has not hit Trump hard enough throughout her campaign and must sharpen her offence.
"I think Trump needs to be put in his place," said Chris Jay, 57, a Republican who said he was leaning towards Haley but wanted her to lob more head-on attacks against her main rival.
Even tougher attacks are unlikely to sway Trump's devotees.
"I really love the guy. And I've never felt that way about a politician before. He says stuff that's inappropriate a lot, but a lot of it is stuff that I thought," Carla Marshall, 67, said while waiting to attend Trump's Jan 20 rally.
"They're working hard to keep him down, but he just keeps coming back."
Trump also leads Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who had jumped ahead to South Carolina only to cancel several planned television appearances on Jan 20 to return to New Hampshire for a hastily-scheduled evening campaign event.
Meanwhile, Biden, who is not officially on the New Hampshire ballot, is likely to get 63 per cent of write-in votes, according to the CNN/University of New Hampshire poll.
His showing in the state will offer a first sign from the polls of the incumbent president's strength heading into November's potential rematch with Trump.
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