That was Nikki Haley’s recurring rationale for her presidential run that began in February 2023 and was suspended in March 2024. She questioned the age and mental acuity of both President Biden and former President Trump and advocated mandatory competency tests for presidential candidates aged 75 and older.
In February, special counsel Robert Hur called Biden “a well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Haley implicitly concurred and said, “Yesterday was a wake-up call for the country, today should also be a wake-up call for Republicans.” She noted that Trump “has his own mental deficiencies, is prone to temper tantrums and wild rants [and] runs about even with the enfeebled Biden.”
How did the leader of the free world and proclaimed model for democratic governance find itself in this political predicament at a historic moment of maximum domestic and international danger?
The regrettable answer is that this time the elections were indeed “rigged” — by both the Republican and Democratic National Committees. They changed their rules for the 2024 party primaries to ensure that the establishment-anointed but highly unpopular former and incumbent presidents would dominate the early-state primary contests and freeze out internal competition.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, was the last standing obstacle to a depressing Trump-Biden election rerun. Polls last year showed her ahead against Biden in November, by greater margins than Trump’s narrow edge. That was undoubtedly the reason a number of Democrats put aside their professed fears of an existential Trump threat to the nation in favor of their own immediate political interests, declining to take advantage of the unique opportunity in open GOP primaries to block Trump’s return to political domination of the Republican Party. As the head of the South Carolina Democratic Party said before that state’s crucially pivotal primary, “We are not going to save Haley from Trump.”
Meanwhile, fringe third-party candidates Cornel West and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are treated merely as protest figures, likely only to from draw votes from Biden or Trump rather than having a serious path to electoral victory.
After Haley suspended active campaigning, the only plausible alternative to a binary Trump-Biden rematch was through the bipartisan group No Labels, which promised to offer a joint Republican-Democratic unity ticket committed to put the national interest above that of either party and still have a credible prospect of actually winning.
But, in a presidential election that both parties agree could determine the very survival of America’s democracy, a shocking campaign of anti-democratic intimidation was launched against the organization, apparently dissuading the 30 prospective No Labels candidates from running. The disturbing details are laid out in a January letter sent to the U.S. Justice Department by No Labels seeking redress for alleged illegal and unconstitutional interference with the group’s political rights.
No Labels identified itself as a 501(c)(4) organization “that has worked since 2009 to give a voice to America’s commonsense majority.” It charged extensive intimidation tactics from “a highly coordinated […] partisan, and often unlawful conspiracy […] involving individuals both inside and outside government” to block its efforts to gain ballot access and offer voters a realistic alternative to establishment-imposed choice of Trump or Biden. Merrick Garland’s Justice Department has not acted.
Trump had threatened retribution against Haley and her supporters. But that was mild compared to what No Labels described as pro-Biden advocates’ “conspiracy to use retaliation, fear, intimidation, and even threats of violence” against No Labels members.
If, very soon, No Labels does not regain its footing and present a plausible unity ticket, the only alternative for the millions of voters who reject the Trump-Biden choice will be to write in Haley’s name in November. But a number of states require that for write-in votes to be counted, the candidate must first file a certificate saying she or he is willing to be a write-in candidate.
Haley has already proved her mettle in the political arena; at this unique moment in history, No Labels should urge her to accept that limited candidacy, which would not require resumption of a full-fledged campaign effort.
Given the primacy of national security issues and the overwhelming national threat from communist China, her running-mate could be retired Adm. Dennis Blair, former commander of the Pacific Command and former director of National Intelligence, who became a No Labels co-founder. The Haley-Blair positions on the ticket could of course be reversed — either arrangement would be a blessing for the nation and most of the world. As the new reality sets in, it would also induce sober restraint among America’s enemies.
Why would Haley agree to even the minimal effort of filing for write-in status? Three reasons: (a) out of respect for her loyal supporters, (b) because in this totally unprecedented election with two deeply unfit establishment candidates, she could well win, and (c) because “we (still) have a country to save.”
Joseph Bosco served as China country director for the secretary of Defense from 2005 to 2006 and as Asia-Pacific director of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief from 2009 to 2010. He is a nonresident fellow at the Institute for Corean-American Studies and a member of the advisory board of the Global Taiwan Institute. Follow him on X @BoscoJosephA.