Conservatives are right to say that the protectionist direction of Joe Biden’s Democrats is worrisome, but does anyone really think it equates with the potential threat posed by the likes of Mr. Trump, Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Ramaswamy?
There is an outside chance that a conventional politician, like former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, could win the Republican nomination. She scored well in the debate last week, bashing Mr. Ramaswamy for his ignorance on foreign policy and calling out Mr. Trump as “the most disliked politician in all of America.”
She could have gone further. None of the candidates hit him where he is exceedingly vulnerable – that under his banner, the party has suffered three embarrassments in succession: the 2018 midterms, the 2020 general election and the 2022 midterms. What makes Ms. Haley’s bid so difficult is that top-tier candidates like Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Ramaswamy are in Mr. Trump’s corner. If the former president somehow fades, his support would likely go to one of those two.
Neither of them have Mr. Trump’s baggage and, given Mr. Biden’s low support numbers, one of them could win a general election. Which is all the more reason for Ms. Joly to be doing crisis planning.