A Look at Super Tuesday

We are just days away from Super Tuesday, which could be the final stop for Nikki Haley’s campaign. 15 states will vote in GOP contests on March 5th with nearly 900 delegates up for grabs. Now Haley has vowed to stay in through those races, but the former South Carolina Governor has yet to win a contest against former President Trump, most recently losing the Michigan GOP primary by more than 40 points. CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent, Robert Costa is monitoring the Super Tuesday races for us from Washington and joins us now. So Bob breakdown, first of all, the role of Super Tuesday and the milestone it marks in these primary races.

… Known as Super Tuesday, but for former President Donald Trump, it could be an experience to coast politically. He and his campaign advisors behind the scenes are very optimistic he will win all of the states on Super Tuesday, but it still could be an indicator of some softness in his support across the country, especially among suburban Republicans, independent voters in states like Virginia and Massachusetts, where outside of Boston and outside of Washington, DC some of those Republican voters might not be embracing Trump fully. So Haley is looking to rally her support there in this final stretch, get maybe 30, 40, 45% in some of those respective states.

So you mentioned suburban voters in some parts of the country, we tend to sometimes group Super Tuesday states together because they make up a large voting block. But what are some unique voter qualities to keep in mind for some of these states?

You’re looking at a whole range of states on Super Tuesday that really is a microcosm of the party nationally. You’re going to get a real test of Trump’s support and of Haley’s support nationwide. After having all of these contests in individual states, places like Iowa, which is very rural, evangelical, white, New Hampshire, which is much more moderate centrist, kind of independent in its Republican base, and then South Carolina, which is very much Trump country, you’re now moving to a primary season where multiple states will have contests at once. And for Haley, it’s been difficult to ramp up a national campaign. Trump is running almost like an incumbent would for the GOP nomination. Even though he’s a former president, he commands so much support within the party, it’s been hard for Haley to break through.

So with that in mind, Bob, Haley has said she’s staying in through Super Tuesday. Does there appear to be an available path for her? I mean, where does she go next after next week’s contests?

In politics, you never rule anything out and Haley isn’t. She’s going to closely watch what happens on Super Tuesday and make a decision about her political future. I had the opportunity to speak with her twice in South Carolina over the past week and she said she’s not making any decision past Super Tuesday. She wants to see what happens, see what the numbers are, reconvene with her campaign team. And she does take some pride already in being the last one standing against Trump. And she also seems to recognize from time to time that the party is very much in Trump’s image even now, and that her vision of Republican policy, especially on issues like Ukraine, foreign policy, national security, might not be where the party is at this moment. Doesn’t mean the party couldn’t drift back in that direction in the future, but for now, Trump is winning so much support across the GOP. Super Tuesday could be a tough night for Nikki Haley, but she’s projecting confidence about how she’s running the race.

So Bob, is there any indication, has there been any sign at all that we could potentially see her launch a third party bid?

It’s very unlikely that Haley is going to do that. She has declined repeatedly any kind of overture to think about that. She has shot down the suggestion that she’s going to run a third party or no labels bid or independent bid. At this point, Haley is seen as the standard-bearer for traditional Republican values. She hopes to hold onto that baton politically and ideologically speaking in the coming months and perhaps in the coming year. Look for her to be more of a force at the convention in Milwaukee for Republicans, should she get out of the race, then try to flirt in any way with a third party bid.

All right, Robert Costa for us. Bob, thank you.