But conflict is always new, especially when there hasn’t
been that much of it in a campaign characterized by the reluctance of Trump’s
Republican opponents to go after him in anything but the gentlest of terms. In
addition, reporters are always drawn to intraparty conflict, which they find
inherently more interesting than conflict between parties. Battles within a
family can be more compelling than the dog-bites-man of sniping across partisan
lines. As a bonus, when Haley attacks Trump in a speech, there will be video
that can be shown on TV and “sound” for the radio.
As long as Haley is in the race, she’ll keep criticizing Trump,
he’ll go after her, and the conflict between them will remain the locus of news
coverage. Followed by a pack of reporters, they’re going to the same places,
pursuing the same voters, and working toward a series of voting days in
different states that provide structure to the larger story, like the clock
ticking down in a sporting event. It’s far more concrete and immediate than the
contest between Trump and Biden, which can still feel distant and abstract,
something we’ll all get around to focusing on some time in the summer. Which
means that the things that happen in the Trump-Haley conflict will be pushed to
the top of the news agenda.
Furthermore, Haley is already bringing out the worst in Trump. He
has lobbed racist
attacks at her, and some ugly misogyny is surely on its way. When he won
the New Hampshire primary, a moment when he should have been triumphant, he was
instead bitter and angry. “Who the hell was the impostor that went up on stage
and claimed a victory? She failed badly,” he said in his characteristically
ungracious speech. While his most devoted fans might cheer Trump’s
vindictiveness and obsession with slights, to most everyone else those are
among his most unappealing traits.