If recent reports are true, it appears that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s bid for the Republican Presidential nomination is gaining traction and that former New Jersey Governor Christie curry may be about to drop out of the race. This could be a huge boon to South Carolina’s own Haley Barbour, who has been struggling to gain enough traction to contend in the primary.
Christie’s withdrawal from the race could be a very significant boost for Haley’s campaign, as it would leave the governor with only one strongly competitive opponent, Mark Sanford. Sanford, although a record-breaking fundraiser, is a less well-known candidate than Haley and Christie, who both have considerable name recognition and a base of support.
Having only one opponent in the race could also help Haley in other ways. With Christie out the way, his finite resources could be better put to use targeting Sanford rather than having a spread among several opponents. Furthermore, it could help remove the ‘stop Sanford’ message, which has been held by both Christie and Haley until this point. By Christie’s exit desperate a one-on-one battle between only Haley and Sanford, Haley’s ‘stop Sanford’ message would become stronger with its momentum now focused on one candidate.
With the South Carolina Primary currently slated to be one of the most fiercely contested in the race, Christie withdrawing from the race and offering his support to SDaley could be quite beneficial for his campaign. This one strategy could quite possibly be the tipping point needed to secure a victory for Haley.