“Now, ladies, is it an identity crisis? Is it a midlife crisis? Is it perimenopause? Is it menopause?” Greene said to laughs from an audience of dozens of members of the Greenville County Republican Women. “Seriously, ya’ll know Nikki better than I know her. I don’t know her at all. But why is she running for president?”

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Still, Haley has stayed in the race, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview in North Augusta that she will fight through the March 5 slate of Super Tuesday states and, possibly, Georgia’s vote a week later even if she suffers more defeats.

“We want to make sure that we get somebody who can put in eight years, that’s a younger-generation conservative, that can go in there and really start to get the country back on track,” Haley said. “We’re going to continue to fight.”

Interviews with Republicans across South Carolina point to a common theme vexing Haley’s presidential bid: Even the voters who know Haley best — and in many cases repeatedly cast ballots for her — are solidly against her presidential bid.

Jane Erkes said she proudly voted for Haley during her stints as governor. But now, she said, she considers Haley a “RINO” — Republican in name only.

“She has betrayed the party,” Erkes said, “and Democrats now have her loyalty.”

Haley’s main offense? To many, it’s staying in the race against Trump.

‘An embarrassment’

The political map looks bleak for Haley beyond South Carolina, where she’s trailing Trump by roughly 30 percentage points in some polls.

She’s struggling in Michigan, where she is already airing ads ahead of Tuesday’s vote. She lags Trump, too, in the Super Tuesday states and is unlikely to rebound in Georgia, where even Trump skeptics are rallying to him.

“Odds for Haley have gone from long to virtually impossible,” said Nathan Price, a University of North Georgia political scientist.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

After back-to-back-to-back defeats in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, a lopsided loss in South Carolina could deprive her of two other crucial elements for a successful White House run: media attention and campaign cash.

“Donors aren’t going to write checks to a campaign they do not believe can win,” Price said.

Why is Haley still plugging away? Her aides say she is genuinely enjoying herself on the campaign trail, unencumbered by concerns about alienating Trump, and hopeful a last-minute development could change the race.

Besides, Haley has said repeatedly she’s not interested in a Cabinet position or other deal with Trump to suspend her campaign. As Haley rejected that idea again this week, she added she has “pretty well settled that question.”

Her case to skeptical voters has hinged on invoking the “chaos” surrounding the ongoing criminal investigations against Trump in Fulton County and three other jurisdictions.

Credit: NYT

Credit: NYT

“We don’t need any more chaos,” Haley told the AJC. “He’s going to be in court March, April, May and June. He’s going to be spending more time in a courtroom than he is going to spend on the campaign trail. That’s a problem.”

Count Kenya Permeter among the conservative voters who worry the trials will wind up helping President Joe Biden in a rematch against Trump.

“But Nikki Haley still doesn’t have my vote,” she said. “I’ll support Trump even though I’m concerned about the trials. I just don’t want it to be a bigger distraction.”

Greene, who recently called for “eradicating” Haley from the GOP, said she’s baffled the former South Carolina governor hasn’t yet thrown in the towel.

“It’s honestly an embarrassment for Nikki Haley,” Greene told the AJC. “Why in the world is she continuing to run? What point is she trying to prove?”