Nikki Haley is smart, strategic, and articulate but stands for the wrong things. Some are evil. For her own prospects, she should stay in the race. Now that it is down to just two, she should stay in a position to take advantage of the opportunity should TFG falter. When she finishes second at the convention, at least she’s clearly defined as the second choice. Consider the following scenarios.
1) TFG is morbidly unhealthy and very worked up. He could keel over from a heart attack or be rendered incompetent by a stroke.
2) TFG could be convicted and sentenced. He would be appealing the conviction, but he will lose significant support. It could be a watershed despite what the polls indicate.
3) TFG’s mental decline could accelerate so that he doesn’t know where he is and consistently embarrasses himself and his party (even worse than now).
I think of the auto racing analogy where the #4 car wins. The #1 car suffers engine failure. The #2 car has a spin and takes out the #3 car. The #4 car just had to stay in the running to finish first.