“To beat former President Donald Trump in the coming months, Nikki Haley, his former ambassador to the United Nations, must stitch together a coalition of Republicans: Mr. Trump’s most faithful supporters, voters who like his policies but who have grown weary of him personally, and the smaller but still vocal contingent who abhor him entirely,” the New York Times reports.

“It’s a challenge that will test what political strategists and those who have observed Ms. Haley’s ascent from her first underdog win in South Carolina have said is among her greatest skills as a candidate: an ability to calibrate her message to the moment.”

“Sen. Mitt Romney said he would vote for a Democrat over former President Trump or businessman Vivek Ramaswamy in a potential 2024 general election matchup,” the New York Post reports.

Said Romney: “I’d be happy to support virtually any one of the Republicans, maybe not Vivek, but the others that are running would be acceptable to me and I’d be happy to vote for them.”

He added: “I’d be happy to vote for a number of the Democrats too. I mean, it would be an upgrade from, in my opinion, from Donald Trump and perhaps also from Joe Biden.”

“Donald Trump is set to attend a highly anticipated rivalry football game in South Carolina on Saturday as he campaigns in the key early-nominating state ahead of next year’s Republican presidential primary,” CNN reports.

“The Palmetto Bowl is an annual matchup between the University of South Carolina and Clemson University, the two largest universities in the state, and is taking place this year in the state capital of Columbia. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a USC alumnus who has endorsed Trump, recently said that the former president had a ‘standing invitation’ to attend the game.”

The Messenger notes that Nikki Haley’s alma mater is Clemson University.

The Nation: “But the political reporters who are falling over themselves to write about Haley seem to have shown little or no interest in Williamson—despite the fact that, over the past several weeks, she’s been posting numbers that are every bit as strong as Haley’s—and, in some cases, better.”

Olivia Nuzzi: “Kennedy’s chill disposition is now the rest of the political world’s simmering panic attack. Since announcing in October that he would end his campaign for the Democratic nomination to officially become a problem for both major parties as an independent, fear — and denial — is what Kennedy seems to inspire among the staid Washington Establishment supporting the incumbent president and the gangland anti-Establishment Establishment supporting the former president. Officials from both party apparatuses are certainly looking at metrics that confirm Kennedy is turning the presidential election upside down.”

“At this point, all that’s clear is that no one has any idea what will happen between now and November 2024 or how to respond to the threat Kennedy poses to the Biden-Trump binary. As it is, Kennedy is in some cases polling not far behind either likely major-party nominee and in all cases polling well enough that, were the election held today, his presence in the race would define what the next chapter of American history looks like. As he put it, ‘My intention is to spoil it for both of them.’”

Politico: “Trump’s vote share in the national polling average is higher now than at any point in the past year.”

“Chris Christie is trying to fend off growing pressure to bow out of the 2024 White House race and narrow the field of candidates challenging Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination,” the Financial Times reports.

“The fate of Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign rests on a central question: Can she be all things to all Republicans?,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“As the Republican presidential primary field begins to narrow, Haley’s rise in polls represents the re-emergence of a more traditional Republican at a time when former President Donald Trump dominates the party.”

“Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, has made progress in consolidating the anti-Trump vote. But that won’t be enough to win the nomination, surveys suggest, if she can’t figure out how to peel off at least some Trump support.”

“Her effort to straddle the two factions, as she has since entering the race in February as the first major candidate to challenge Trump, is a test of whether anyone can unite a party that remains deeply divided over its central figure.”