Republicans want no part of Haley. If you want Biden to win, you should thank them for that.

And now a quick thank you to Republicans. No, really. Thank you. For what? Well, for repeatedly picking Donald Trump over Nikki Haley.

That is a bold move and I applaud it.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is a skilled politician with experience governing a state and representing the United States on the global stage. She seems kind of reasonable and has zero accusations of trying to lead a political coup after losing a presidential election.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, campaigns for president in Camden, S.C., on Feb. 19, 2024, five days before the state’s Republican primary.

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Her followers don’t wave “Haley” flags more than American ones. She isn’t trying to sell footwear to help pay legal bills and she has, to my knowledge, never even been accused of rape.

Trump sneakers? Whichever presidential candidate offers the best footwear gets my vote.

Oh, and she’s not in her 70s yet and has shown a willingness to find some middle ground on policies that, though still very Republican, have a chance at attracting moderates and Democrats who aren’t sure about Joe Biden.

In short, she is the perfect candidate to beat President Biden. So, thank you for not choosing her and making it so that Biden has a better-than-decent chance of winning this thing despite his lagging polls and all the noise around his age.

I’m no Nikki Haley fan, but come on 

This doesn’t mean that I’m a supporter of her policies, you understand. She supports an abortion ban, though has softened a little on the messaging following a string of election losses for Republicans on the topic.

Haley has consistently promised to change Medicare for younger generations. She is a supporter of Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy and has focused on “sanctuary cities” as a way to get tough on immigration. She wants no part of gun reform despite guns being the No. 1 killer of children and gun violence growing exponentially over the past few years.

Nikki Haley: Trump’s proposed tariff would hurt American workers. And reignite inflation.

You know, she’s a Republican. But she also has appeal to the voting base that Republicans need to win and so far haven’t been able to attract. Those annoying independent voters, whom she won over in New Hampshire.

Haley has consistently appealed to them throughout this Republican nomination process. Her economic policies of “smaller government” and debt control plays directly to that voting base. There is polling that shows she’s already beating Biden even though she’s heading to a blowout defeat in Saturday’s South Carolina primary. She’s going to lose her home state.

This makes it particularly good that Republican voters want no part of her – if you want Biden to win.

Biden is a vulnerable incumbent and Democrats have feelings  

Biden, on the other hand, is wide open for an election loss. And while I don’t think he’ll lose to either candidate, Haley is by far his biggest threat because Republicans will vote Republican no matter what. Democrats will vote feelings, as they did in 2016. And right now there is a growing sentiment among Democrats that Biden isn’t the guy for them.

Once we get to the general election, voters will have a reminder of why they voted against Trump in 2020 and why they’ve voted against MAGA in every election since. They’ll see his toxic form of political bullying for what it is and will again decide they want no part of it.

Evangelicals support Trump: Trump’s questionable morality gets a pass from evangelical voters. I decided to ask why.

They’ll do all of that without paying too much attention to Biden’s age or his policy in Gaza, both of which are huge turn-offs for voters.

Couple Trump’s chaos with an economy that is improving and legislation that goes toward infrastructure and gun reform, and you have an election where one mumbling 81-year-old is clearly better than the babbling 77-year-old.

Meanwhile, Haley will be watching from the sidelines. So, one last time. Thank you, Republican voters.

Louie Villalobos is deputy opinion editor for USA TODAY. You can tag him on social media but he probably won’t see it.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republicans want no part of Haley. If you want Biden to win, you should thank them for that.