Nikki Haley is channelling Ali's 'rope-a-dope' strategy

EVERTHELESS, as the saying goes, she persisted. Today, Nikki Haley will almost certainly be trounced by Donald Trump in the Michigan primary for the Republican party presidential nomination, where she trails him in opinion polls by more than 50 per cent.

- Matthew d’Ancona

On Saturday, she lost in her home state of South Carolina- where she was governor for six years - following earlier defeats in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada (where Trump didn't even bother to compete and she was beaten by "none of these candidates").

Yet Haley has promised that she will still be in the race on Super Tuesday, a week today. Why does she so stubbornly persevere, against the odds? Two things have already become clear on the campaign trail. The first is that Trump is indisputably, extraordinarily, on course to be his party's presidential candidate in November. The majority of Republicans want a populist, not a contender like Haley, whom they regard as an establishment figure.

The second is that a significant minority of Republican voters are made anxious by the prospect of his candidacy.

In Iowa, 49 per cent voted against him; 45 per cent in New Hampshire; 40 per cent in South Carolina.