When I worked at Universal Studios as a screenwriter, the then head of production, Ned Tanen, had a saying regarding the plans and ideas of my fellow writers, directors, and producers:
“If one person says you’re drunk, ignore him. If six people say you’re drunk, sit down.”
I’m far from sure this advice originated with Mr. Tanen, but, although I was occasionally the target, it made basic sense.
I was reminded of this when I read the results of Nevada’s unofficial Republican presidential primary in which seven people competed, three of whom I had never heard of.
In what had been imputed by some a head-to-head battle with former president Donald J. Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley lost to “None of These Candidates” by a hugely embarrassing 63.2 percent to 30.5 percent.
(Mr. Trump was not on the list. He’s competing in the Nevada Caucus where one can actually win real delegates to the party convention.)
In the words of Ned Tanen, it’s time for Ms. Haley to “sit down.”
But she, at least so far, is trucking along as a presidential candidate, even though all indications are that her future primary prospects are yet worse with an imminent humiliation in her home state.
So what exactly is Nikki Haley doing and why?
The money people have their own reasons.
Taken together, they would be enough to make you give up on the viability of elections in our country in their entirety.
What are these people (and Ms. Haley) doing throwing away such munificent funds that might more justifiably be put into pediatric cancer or Alzheimer’s research?
Some—notably, one hears, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu—are attempting to position Ms. Haley as the vice-presidential candidate to Mr. Trump, a possibility that seemed unlikely from the start, but grows more so with each passing day.
More to the point, they (and she) are preparing themselves to take over, should Mr. Trump be disqualified from running by legal means—in actuality, by the most appalling weaponization of the law ever employed in our country.
Should this come to pass—and I sincerely hope it does not—Ms. Haley would be inheriting so much resentment, more accurately rage, that her nomination would be worthless, if it happens at all.
What would really transpire in such an eventuality is unknowable and could even ignite a civil war.
At the same time, Ms. Haley will have built the permanent enmity of the dominant MAGA wing of the Republican Party—a perfect example of the old saw about being “careful what you wish for.”
Therefore, I would highly recommend that she and her investors heed the recommendation of Ned Tanen and “sit down”—the sooner, the better.
How would he know?
And how would I know?
Missing from that list of successful films under the Tanen–Universal regime was one I wrote that was reasonably successful, “The Big Fix,” adapted from my own novel and starring Richard Dreyfuss.
