Nikki Haley’s caucus-eve appearance leads to snowbound fiasco

The former UN ambassador is hoping to make a splash in the first Republican contest of the 2024 race. But holding a nighttime event in the woods after a blizzard may be part of a snowy exercise in pointlessness, writes John Bowden in Des Moines, Iowa

Nikki Haley, seen leaving the Iowa Republican debate (AP)

Where is the line between enthusiasm and recklessness?

Nikki Haley, wherever that line is, was brushing up against it Sunday evening.

Voters were set to caucus in Iowa — the first, and in 2024 one of the most competitive contests of the season — just 25 hours after Ms Haley began speaking to voters at a small lodge in Adel, Iowa. Inside the event, a small crowd of pumped-up Haley supporters cheered their candidate on.

Outside was a different story. As it turns out, holding a nighttime event in the woods after a blizzard creates exactly the kind of situation one would expect.

While Ms Haley and many of her supporters were warming up just feet away, a snowy exercise in pointlessness was taking place on the dark, winding road through the trees. A massive line of cars built up on the narrow, two-lane street as it became clear that parking for the Haley event had been woefully inadequate. Near the event itself, a procession of parked cars blocked off the outgoing lane; just a few feet away from that, a second collection of cars closed off the side reserved for incoming traffic.

The result was an absolute mess, with drivers abandoning their vehicles in the road and trudging up the hill to the lodge. Members of the press and Haley supporters alike got out of their cars and held impromptu discussions up and down the street about how to get in, how to get out, and whether they were causing further problems by leaving their cars on the narrow road in the dark.

One group of college students, in town to witness American democracy firsthand, were escorted by their professor up the hill towards their event, their vehicle one of many now parked in the incoming lane of traffic.

Several foreign journalists, who had clearly never seen snow to this degree (let alone driven in it) also chose to leave their cars in the road after a brief roadside congregation. At least one vehicle, a large, black SUV, was abandoned deep in a snow drift; the driver was seen spinning their wheels for a while in a hopeless bid to free their car, before they too walked off.

A man looks on helplessly outside of Nikki Haley’s event in Adel, Iowa, as two lines of unmoving vehicles block people from leaving or arriving (John Bowden)

One man in line, who identified himself to The Independent as retired law enforcement, grumbled to those abandoning their vehicles that they were effectively blocking off the event (illegally) and preventing emergency vehicles from reaching the building if a medical issue or other disaster were to strike.

A minute later, he was gone — one of many to simply abandon the event and drive off, unwilling to contribute to the growing problem. In his place appeared an unidentified Haley campaign staffer, who told those remaining that not only should they leave their cars in the road, but that it was their only option.

An SUV is abandoned outside of Nikki Haley’s event in Adel, Iowa after the driver was unable to move out of the snowbank (John Bowden)

The former cop’s warning rang true; had something requiring an EMT or other emergency vehicles taken place tonight, the Haley event would have likely been virtually unreachable, at least without serious finegaling by those few Haley campaign volunteers directing traffic. Any vehicle that was able to finally reach the venue would have done so only after a long, costly delay.

And it’s not like this should have come as a surprise to anyone.

Iowa has been under blizzard conditions for days. There was no snowfall on Sunday; regardless, most main roads across Des Moines were affected by icy spots where traction was near-impossible; back roads, meanwhile, remained buried under an inch or two of packed-down snow and ice. Large snow banks lined the streets, and spilled over into turn lanes and exit ramps.

It must be restated, as well: This event was held at 6pm, in a lodge in the woods accessible only by an unlit, winding narrow road that was very much still covered with snow far on the outskirts of any nearby well-traveled areas. A traffic pile-up was possibly the most predictable issue that could have arisen; it’s frankly surprising that the situation wasn’t worse. The one saving grace was the driveway of a building just a few feet from the venue, where wiser drivers made the choice to U-turn and pull out of the area before becoming trapped for a longer period of time.

The four Republicans duking it out in Iowa were all well aware of these factors. Vivek Ramaswamy cancelled events on Friday after his own vehicle was stuck in the snow. Donald Trump cancelled one event on Sunday, moved others to tele-events, and only made one in-person appearance at noon. Simply put: this could have been avoided. It was not.

It’s hard to say exactly where the line is; what factors push a campaign event into the realm where cancellation or a change of venue are the only safe options. But one thing is for certain: the Haley campaign got very close to that line tonight. And it may just be down to luck that they didn’t cross it.