'Nikki Haley second up in New Hampshire, race picks up momentum.'

For those looking forward to the race for the Republican presidential nomination finally coming to life, there's good news. Consider New Hampshire, which will hold a Republican primary early next year. The race for second place in that state has been volatile for months, with no candidate able to come to the forefront and become a serious contender to defeat front-runner Donald Trump.

This is due to the fact that the election is still far away, politically speaking. New Hampshire voters are known for their attention to primary election politics, but even for them, it's too early to expect active participation in the political battle when it's still''summer.

This is due in part to the political ineptitude of Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who generated a lot of interest early in the campaign. However, Republicans outside of Florida, after getting to know DeSantis more closely, have discovered that he is not a talented politician, but rather a petty, inept and repulsive politician.

The DeSantis period in New Hampshire appears to be coming to an end. Former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has now surpassed him, coming in second place, according to a Suffolk University/Boston Globe/USA TODAY poll that showed her polling at 19 percent compared to DeSantis' 10 percent. Earlier this summer, DeSantis was on par with Trump in several polls in''New Hampshire.

Although the poll didn't explore why Haley has increased her popularity

Voters were clearly impressed with her two strong performances at the Republican debate, in which she schooled Trump and showed she wasn't going to back down or allow herself to be interrupted.

This poll becomes a signal to other voters who are looking for an alternative to Trump. Of course, it's too early to say that Haley has emerged as the leading contender to be Trump's opponent. But she has several advantages. One is experience in foreign policy. Her status as the only woman in the race helps her stand out, especially given her qualifications. She's also winning the battle for votes inside the South Carolina state,'''bypassing Sen. Tim Scott in both New Hampshire and their shared home state.

In New Hampshire, she could also be an asset thanks to former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's sharp attacks on Trump for violating his oath of office to the U.S. Constitution in an attempt to undermine the results of the last presidential election.

Obviously, the Globe poll also pleases Trump.

who gets the support of about 49 percent of Republicans. The best news yet for the former president: 84 percent''s supporters say their support is strong.

This could change over time, however. To support Trump again, Republican primary voters must continue to believe a lot of things that simply aren't true and won't be confirmed.

They must believe, despite the facts, that his four sets of criminal indictments were issued by President Biden, as he claims, or are part of a deep state conspiracy against Trump. Despite the fact that the charges in Fulton County, Georgia, and Manhattan, New York, are state prosecutions.

Oh yes, and a judgment in a civil suit accusing him of sexually assaulting novelist E. Jean Carroll,''is also part of the shadow campaign against Trump. The same goes for Civil Judge Arthur Engoron's ruling that Trump committed fraud by regularly and significantly inflating the value of his real estate.

To not consider him a massive liar, one must believe that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, which is a baseless claim that has already been widely refuted.

This week, former four-star Marine Gen. John Kelly, Trump's longest-serving chief of staff, confirmed in a statement to CNN's Jake Tapper several previously anonymously reported instances of Trump insulting U.S. service members killed or wounded in war. Kelly became another on the list''former Trump staffers or appointees who said damaging things about their former boss.

None of the above have yet been used politically in the form of attack ads. It's almost inevitable that it will be at some point.

Now, don't expect Trump supporters to take a negative view of the man they consider their champion. But they do have a position that may preserve their dignity: even if all of this is fair, Trump has been at the center of too many counter-versions to be able to win in 2024.

But that's an opinion voters form slowly - and only after a clear alternative emerges.

In New Hampshire, Haley can now claim to be such a''alternatives.

Scot Leahy is a columnist for the Globe. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @GlobeScotLehigh.