Yes, slavery caused the Civil War, but Nikki Haley needs the voters who won't admit that

South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union in 1860, the first state to consider secession at the outset, and the first state to take up arms in the insurrection that ultimately became known as the Civil War. As its former governor, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley knows full well that the preservation of slavery was the reason that South Carolina enjoys such an infamous place in our history.

But Haley is not running for the post of presidential historian. She is attempting to become the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, and she faces the daunting obstacle of winning over a Republican primary electorate almost completely in thrall of Donald Trump. And like the other Republican hopefuls Trump has left floundering in the detritus of his wake, she knows that her only path lies in somehow distinguishing herself in the eyes of those voters.

And if that means pandering to their fantasies about themselves and their forefathers’ motivations, then so be it.