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What About Nikki Haley?
Kurt Schlichter writes a brutal takedown of Nikki Haley as the right’s version of Kamala. While I think he goes too far in comparing her to the awful Kamala, his article crystallized in my mind some concerns I have about Haley.
She didn’t have any real accomplishments as governor. Yes, she is pro-life, anti-alphabet gang, in favor of low taxes, etc., etc. But did she have any signature achievements as governor? After a little internet research (i.e., Wikipedia), I couldn’t find much.
Schlichter also criticizes her for not having any strong policy proposals. Her campaign announcement was a gauzy, saccharine video. Maybe she’ll come out with some good proposals, but combined with her lack of achievements as governor, this could be a major weakness.
She agrees with a lot of leftist hoaxes (e.g., George Floyd was a saint, that garage door pull really was a noose, and others) as John Hinderaker observes. And Gavin Sample. It seems that she wants media approval more than standing for what’s right.
Although I sort of agreed with removing the Confederate flag in South Carolina, I felt she threw the Republican legislators under the bus time and again as she implied they were still old-school racists while she was the enlightened one who got rid of the flag.
I’m not deeply bothered that she is running after saying she wouldn’t run against Trump. Politicians say that kind of stuff all the time. Yes, it would have been a little smarter on her part to think ahead and not make that kind of promise, but it’s par for the course.
On the plus side, she was a tough, well-spoken UN ambassador. She was effective in denouncing the crooks and thugs that run that body. So maybe she does better implementing someone else’s policy rather than being at the top herself.
She is also well-spoken and quick on her feet with good one-liners (“it hurts more when you kick them with heels”). She would be great in a debate with Dementia Joe. When a reporter from Christianity Today asked if she wanted her parents to convert to Christianity, she said, “What I hope is that my parents do what’s right for them,” which is a great way of not answering a very personal question.
If DeSantis doesn’t run or flames out and if Haley comes up with strong policy proposals, I could support her. She doesn’t have Trump’s baggage, so she would be easier to elect in the general. But I’m not terribly excited about her and have some concerns.
Published in Elections
I really like Nikki Haley’s idea of a cognitive ability test for presidential candidate who are over the age of 75.
And possibly for US Senate candidates.
You echo my own sentiments, Steve. I loved her work as U.N. Ambassador–she ticked off a lot of people and showed real courage. And I know she was very supportive of the church that was shot up in her state. But I just don’t know if she’s stood up against real adversity (except the U.N.) There are probably others I’d pick before I’d go to her. I still like Pompeo; although some people see him as part of the establishment, his experiences there also tell what he’ll be up against.
As a Christian, I don’t think that this is a very good answer at all.
If she’s a believer, and her parents are not, then it seems to me that she has to believe that her parents are going to Hell. I’m in the same position with respect to some of my family members. It’s distressing. But dodging the question seems like being ashamed of the Gospel, to me.
I can’t be sure, but I doubt that her evasion is due to the personal nature of the question. More likely, the reason is a desire to avoid the controversy inherent in the teachings of Jesus. I find that disappointing.
I couldn’t make it very far into the Colonel’s column. His comparison of Haley to Harris was unfair in an fundamental point: Haley really did make it by her own merits. Harris got her career supercharged by being Willie Brown’s side piece. I also think Haley is much smarter than Harris.
I’m indifferent about Haley. @stevefast makes some good points. I’m not that familiar with her terms as Governor, since I’m not a citizen of SC. The list of items where she agrees with the Left does give me pause. But she was a decent UN Ambassador; I suppose if we’re not willing to quit the UN, our representative should be a person like Haley.
I suppose I’m wiling to at least see what she says going forward. But I get a “Jeb!” vibe from her: perfectly decent, but a candidate for 2008, not 2024.
These are key points, I think. I agree with them all.
That is a deal-breaker with me. Trump was pretty bad at pleasing the NYT. A candidate has to choose between pleasing the corporate media/Oligarchs and working for the citizenry.
The whole idea that people who hold religious views other than Christianity go to hell for eternity is something that not everyone, not even every Christian, accepts.
Some people take a Universalist view of salvation, that all human beings will be reconciled with God in heaven.
I think Nikki Haley’s answer speaks well of her values. I don’t think I could vote for a “The Jews, Hindus and Buddhists are all going to hell,” candidate. That view is morally repugnant to me.
I think I would try to find a better way to respond to the question; one that reflects my faith but would not open a discussion of such a deeply personal matter about my parents, who are not public people, with whom I’d almost certainly had conversations on the subject already. I would not have wanted to discuss with a stranger, in public, the prospect of my parents condemned.
If Nikki Haley had said, “Well, my parents aren’t Christians. So, if they don’t change course, they will go to hell,” wouldn’t exactly make Nikki Haley a popular person, except among the most extreme Christians.
Maybe the pastor at the Westboro Baptist Church will run for president to fill the, “Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics and Catholics will go to hell” lane in the Republican primary.
Well, Don Lemon said she’s “past her prime” so that cinched it for me.
/s
Maybe she believes that what is right for her parents is to believe in Jesus. Maybe her parents have done that and maybe they haven’t. Or maybe she does believe that there are many paths to God (for the record, I don’t). But Nikki clearly didn’t want to discuss it in public, and I think it’s not fair to ask her to evaluate someone else’ s faith publicly.
The proper answer to such a question is, “Nunya.”
If you introduce the idea that only those who believe in Jesus will make it into heaven and everyone else winds up in hell into the political bloodstream, you can expect the Republican party to become much more like the minor political parties, ones that consistently receive less than 5 percent of the vote.
For practical, pragmatic reasons, politicians shouldn’t talk openly about which religion people should subscribe to or who is going to end up in heaven/hell.
It’s a divisive topic and political issues provide enough division as it is, without the theological debates going on along side it.
Exactly.
When George W. Bush was asked if Jews go to hell because they don’t accept Jesus, George W. Bush said, “Governors don’t decide who goes to hell. God decides that.”
I know George W. Bush isn’t held in high esteem around here. But George W. Bush knew how to finesse a tough political issue. Mitt Romney was a bit less dexterous in handling his Mormon faith as a 2012 presidential candidate in a party full of Protestant Christians who view Mormonism as a cult.
I would vote for a Christian who thinks Jews, Hindus and Buddhists are going to hell as long as she is devoted absolutely to their freedom of religion.
How about what would have been my answer? I’d have looked the fool in the eye and said, “That’s none of your [redacted] business.” But I suppose I’m not the ideal candidate.
I don’t know if I could do that. I tend to think that anyone who really holds to that view (and doesn’t just say it in order to avoid getting criticized by various Christian political allies) is likely to possess a warped moral compass.
When Pat Robertson was running for President in 1988 and later when Gary Bauer was running for President and later when Mike Huckabee was running for President, I felt like if they were to win the nomination, I would have to sit out the presidential race, voting for neither the Democrat nor the Republican.
She’s a loser. She locked down her state and went wild with the covid crap. The other thing I will mention that no one will is she’s a woman. I don’t want a woman as president. No woman can be as great as Washington, Jefferson, Eisenhower and the rest. They’re not capable. They can’t inspire on that level nor lead at that level. A woman may be way better than Obama and Biden. They just can’t get to the level of leadership we need for this country. So considering one is a waste of time and my answer is no.
Dude, she wasn’t even governor in 2020; she became DJT’s UN Ambassador in 2017. As for the rest of your comment, get a grip.
Maybe he’s mixing up Gretchen Whitmer and Nikki Haley.
She’s not running against Donald Trump. She’s running for Vice President.
Also, this. . .
. . . was a **very** bad sign. You cannot make peace with neo-fascist neo-Marxist neo-pagan commies. Never apologize, never buckle under, and don’t let anyone erase your history. EVER!
I won’t vote for her. She couldn’t possibly win anyway.
And I agree with Glen. I don’t want a woman who isn’t Margaret Thatcher or Giorgia Meloni. No thanks.
I do have one. Millennia of human history proves me right on this front. If Winston Churchill was a woman he wouldn’t have been Churchill or come close to being Churchill. The math on this isn’t hard. And the right is in a race to get their token in there because the right is polluted by left wing trash as much as the left.
Aren’t facts inconvenient?
This is one of the most misogynistic things I have ever read. Congrats and enjoy the 13th century fantasy you are living in inside your head.
Lady Thatcher would like a word.
If thinking that being female is not a disqualifier makes one trash, count me among the trash.
If good ol Kurt is against someone that is a mark in their favor to me. Just the premise that she is anything like Kamala completely delegitimizes the rest of his “takedown”. That’s on the level of Biden saying that the GA voting laws are Jim Crow 2.0.
Donny from Queens, is that you after all this time?
Seriously – read his posts out loud in your most over-the-top Trump impersonation voice and see.
I like my formulation better:
“Kamala Harris owes her entire career, such as it is, to Willie Brown and his brown willy.”