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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
Or maybe the pastor from Barack Obama’s church.
You mean that failed prime minister? Look at England today. It’s a cesspool full of a rapidly declining Christianity with a mosque on every corner. I mean can’t you people assess that the 80s was a failure? You conserved nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Ayn Rand felt the same. She didn’t want a woman as president. I agree with her. And I’ll sure count you among the trash. No problem for me. You keep pretending the left will love you for voting for a woman and that it’ll matter to them or anyone else at all. You get your token.
What is your evidence that I find Nikki Haley (or women in general) to be acceptable politicians because I am trying to please the left?
Margaret Thatcher moved Great Britain considerably to the right. Thatcher quit in 1990, Glen. It is as ridiculous to blame her for England moving leftward years after she left office as it is to blame Nikki Haley for Covid lockdowns in South Carolina years after she left office there. Do you think a successful conservative Prime Minister would have been able to ensure that Great Britain would continue conservative policies decades later? That’s an unrealistic expectation.
I doubt you and I agree on much, but this time you are spot on. Are we going to blame Saint Ronald for what happened to this country after he left the Presidency? Thatcher is not to blame; neither is Reagan. It’s not fair to think of either as failures.
I don’t like Nikki Haley but not because she is like Kamala. She is nothing like Kamala. Haley is sharp, even shrewd. I find her to be a phony. She’s a moderate and a squish. I would be disappointed if she won the nomination but if she did, like anyone on the Republican ticket, I will support her. She’s definitely not in my top picks.
I guess I’d need to see some evidence of this. I know she spoke critically of how those Minneapolis cops treated Floyd, but there’s a wide gulf between saying that cops were wrong and saying that Floyd is a saint. I know Haley has been critical of the BLM movement.
She tweeted that the death of George Floyd was heartbreaking for her and that it needed to be personal and painful for everyone in order for us to heal. I’ll admit that’s not exactly calling Floyd a saint, but it’s yet another squishy thing where she seems to agree with the left but is hoping that conservatives won’t find it too off-putting.
Wonder if she said anything similar about Ashley Babbitt?
One lesson from the Trump administration is that instincts and policy positions are all very well, but if your appointees just pursue their own agendas (and your own congressional party actively opposes you), you don’t get to fulfill your promises, no matter what.
So, to me, one set of key questions for any candidate is, “Who’s in your cabinet? Who are your key advisors?” I know this isn’t how the game is normally played, but the merest whiff of naming anyone who has a ‘good reputation in DC’ leads to a hard ‘No’ from me. (Tremble, candidates…)
But since Donald Trump only hires the best people, that wasn’t a problem in his administration.
With the vote fraud, a hostile media, and republican stupidity, beating the democrats in 2024 is going to be tough. I want the most conservative ( old school conservative ) candidate, but I mostly just want someone who is going to beat the democrat. Even if they do absolutely nothing, nothing is a vast improvement over whatever the democrat will do. I don’t think Trump has any chance at winning, so I want the best non-Trump. I hope the best non-Trump comes out of the primaries in a strong position.
This IS a deal breaker for me for ANY of the candidates. Any pol (including Trump) fell for what many of us here on Ricochet saw was a pile of crap all the way through is not my preferred candidate.
DeSantis is the only guy running who came to his senses early, and stuck to his guns.
From wikipedia:
Maybe Nikki Haley used the DeLorean featured in the movie “Back to the Future” to lock down South Carolina despite her term ending in 2017. You can’t rule it out, right?
I was trying to keep well within the bounds of the CoC, but I do like your formulation better.
That was a low blow.
You have now entered the Gary Robin zone where I can just skip over your comments with zero guilt. I wish that the government will give you a sex robot so you can never procreate.
So I believe that Joe Biden sexually abused his living son and daughter. And pretty much everyone agrees that Kamala Harris got to where she is because she sexually pleased a corrupt politician who happened to be black.
How did the greatest country have the most corrupt people leading it? America is filled with people of every race and religion who are honest and competent. We got blacks and whites and every kind of Asian and we get a dumb corrupt (probably) a pedophile to represent us?
He was an Al Gore supporter and ran for office as a Democrat.
Replying to them isn’t skipping over them. Try harder next time. And the fact you would determine whether someone should procreate or not based on their opinions in relation to yours shows what a petty and low human being you are. I don’t think women should lead men at all. Something that is traditional and conservative and can easily be defended. You go your own way with your terrible record of conserving things. And please feel free to actually skip over and not reply.
Was she even in office during Covid? I don’t think so. She was governor from 2011 to 2017. I’m no Haley fan but that is a slanderous lie.
I don’t think Margaret Thatcher did much of a damn thing. And I don’t need to admire her or Reagan for that matter. I don’t care for their examples and I’m not enamored with either of them. I know that’s sacrilege in your world. That’s your problem not mine. They built nothing long lasting. Nothing has been conserved and following their examples and singing their praises for 40 years clearly hasn’t worked for us or England. It’s all been a giant waste of time in my opinion. And I don’t want to hear about the soviet union which largely collapsed under its own weight and malfeasance.
She was not. And I add we addressed this in other comments, and he has not yet admitted he was wrong about that.
She wasn’t. She was the one telling us how we all need to do better as country after George Floyd. I can’t keep track of all the betrayals and nonsense from Republicans. Sorry.
I wrote that before I read the following comments. Yes, I saw you did.
Nikki Haley was not in office during any of the Covid shutdowns. In fact, SC did not shut down at all by order of Gov McMaster.
Gov. Haley did a good job. We’ve lived here in Greenville for 21 years. It was happy to think of myself as a Greenvillian but I did not consider myself to be a South Carolinian until her calls after the Charleston Nine were killed. She was a big reason our state did not burn. The Confederate flag was removed out of respect in the death of state Senator Clement Pinckney. The man was amazing and deserved that honor. He was the exact opposite of George Floyd.
The biggest reason there was peace was the pastor of Mother Emmanuel, who called for mourning without vengeance. There had also been years of both cooperation and trust built between the residents of all ethnicities and the city government. This was not a capitulation but rather cooperation in tHe best sense of the word.
For the record, I prefer DeSantis as president but these hatchet jobs on Nikki Haley are getting ridiculous.
Yes. I have come to see them as the yin and yang of Ricochet.
I don’t like this “mandatory mental competency” stuff outside the context of a constitutional amendment. Authoritarian.