Expect to see more of these announcements over the next few months.
Get excited! Time for a new generation.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 14, 2023
Let’s do this! 👊 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/BD5k4WY1CP
I personally like Nikki Haley and would wholeheartedly support her if indeed she becomes the GOP nominee for President.
I've always preferred former governors to be elevated to the White House simply because they've actually run things at an Executive level. Haley was first elected as governor of South Carolina in 2010, defeating her Democrat opponent Vincent Sheheen by about 4-1/2 percentage points. This was a historic election as Haley became the first non-white female to be elected Governor of a southern state. She then coasted to reelection in a rematch with Sheheen in 2014, prevailing by almost 15 points.
About midway through her second term, Haley accepted new President Donald Trump's nomination to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. It was there she shined on not only a national stage but a global one as well, pushing back against representatives from countries rife with human rights abuses.
While there are undeniable positives regarding a Haley candidacy, Hot Air's Ed Morrissey points out a couple of drawbacks.
She spent two years in the Trump administration and acquitted herself well in her work at the UN, without a doubt. But again, Haley hasn’t done much since leaving that position in December 2018, and while she name-checks the GOP betes noires, she’s been out of that fight for a while. Trump himself has been immersed in it, but so too has Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin, who’s term-limited in Virginia and likely looking to move up in class. They have been on the front lines all along, and both have scored big wins while Haley stayed out of the game.
Plus, the “time for a new generation” may not resonate entirely on age within the GOP. It might also connote a truly fresh start and some distance from the Trump administration. Haley will have at least a taste of the conundrum likely to face Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, and even John Bolton if they follow through and enter the primary as well. They’re going to have to sell themselves as part of a return to the Trump agenda — but if Trump’s running, why wouldn’t voters choose the original? And if voters want a “new generation,” then they’re not going to embrace the Trump administration figures in the race, and Haley’s very much included in that class.
Haley doesn't strike me as the type of person who would convey an air of "POTUS or nothing." If indeed, say, Gov. DeSantis hops in the race and becomes the clear frontrunner (or at least the most formidable non-Trump candidate), I don't doubt Haley would accept a invitation to be DeSantis's running mate. Again, the goal for Republicans should be to avoid the mistake of 2016, which was not coalescing behind one candidate in an effort to thwart Trump from securing the nomination. Granted Trump may have still prevailed, but he's definitely more vulnerable to such a tactic this time around.
Buckle up!
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