Who I liked best in the GOP debate: Nikki Haley
I'm not picking a "winner." That's a useless exercise.
The most important question about the eventual Republican presidential nominee is: Who can win the general election?
Very few of the candidates in the GOP “debate” in Milwaukee has a chance of winning the general election. Having the best chance is Nikki Haley.
Of course, she’ll be derided as a RINO (Republican in Name Only) by the fans of former President Donald Trump. And she’ll have as problem winning the Republican nomination because—what?—she’s too moderate? Reminds me of the infamous quote from long-ago GOP nominee, Barry Goldwater: “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Boom. He got creamed. Lost to Lyndon Johnson who won the popular vote, 61 percent to Goldwater’s embarrassing 39 percent.
(Johnson has the distinction of running the most offensive, unfair TV commercial in my memory: Three-year-old Monique Corzilius standing in a meadow, picking the petals off a daisy as Goldwater supposedly starts nuclear war. And you think today’s campaigns are nasty?)
Haley, to me, may be the only candidate on the stage who has a chance of winning independent and moderate votes of both parties and suburban women. The Republican “base” alone is not enough for Trump or anyone else to win. She didn’t bend the knee to Trump, calling him one of most disliked politicians in the country, (Honesty.) She credited former Vice President Mike Pence when he refused to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election. (True.)
She struck the right note when she spoke to the reality that abortion could sink the Republicans like it did in the 2022 midterms. (Right. See my post: Republicans better get their act together on abortion.)
She said:
Can’t we all agree that we should ban late-term abortions? Can’t we all agree that we should encourage adoptions? Can’t we all agree that doctors and nurses who don’t believe in abortions shouldn’t have to perform them? Can’t we agree that contraception should be available?
This certainly will lose votes among staunch pro-lifers who would entirely ban abortions. They should remember: The perfect is the enemy of the possible.
She’ll lose other Republicans by eloquently explaining why America must not abandon Ukraine to the mad dictator, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Not if democracy and liberty mean anything to us. (Yes.)
She didn’t excuse Trump or Republicans for adding to the debt.
Biden didn’t do this to us; our Republicans did this to us too. Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our debt, and our kids are never going to forgive us.(Honest, courageous.)
She didn’t accuse the other side of being “woke,” a dogwhistle for both sides. She supported traditional conservative causes, such as school choice.
She’d be the first woman president and the first daughter of Indian immigrants to be president. That might impress some people, but those aren’t my tests. Competence and inability are.
I’m generally not impressed with these so-called debates. It’s a contest that comes down to who can best memorize the scripts that political consultants inflict on them. Or who can best not answer a moderator’s question by skillfully and smoothly segueing into prescribed talking points. Or who can look the sternest and shout the loudest. (All good reasons to fire all political consultants.) Haley didn’t sound like any of that.
Regular conservative readers will be angry that I’d compliment someone they loathe. Unsuited to be president. A betrayer.
I’m just trying to honest and practical here. The two worst presidents are leading the pack and, woe betide us, we could repeat the terrifying choice of Biden/Harris and Trump. God help us.