In her new book titled “If You Want Something Done,” Nikki Haley notes that “Women fought for so long to have the freedom to make their own decisions,” (but now are subject to and) “are boxed in by a woke mob.” In essence, the book was an attempt to appeal to the American People, a front which she has battled on for much of her controversial past.
As the daughter of immigrant parents from India, Haley rose to the challenge. Her mother was a small business owner which inspired her to go on to serve in the Chambers of Commerce in South Carolina. Her father was a professor at an HBCU College-Voorhees. Connecting with the business community was just one part of a dynamic entry into politics.
The once Ambassador to the U.N. is vying to shift her paradigm and drive back to politics. While she envisions many politicians on both sides of the aisle, she strives to create her legacy. The author of three books, she aims to include all in her message for conquering a nation not yet rooted in political tradition.
Haley has never lost an election since 2004, and at multiple points took away more than 60% of the vote. The issue of her electability still stands as a viable question, noting what one analyst said to President Biden in a DNC Debate in 2020-“The Debate with Trump will make this one seem like child’s play.” That fact still stands with Trump the only declared candidate running to re-take control of the GOP. In 2012-however-when Haley first ran for higher office in her Gubernatorial bid-she made it a point to appeal to a wider electorate while being an unofficial member of the tea party movement. And once you’re part of the tea party there’s no coming back.
The Race for 2024 is well-decorated with candidates with a dark history.
The Race for 2024 is well-decorated with candidates with a dark history like this. On policy, all of these candidates are vying to create a very dire picture of what is American “exceptionalism’.” At its heart, it means “Of many, one” but in essence, it reflects poor taxation and unhealthy immigration reform. The Tea Party and the Trump caucus are accumulatively a figure just short of 60% of Republican Voters. Against one another, they could break up into smaller fractions, opening up the way for other GOP establishment favourites. And that is very similar to Mitt Romney and 2012.
Mitt Romney-in 2012-was a very different man from what he is today. The now, Utah’s United States Senator was then a reset button for the GOP after a similar multi-wing crisis that embattled Republicans after 2008 and Bush Junior’s Administration. While some may not remember it, Bush was a rather unpopular figure, not just in America, but in his party too. He replaced a President with loads of controversy and made himself the centre of more, with his health and tax plans for the 8 years America came to regret. He did-however-lead America out of very dark times on a foreign policy front. Regardless, he divided the party to a point that McCain couldn’t get to mould to a victory. Romney was the perfect candidate to get the support of rural America, corporate America and the middle class and was deemed “necessary” to avoid Gingrich’s rise to power.
Fast forward to 2023, replace Gingrich with Trump and Romney with Haley, and you see a real shift in the power dynamic. Pleading with the Trump voters will be a very difficult job for the Haley campaign, given externalities-such as extremism-is on the rise. According to a Five Thirty-Eight Poll conducted, Potential voters and Primary voters view Trump as 42% favourable, which may just seem like a majority compared to President Biden’s 42% (and declining) approval rating.
At the end of the day, voters want to see someone passionate about putting America “on the map” again and not someone who puts themselves centre stage. Somebody like Liz Cheney-former VP Cheney’s daughter-or Nikki Haley is in no way the party favourites, nor America’s next popular figure-but Ronna McDaniel’s support for more candidates in 2024 is a litmus test for her role as GOP chair, balancing 4 party segments; the Freedom Caucus, the Trump Caucus, the Moderate Wing, and the Alt-Right. Eventually, “no one looks at Donald Trump and says we need more of that in the White House.”
I am personally critical of Ambassador Haley, but the symbol she stands for is so much bigger than disagreements on a policy issue. Bringing diversity to a heavily polarized nation, while catering to what will surely be-a difficult playing field in 2024. Nikki Haley is just one of a handful of Asian Americans running for office around the world as a Diaspora. She also knows how to bring under-represented communities to the national stage, and doesn’t shy away from speaking her truths. Perhaps, the most congenial aspect about her is that she hopes to bring sanity to the global stage, and replace Trump-who has been infecting American and international minds for too long, with hate, hate and more hate.
The writer is a columnist and a linguistic activist.
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