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Nikki Haley Just Needs to Go Away

Nikki Haley in the Oval Office. Image Credit: White House.
Nikki Haley in the Oval Office. Image Credit: White House.

Nikki Haley wants you to know that a vote for President Joe Biden in 2024 is, in fact, a vote for his babbling vice-president, Kamala Harris.

The implication is that Biden being the oldest president in history as well as the oldest man to run for reelection—one who is prone to nonsensical statements, shaking hands with people who aren’t there, and falling everywhere—is unlikely to be physically capable of running for office and holding that office.

Haley is probably correct. At least, her attempts to highlight a subject which our partisan press has deemed to be verboten to us plebes, is a legitimate line of attack for any Republican candidate to take in 2024.

Nikki Haley’s Bold Strategy?

Although Nikki Haley’s focus on the subject is bizarre. It’s not just reminding voters of the age issue. Or Biden’s health problems. It isn’t just criticizing Vice-President Harris’ abysmal record as the VPOTUS. All of which are fair game. Nikki Haley appears to literally be running as if Kamala Harris, not Joe Biden, is her opponent.

In the eternal words of Pepper Brooks from Dodgeball, “That’s a bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off!”

Frankly, even if Nikki Haley was, in fact, going against Kamala Harris to be made president in 2024, I don’t think she’d do very well. Yes, Harris’ approval ratings are lower than whale dung. Nikki Haley, however, is not more popular.

And whereas Harris has the benefit of being a woman of color (which, sadly, matter more to many voters than substantive issues), Nikki Haley, despite being an Indian-American, is perceived as an upper-class white woman with a southern drawl.

Plus, Haley’s politics are deeply unpopular…even among Republican voters.

Like Mike Pence, Haley is a throwback to a bygone era. If this were 1996 or 2000—maybe even 2004—Republican candidates, like Haley or Pence, would be competitive. They could play to that moral majority vote and rally enough voters around the flag, as they advocated for wars of regime change in distant foreign lands.

Those days are over now.

Haley’s attack line on Harris is probably the strongest point she’s made in her shambolic campaign. Sadly for her, Harris isn’t yet the top of the Democratic ticket and no one has won the presidency by attacking the wrong politician through innuendo.

Haley doesn’t even have substance going for her.

Neocon Barbie

I like to call her “Neocon Barbie.” As a well-mannered, smart, erudite woman, Haley stuns audiences everywhere with her bloodlust. Most Americans sympathize with the plight of the Ukrainians, for example. But far fewer of those Americans want to risk nuclear World War Three with Russia to allow for Ukraine’s total victory over the invading Russians. But that is precisely what Haley wants. Oh, boy, does she like her some wars.

And why shouldn’t she?

This is an individual who, immediately after leaving government, joined the board of Boeing—one of the leading manufacturers of expensive weapons systems in the United States. Clearly, Nikki Haley remembers her Thirty-Fourth Rule of Acquisition: War is good for business.

And while Haley may have resigned in protest from the Boeing board over a $60 million bailout it had received from the Trump Administration during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, one is never truly out of the defense industry. Especially once one has sat on the board of a leading corporation in that industry and has held key government positions overseeing that industry.

Think of it as the Hotel California Principle for Defense Contracting: you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave. And Haley doesn’t want to leave, as evidenced by her cynical and empty machinations since leaving the Trump Administration in 2019.

Haley is Playing for Number Two

She is also clearly fearful of Joe Biden on some level, which is why she, a successful woman in her own right, has opted to engage in what amounts to a catfight with Biden’s number two, another female.

What’s more, her emphasis on Kamala Harris over Joe Biden himself might just be the audition she wants it to be for whoever will be the nominee in 2024. Haley might be angling hard for her to become the vice-presidential pick to lay the groundwork for an inevitable run in the future.

God help us all.

Should either Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis or former President Donald J. Trump get the GOP nomination this election cycle, it is imperative that they ignore the siren song of Neocon Barbie and instead find a number two who is appealing to voters and loyal. Nikki Haley is neither.

A 19FortyFive Senior Editor, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

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Written By

Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who recently became a writer for 19FortyFive.com. Weichert is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as a contributing editor at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (March 28), and Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

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