President Nikky Haley? - How Great Would That Be!

Former US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley (NPR)

Not that I’m all that surprised. But I’m glad that it actually happened – or is about to happen shortly. The media has been reporting that on February 15^th Nikki Haley will be formally announcing her candidacy for President of the United States in 2024. 

She is the first Republican to challenge her former boss, Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, who has already announced that he’s running. 

I assume that most political pundits would say that her chances of getting the nomination are slim at best, much less her chances of winning the general election. But I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Stranger things have happened. Nonetheless I suspect that her chances are indeed pretty slim for a variety of reasons. Not the least of which is the sad reality that most of Trump’s MAGA fans have not abandoned him. At least not yet. 

Unfortunately polls indicate that as things stand now, Republicans will choose Trump as their nominee. I sure  hope that changes as more Republicans announce their candidacies. I would like to see just about any other Republican get the nomination. 

Despite the loyalty of Trump’s MAGA base - a Trump candidacy would be more toxic than ever to the majority of American voters. Should he somehow win the nomination anyway, he will surely lose the general election again. Probably by a greater margin than the last time. Thankfully. My hope is that even his MAGA supporters realize that at some point and find another candidate whose policies would be similar to Trump’s.

What I like about Haley is that she is the kind of conservative Republican that even many Democrats could vote for. 

Nikki Haley was a 2 term governor of South Carolina - who had the courage to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the state capital after the mass shooting of black worshippers in a church by Dylan Roof, a white supremacist. (She urged prosecutors to seek the death penalty against him). 

Haley is both a fiscal and social conservative who is business friendly, believes in lowering taxes, is pro life, and supports school choice.

She had the wisdom to appoint Tim Scott, a black Republican to replace a retiring south Carolina Senator.

Haley would be the first woman and Indian-American to become President of the United States. That would surely be appealing to ethnic and racial minorities; and to women.

For those of us that support Israel, I do not believe there is a better candidate for President than Haley. She showed her bona fides on this issue as the US representative to the UN. Unlike her predecessor, her full throated harsh condemnation of UN bias against Israel was on constant full display. Her supportfor the Jewish state involved more than mere words: 

As governor of South Carolina, she signed into law a bill to stop efforts of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This legislation was the first of its kind on a statewide level.[94] Haley also stated that "nowhere has the UN's failure been more consistent and more outrageous than in its bias against our close ally Israel" 

As UN representative Haley also withdrew US support for the UN Human Rights Commission calling it a cesspool of political bias against Israel and a failure in holding human rights abusers accountable.

In short her support of the Jewish state in the UN was unprecedented.

The ‘cherry on top’ of this little piece of news is that my daughter’s fellow valedictorian in high school, Nachama Soloveichik, has been hired by Haley as a political consultant. Nechama is Rav Ahron Soloviechik’s granddaughter and R’ Meir Soloveichik’s sister. She was also at one time press secretary for Pennsylvania’s retiring Senator Pat Toomey. 

As an Orthodox Jew; as someone that leans politically conservative; and as a staunch supporter of Israel, I can’t think of a better choice for the Presidency. I cannot imagine the US being a better ally to Israel than under a Haley Presidency. If another Republican wins the nomination (other than Trump who probably now considers her to be disloyal) I think it would be a no-brainer to choose her as their running mate.