Since all the post-debate buzz seems to be focusing on former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, let’s dive into that a little deeper.
During the first debate, back in August, Haley staked out land on the abortion question that felt more like a capitulation to pro-choicers than it did an affirmation of her self-proclaimed pro-life credentials. This sort of tempered talk was far more enticing and acceptable to the donor class than that of even Ron DeSantis, who recently signed a law restricting abortion in Florida to the first six weeks.
For years now, the criticism against Nikki Haley is that she’s willing to shift positions and say whatever needs to be said to the audience she’s speaking to. In short, she’s been accused of being a squishy flip-flopper and political opportunist.
Rather than run away from that image, Politico reports that the Haley campaign strategy has turned into an everything for everyone kind of rallying cry:
And there’s nobody else, either, running the way she’s running, attempting to walk a line that’s so vanishingly thin it might not exist. She tempers tough talk on immigration with poignant pieces of her personal backstory, leaning on her identity without leaving crowds with so much as a whiff of “identity politics.” She checks “woke” boxes without invoking the term. And the way she talks about abortion is astonishing for its “can’t we all …” audacity. Casting herself as a fighter and yet also as a unifier, as a former Tea Party-borne South Carolina governor turned former Trump ambassador to the United Nations who is most temperamentally actually like the pre-electoral accountant she once was, Haley’s pitch is a mixture of red meat and “hard truths,” as she likes to say, of intraparty swipes and Kamala Harris and Joe Biden barbs, of necessary confrontation coupled with comforting notes of notional consensus.
In a world of boring, Haley has sounded more interesting as of late, at least to many in the establishment who like what she’s peddling. The question is whether that translates into grassroots support in the voting booth when the primaries start.
When you read this line from the Politico article, however, Haley sounds more like an opportunist than an authentic “awe shucks” conservative just trying to make friends with everyone:
Judging from more than 40 interviews with former Haley advisers and aides, unaffiliated analysts and consultants, and state lawmakers and voters at more than a dozen of her recent events in Iowa and New Hampshire, some see this tactic as canny, savvy and potentially effective. Others find it cagey, squishy and transparently disingenuous. This, though, say those who know her the best and have watched her the longest, is what she is and consistently has been. “She’s always careful about not going so far she completely alienates other people,” said Chip Felkel, a Republican strategist in South Carolina. “She will — what’s the word? — she will adapt to whatever benefits her … to whoever she’s around,” said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist in South Carolina. “She’s not new to this,” he said. “She’s true to this.”
If she’s willing to adapt her words to who she’s around, does that count as being politically savvy or politically weak? Voters will decide that question while the pundits watch on the sideline.
Then again, if Haley’s not putting on an act when she “adapts” her stances on issues or speaking style, does that make her authentically moderate?
Here’s a deeper question, is it better to be “authentic” like Haley and own up to your image in some regard than be totally inauthentic like Mitt Romney in 2012 trying to run as a “severe conservative” when he could never really play the part? Voters tossed Romney to the curb because he was also someone who tried to “adapt” his message to the room but nobody really believed him.
To wrap things up with a bow, perhaps Haley’s team sat around and realized that she would never be able to play the part of conservative hardliner if that really wasn’t her. She’s never going to out-flank Trump or DeSantis on the right, her past positions and record won’t allow it.
Therefore, the only path forward, or the path that makes the most sense with the most upside is, for lack of a better term, let Nikki be Nikki.
