Starting Jan. 15, 2024, the Republican party has to make some tough decisions on who they want their presidential nominee to be. The Iowa caucus, which is how Iowa chooses who they want the Democratic and Republican candidates to be, will be a huge telling point of the next Republican presidential nominee.
According to polling website FiveThirtyEight, as of August 30th, 2023, former President Donald Trump currently leads with 49.9 percent of the vote, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 14.6 percent, Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy at 9.9 percent, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley at 5.6 percent and former Vice President Mike Pence at 4.4 percent.
Looking at these numbers, Trump is the favorite to win the nomination. But, Trump is the worst choice for the Republicans.
Trump is the definition of a political loser. No, I am not bullying the former President, he just doesn’t win anymore.
According to Newsweek, in 2022, four senate candidates, 11 house of representative candidates, and 10 gubernatorial candidates, & were endorsed by Trump. Trump also lost in 2020 against Joe Biden, who currently has the lowest Democratic presidential approval rating since the very unpopular Jimmy Carter.
Now the question is, why is Trump so unpopular? Well that is simple. He is one of the most divisive and nasty politicians of the 21st century.
From claiming the 2020 election was stolen from him, to calling Haiti and African countries “S**tcountries” in a 2018 meeting with a group of bipartisan senators, Trump makes it easy to hate him.
Trump also has four indictments to his name: Georgia election interference (which he was arrested, booked, and released for), Federal election interference, Mar-a-Lago classified documents scandal and Hush money fraud from the 2016 elections. He also has 91 felony counts against him.
The former president also has very extreme political views. When he first entered office, he rolled back many environmental protections. He also campaigned on building a wall between the Mexican and American border and wants to end American involvement with the war in Ukraine.
According to Politico, the former President also has praised Russian leader Vladmir Putin saying, “He used the word ‘independent’ and ‘we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy.” This quote angered many Americans.
His non-favorability also shows in the polls. According to FiveThirtyEight, only 39.7 percent of Americans view him favorably. You can’t win a presidential election with only a 39.7 percent favorability rating.
Now, who do I want to be the G.O.P presidential candidate, that’s simple, Nikki Haley. The former Governor of South Carolina is a traditional republican. She is not a “MAGAite” and she follows more traditional Republican views.
She believes in supporting the war in Ukraine. She believes in immigration, not illegal immigration. She believes in being tough on China. She believes in cutting spending and lowering taxes. Now, you might be saying most Republicans have these political views. That is true, but what makes her stand out is that she is not a MAGA conservative, she’s down to earth on her policies and she’s honest.
What stands out to me is her honesty. During the 2023 Republican primary debate, she was truthful with the audience. She told the truth about the 2024 election by saying, “Three-quarters of Americans don’t want a rematch between Trump and Biden.”
She told the truth about current Republicans’ economic policies by saying, “Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our debt,” she said. “You look at the 2024 budget: Republicans asked for $7.4 billion in earmarks. Democrats asked for $2.8 billion. So you tell me who are the big spenders.”
So, when looking at the Republican primary, Republicans need to throw out the radical liar Donald Trump, and bring in the G.O.P common sense speaker of truth, Nikki Haley.
