“And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you're wearing heels.”
That line from Nikki Haley’s announcement video got a lot of attention, and at first seemed to many like a line that only a man would think was clever.
The women on Morning Joe looked like they were going to be sick.
“Really,” I could see them wanting to say to the speechwriter, “that’s the best you’ve got? That says female leadership to you?”
But according to the Wall Street Journal, “References to high heels have long been a staple in political speeches for Ms. Haley.” In April 2017, for example, UN Ambassador Haley reportedly “adopted a folksy tone” at a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations and said,
"I wear heels, but it's not a fashion statement. It's because if I see something wrong, I'm gonna kick 'em every single time."
I guess that’s her brand. That, and as the great Philip Bump observes, being racially “different,” citing the second sentence in her video:
“I was the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. Not black, not white. I was different.”
Her argument, as Bump writes, is “a presentation of race that’s meant to appeal to Republicans who want to treat racism as sufficiently addressed, who want to insist that the United States is now colorblind.”
Ask yourself: How many of those Republicans are going to pick the next nominee for President? Are there more of them then there are Trumpers?
And why wouldn’t they choose that other moderate Republican presidential candidate for President, Senator Tim Scott? As I wrote on twitter, there may be thunder-stealing ahead for the Haley campaign.
My very wise mentor in politics, who I wrote about in this op-ed I keep urging you to read, told me that everyone who’s ever been elected to anything has a secret plan to be President of the United States. The ones who lack ambition, he said, only want to be Speaker of the House—anticipating by several decades the rise of Kevin McCarthy.
I agree with
who writes,"She believes in nothing except winning elected office and being liked."
Of course, that works for lots of folks in politics, such as the aforementioned Kevin McCarthy. Or the unfortunate George Santos, for that matter.
Nikki Haley, like so many politicians, looks in the mirror and sees a president—not that there’s anything wrong with that. We’ll see if she can run a serious campaign, or if she’ll end up as Donald Trump’s first victim.
But getting back to those high heels…click below. You’ll be glad you did.