A poor party ambassador

To the editor:

As lifelong Republicans who consider themselves moderates struggle to find a standard bearer, Nikki Haley’s poll numbers started to rise. The problem is that Haley isn’t exactly moderate.

When Boeing was planning to build their Charleston aircraft plant, Boeing was willing to allow unionized workers; however, then-Governor Haley wasn’t. She said, “It’s no secret I don’t like unions,” making it clear that in her right-to-work state, a unionized Boeing was a deal-breaker.  Haley was willing to lose thousands of well-paid jobs for her constituents if the deal involved unions. For pro-worker voters like myself, that is a deal-breaker.

Haley is also a political coward. In 2016, she urged her party to deny the nomination to “a man that chooses not to disavow the KKK.” A short time later, she, like most Republicans, went to Donald Trump on bended knee to beg for inclusion in MAGA World, in her case, as ambassador to the U.N.

On the 2024 campaign trail, Haley frequently lauds the man “that is not who we want as president” out of fear of him and his base — even after Trump called her “birdbrain.” She also employs the litany of insults and rhetoric that resonates with MAGA acolytes: woke, socialists, liberal extremists, critical race theory, etc. So do nearly all GOP elected officials and presidential hopefuls, with the exception of Chris Christie who, to his credit, has remained focused on issues.

Those who think of themselves as moderate GOP voters should consider the unthinkable — voting Democrat. When 147 GOP members of Congress voted to overturn a presidential election mere hours after an attempted coup, the term “moderate Republican” became an oxymoron.  I ask all GOP voters to save our country by taking back your party!

Joseph Cannisi