Nikki's Town Hall: Normalcy AND Culture War?

[Dill]

(06-05-2023, 08:56 AM)pally Wrote: Acknowledged Biden was President but stuck with Republican lies about massive fraud and irregularities

She has a habit of being wishy washy about her positions when she gets pushback so we will see what she says over the next couple of days

Her description of her response to the Charleston Massacre was fascinating. SC just needed to "heal" so she wouldn't talk to media. They would just make a racial mass shooting all about race and guns.

But then Roof posted his manifesto and the Confederate flag. So she jumped into action by scheduling meetings with leaders of SC Senate and House to act on the flag issue, and with local community leaders to see what SC could do for them in their time of need. All meetings behind doors with a promise she would not reveal what they said. Then she revealed what they said (no names though), proposing to take down the flag at the capitol but leave the pole up. She knew the flag would return once the media left, so she stood up to them etc. Terrible difficulty getting the House to take down the flag after the massacre, but no systemic race problem.

She was really presenting herself as someone who could deal with racial issues without talking about race, working behind the scenes, etc. Keeping with the GOP theme--media bad; no race problem. 

So she seems often to take away with one hand while giving back with the other. Cops were called on her father because of his turban, but don't make a scene about stuff like that. Up to the victim to demonstrate s/he is no threat to white majority.  Disagreed with DeSantis "Don't say Gay" bill; but it didn't go far enough because only parents should be talking to kids about gender, so really no one should be saying "Gay" at all in k-12.

(06-05-2023, 09:29 AM)Arturo Bandini Wrote: - I don't trust the government but ... I want to be the head of it ...
- "I want everybody to live the way they want to live. But stop pushing your views on everybody else, that's the problem" While pushing her views to anyone ...
Nonsense.

Few in the audience she is pitching too will see anything contradictory in her desire deregulate the economy and jump into the culture wars. She tends to frame proposed control and exclusion in schools as family protection from school administrators, enhancing parental freedom etc.  

She follows the line that returning the abortion decision to the states enhanced "freedom"--though she would be fine with a national abortion ban (though probably not feasable).  She wants to get into government to reduce it, she would say.

I think the messaging may be too mixed with traditional emphasis on effective government coupled with culture war moral panic and overreach--"Trans bathrrooms--No wonder so many young girls want to commit suicide."

She has contrasted herself with DeSantis and Trump as likely to be more effective in governance and able to talk about some issues, like race, without ruffling feathers or ignoring them altogether. Pence may seem more attractive to Evangelicals. If Christy jumps into the race, it will be very interesting to see what fraction of voters initially go for Haley. I think she could be very popular in Iowa, much more so than the hyper energetic Ramaswamy.