Haley camp still hoping for VP nod

Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Nikki Haley’s notable performance in the Pennsylvania primary garnered attention. The former South Carolina Governor received 16.2% of the vote in the state’s closed primary. Some even stated that they would consider voting for Joe Biden in November.

One was Rich Kain of Sewickley, a suburb of Pittsburgh. A lifelong Republican, he voted for Ms. Haley and, though he says it pains him, plans to vote for President Joe Biden in November.

“Trump is a demagogue,” says Mr. Kain, who owns a public relations firm.

“But if Ms. Haley were on the ticket I’d have to strongly consider voting for Mr. Trump.” Kain added. He admitted that the ages of both the former and current presidents was a concern. Last year, Haley predicted that Biden would not see 2028.

The Biden campaign took note, dropping six-figures on a Pennsylvania TV buy, following the primary. The message to Haley supporters was simple: “You have a place here.”

Trump Says Haley “Not Under Consideration.”

“Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot, but I wish her well!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Still, one GOP strategist who recently visited Mr. Trump’s Florida estate says Ms. Haley’s name “has been discussed.” While Mr. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base “despises her,” this strategist says, they wouldn’t abandon the former president over it.

At this writing, Haley has neither endorsed President Trump nor acknowledged that she would accept the V.P. appointment. Smart money suggests that if it came, the donor class would push it. It comes down to “who” controls the future of the Republican party. The chasm is as deep a Jeffersonism vs. Trotskyism.

Haley is a decided Neo con. She is firmly in the camp of the Bushes, Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham and Lisa Murkowski. She is a consummate “Globalist.” She has never encountered a pre-emptive war in a far-a-way place that she didn’t like. She sees the need for a “large Washington, D.C. government, whose purpose is to advance and facilitate conservatism.” And, of course, her Neo con friends define conservatism. Most disconcerting is that Globalist Neo cons see the president as “an ambassador to the administrative state.”

The Fight to Save the “Deep State”

Since World War II, the civil service has encompassed about 90% of the federal workforce. Today’s 2.2 million civil servants work on everything from collecting military intelligence to assessing the safety of America’s food supply. Unlike those in the more than 4,000 positions that each new president appoints, they can’t be fired for political reasons, only for failure to perform duties.

Donald Trump’s plan would change that. In fall 2020, then-President Trump unveiled an executive order known as Schedule F that would have removed job protections for tens of thousands of civil servants, notably those involved in making or implementing policy. Career employees would become, in effect, political appointees.

This came on the heels of the “Hires Act,” a 2019 measure introduced by Senators Blackburn and Hawley, which would decentralize much of the federal bureaucracies. It is believed that forced relocation would bring about thousands of resignations. The jobs would either not be filled or filled with loyalists.

The Trump administration said the move was necessary to address long delays and substandard work on important agency projects. It cited a 2016 survey that found that fewer than one-quarter of federal workers believed their agency handled “poor performers” effectively. “Lack of accountability” can bring such results.

The Christian Science Monitor reported, “Trump was also infuriated by anonymous federal employees who proclaimed themselves part of an internal “resistance” that was working to undermine or block what they viewed as the president’s “misguided impulses.” A May 2023 academic article found that civil servants in the Trump administration “largely complied” with political directives but at times “resisted” in ways that “helped mitigate perceived harm to agency missions,” for example by slow-walking projects.”

Joe Biden reversed the order as soon as he took office. Biden’s new rule “clarifies and reinforces” long-standing protections of civil servants. However, it could be overturned by a future president.

Reinforcements on the Way

Former Presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy eloquently phrased, “The framers of the constitution called for three branches of government. Not four.”

Unlike Haley, Ramaswamy is totally in sync with Trump’s objective of “draining the swamp.” So is the Heritage Foundation.

The battle is playing out alongside Project 2025, a conservative initiative organized by The Heritage Foundation to empower a new Republican administration to “rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left.” It includes a 920-page policy playbook and a database of “properly vetted” candidates to carry out that agenda. While Heritage has recommended presidential personnel in the past, this appears far greater in scope than previous efforts.

While the donor class may favor Haley, there is another consideration: “Have the Democrats become too wedded to Communism to be considered an alternative, even for the staunchest of RINOS?” It goes together with Ronald Reagan’s assessment of Democrats’ 1984 campaign. “They have gone so far left; they have left America.”

For some. Not all. I was shocked that former Georgia Lieutenant Governor, Geoff Duncan endorsed Joe Biden. Duncan and Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, are fruits of an open primary. My prediction is that “half” of Pennsylvania’s 16.2% will stay with the GOP. The remaining 8.1% will either vote for Biden or RFK, Jr.

Meanwhile, the “Veep stakes” continue. I believe that Marco Rubio will be the pick, IF the residency riddle can be solved. If not, Trump may take a second look at both Ramaswamy and Tulsi Gabbard who share Trump’s “drain the swamp” objective. Both would bring new voters to the party. Should “loyalty” be the overriding priority, Sarah Huckabee is the hands down choice. She likewise shares Trump’s aspiration for an administrative state overhaul.

Huckabee is also a “natural born” American which, according to conservative pundit, Anne Colter, is a key consideration.

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