Nikki Haley calls for ‘generational’ leadership as she looks to grow support in Iowa

CLIVE — Nikki Haley’s recent debate performances were a major factor that brought Laura Mount to see her at a town hall in Clive on Saturday.

The 72-year-old from Ogden was, until recently, considering supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses in January.

But, Mount said, Haley drawing a distinction with DeSantis and Ramaswamy at those debates made her think the former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor was the most qualified candidate on the stage. Mount said she's likely to caucus for Haley in January.

“She has a lot more fire than I thought she did,” Mount said of Haley’s most debate performances. “I think she showed backbone and she definitely pointed out how she is different from Tim Scott and some of the others.”

Mount said she is a fan of Haley’s position on the border, foreign policy and budget issues.

“She has been in government long enough to have some idea how to go in there and get the job done,” Mount said.

Haley’s remarks Saturday to a crowd of more than 200 were similar to her past swings through Iowa: she promised to slash budgets, be tough on China and beef up border security.

She said she would take back billions in unspent COVID-19 relief money and bring federal spending back to pre-COVID levels.

Haley criticized Congress for not passing a federal budget on time and bringing the country to the brink of a government shutdown. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a short-term funding bill with bipartisan support on Saturday, and the Senate passed it and President Joe Biden signed it late Saturday night.

“You need a president that reminds them that their job is to get a budget out before we even get to this point,” she said. “So don’t let them sit there and tell you, ‘Oh, I was on this side, or I was on that side.’ … They should have given us a budget on time so we never got to this point.”

On border security, she said she would send military special operations personnel to Mexico to target drug cartels.

“When it comes to all the cartels and what they’re doing, sending fentanyl, we need to send our special operations forces over to them, and we need to wipe the cartels out,” she said.

Using U.S. military forces on Mexican cartels is a popular position among Republican candidates, and contenders like former President Donald Trump, DeSantis and Ramaswamy have all suggested such measures. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has called the idea irresponsible and a threat to Mexico’s sovereignty.

Haley's stump speech was briefly interrupted by hecklers who asked her for her opinion on the artist Taylor Swift — one wearing a T-shirt that read "Swifties against Nikki Haley" — before being escorted out by police.

After laughing off the incident, Haley said they were free to ask any questions after her speech and told the crowd to "remember how blessed we are that we have freedom of speech in this country."

Haley looks to make up ground

Because of her recent growth in support in some early nominating states, GOP mega-donors are giving Haley consideration, while keeping their eye on DeSantis, as an option to knock Trump from his dominant position, according to NBC News.

Haley still has a ways to go to catch up to DeSantis’ second-place spot in Iowa polling, according to recent polls. But she has regularly taken second place in recent polls in New Hampshire and South Carolina, the next two states in the primary process.

Haley’s super PAC, SFA Fund, Inc, has blanketed the Iowa airwaves with ads that highlight her stance on China and argue she is the most electable Republican against President Joe Biden. In August, it said it had placed $13 million in ad buys in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Iowa Republican Sen. Chris Cournoyer of LeClaire, Haley’s Iowa campaign co-chair, said she thinks Haley’s debate performances are establishing her as one of the serious contenders in the race for the Republican nomination.

Cournoyer said she’s seen more people come out to see Haley in Iowa as she’s traveled the state, and she thinks the grassroots, town hall-style campaign process will build up her support in the Hawkeye State.

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“I think it’s possible, and I think as the drama continues with the front-runner, I think a lot of Iowans haven’t completely made their mind up,” she said. “They’re open to another candidate and they’re starting to realize that we need to pick the candidate that’s ultimately going to win in November.”

Electability has become a key factor in Haley’s campaign as a recent CNN poll showed her with a comfortable lead over Biden in a potential 2024 matchup.

Haley made that argument again on Saturday, saying the Republican Party has consistently lost the popular vote in recent presidential elections and new leadership is needed to win in 2024.

“We’re going to have to have a new generational conservative leader,” she said. “We’ve got to leave the past headlines behind us and we’ve got to look forward to these major threats that we have and come up with the solutions that we change with the times.”

While Trump still holds a major lead in polling, both nationally and in Iowa, Cournoyer said she is optimistic about Haley's potential over the next three months.

“A lot can happen between now and January, and a lot will happen between now and January," Cournoyer said. "But I think that if she continues to get out in front of voters, she’ll continue to pick up the support.”