Feehery: The check-the-box candidate runs for the Republican nomination 

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced that she is running for president.  

In many ways, her path to the White House seems murky at best. But she checks a lot of boxes. 

Republicans have to decide if they are going to suddenly be the check-the-box party or if they are going to continue to support a guy who checks no boxes. 

Haley certainly does check all the right boxes for the Washington, D.C., consultant class. 

She is a woman, obviously, and in the post-Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization era, that could come in handy. The GOP has been badly hemorrhaging female voters of all kinds, and abortion was the top issue in many states where Democrats won handily.  

As a former governor, Haley has demonstrated executive function skills that are also extremely valuable in the White House. Before Donald Trump became their standard-bearer, Republicans typically liked their presidents to have some experience as governor, stretching back to Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.  

Haley has represented American interests at the United Nations and thus would be familiar with the foreign policy challenges that seemed to be a mystery to Trump when he came to the White House. Haley did a good job at the U.N. as ambassador, although many Republicans would prefer that we stop funding an international body that works overtime to undermine U.S. interests.  

Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants, and her life story is one that should resonate with all Americans who like to see underdogs succeed. And for a party that seems to desperately need to diversify from its older, whiter, and male-er reputation, she could be seen as a breath of fresh air.  

Haley also is in the sweet spot when it comes to her age. Her nomination would represent an important generational shift for the party and for the country. She would be the first Generation Xer in the White House, and more importantly, she would contrast nicely with the very old man who currently sits in the Oval Office. 

When it comes to the 800-pound elephant in the room, Haley has a confusing relationship with Trump. Sometimes, she likes him. Sometimes, she can’t stand him. That strategic ambiguity could work with some folks, who feel pretty much the same way about our former president.  

The challenge for Haley is to come up with a rationale for the White House.

Donald Trump checked no boxes when he ran in 2016. He had no foreign policy experience, no executive office experience, no political experience, no governing experience. He went out of his way to offend women, immigrants and the press. And yet, he was somehow able to focus his attention on issues that mattered to the base of the party: our broken border, our hollowed-out middle class, our unhealthy relationship with China, our propensity to get involved in costly and deadly wars. Trump also showed that he had the strength to take on the media and the woke left, and that was very appealing in the aftermath of the Obama administration. 

What’s Haley’s rationale for the White House? Can she be tough enough to take on both the left and Donald Trump? Or will she send a different message to Republican voters, that it is time for a new generation of problem-solvers to lead the country and stop the partisan nonsense that has infected Washington for too long? 

Another problem for Haley and other White House aspirants comes in numbers. The more Republicans who run against Donald Trump, the better it is for Donald Trump. His ceiling might be pretty low at the start of the race, but as we found in 2016, his floor is pretty high.  

Haley is smart to get in early because it gives her chance to have the stage to herself. We will get a chance to see the contrast between a candidate who checks all the boxes and the one who still checks none of them. 

Feehery is a partner at EFB Advocacy and blogs at thefeeherytheory.com. He served as spokesman to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), as communications director to former House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and as a speechwriter to former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.).