Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley hit New Hampshire during the first week of her freshly announced GOP presidential campaign and crowds came out to greet the candidate, who looks unlike most GOP candidates in recent memory.
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Haley gave a walk-and-talk interview — Aaron Sorkin style — to Chris Ryan, host of the New Hampshire Today Show. In the segment, Haley strolls casually in high black boots holding a coffee, looking like a regulation citizen who might be headed to a PTA meeting — and not necessarily like the former US Ambassador to the United Nations, a position she was given by former President Donald Trump, now a rival for the GOP nomination.
The “regulation citizen” positioning is one major theme of Haley’s campaign. Here she presents a subtle variation on the old “lace up the boots and get to work” idea by wearing a plain blue dress that zippers all the way up the front.
The optics say she’s just like those hard “lace ’em up” workers of yore, but she’s also a little different: Haley will “zip up the dress and get to work.”
. @NikkiHaley post @NHTodayShow interview chat. #NHPolitics #FITN pic.twitter.com/7vN3LCu1DQ
— Chris Ryan (@ChrisRyan603) February 17, 2023
Ryan asks about her ability to personally connect with voters, and Haley dives into the answer saying that bakeries and cafes are “where I’m most comfortable. I’m comfortable being around normal people. When you’re a mom, when you’re a military wife, the daughter of immigrant parents, you really do go back to those experiences.” Haley says that New Hampshire is like South Carolina, “neighbors taking care of neighbors.”
