Playing the Game

I watched the first Republican presidential primary debate a couple of weeks ago. I was fascinated by the efforts the debaters made to distinguish themselves from one another while being careful not to stray away from the party line of the Republican base.

As the candidates responded to the questions, or not, the audience showed its political leanings in a big way. I wonder how those who were in the audience were chosen because they booed anything that sounded almost reasonable and cheered comments that were apocalyptic in their impact if ever implemented.

Following the debate, I purposely avoided listening to commentators’ opinions about who did what and how well they showed themselves. I wanted to sleep on my first impression. The next day I continued to be impressed by the emergence of Nikki Haley.

Comparatively speaking, Haley was the standout in a positive way among the eight candidates. Either she had a lot of courage and conviction, or she gambled that she had nothing to lose because it is highly unlikely that she will be selected by her party as its presidential candidate. Not only did she position herself—purposefully or not—in a way that the Republican Party would never support, but also that Independents would not trust. 

Regardless of where she goes from here, I give her points for demonstrating that being a woman and a woman of color does not mean that you can’t play the game. While some of the candidates attempted to obfuscate the issues, Nikki Haley appeared to be crystal clear, all the while masterfully wielding her ideological sleight of hand.