If Haley is the Republican nominee

She's been drifting more right as she tries to capture that vote. I would need to see what she does after she gets the nomination

 

Well, she agreed with Lincoln on the cause of the Civil War. And Lincoln was a Republican.

 

If Haley is the nominee, you should start wondering if you are dead, in a coma or in a dream of some sort

 

I consider her the second-craziest human being on the planet.

 

I would welcome Haley as nominee. In good conscience, I could never vote for President Biden on account of Afghanistan and his failure to take personal accountability for humiliating the U.S. armed forces and ringing the dinner bell for Russia and China. But even so, make no mistake: I would rather ritually open my belly with a dull blade in front of my family than ever vote for Trump again. In 2016, I justified it as a vote against Clinton rather than for him. Never again. I will write in a dead person like Eisenhower first.

 

I would for sure consider Haley. Zero chance I vote for trump. Will most likely vote 3 party for the 3rd straight election.

 

A snowball in hell has a better shot at being the nominee. That said, the gop is dead to me until they stop worshiping Trump. It has been a hot minute but I have voted for a gop candidate before.

 

Nope, Lindsey Graham.

 

I'd much prefer Haley be the nominee than Trump but she still panders a bit too much to the Trump supporters for my liking. If Christie were the nominee, I'd consider crossing party lines to vote for him.

 

Everyone is entitled to vote how they please, but this makes little sense to me. Personally, I vote based on the platform and ideology. How does it make sense to vote for completely different ideologies simply due to age? It’s almost as if you are saying you don’t feel strongly about any issues either way.

 

If you’re a Democrat I’m not sure you’d be crossing party lines to vote for Christie.

 

No doubt. You have just given a succinct definition for a politician. Name a realistic candidate from both sides whom you would declare categorically not to be a divisive twit.

 

Christie won't make it past New Hampshire.
Though I agree a lot with him.

 

He just said he would consider it.

 

Might as well throw in “realistic.”

 

I won't vote for her but I'd be ok with it if she won. She'd be a 'normal' president and our foreign policy would be in reasonable hands. Trump is an existential threat to our democracy. Haley is not.

 

My view is probably closer to that of Trickster, but I certainly understand your point. Only in the last few years have I started to soften on ideology as the sole determinant of my vote.

We are discussing what are basically philosophical foundations, so there is nothing like logical reasoning I can offer for my change, but I will do my best to explain. I see most platform specifics as depending upon ideological perspectives. Ie they make total sense, IF one adopts the underlying ideology. But I now wonder why should I adopt a particular ideology. I have one for sure, but I’m not sure why the fact that I have adopted it should make it the “right” ideology.

So instead, I look for a president who is a good person who is committed to following the rules. A key is to be fair, rather than arbitrary, with decisions. And for heavens sake, please don’t stoke tribal tensions. We’re all Americans, and it’s unconscionable to act as if this isn’t true. I use an analogy of a sports ref. One ref says I will work toward making sure team A wins. Another says I will make sure that team B wins. A third says I will make sure the rules are fair and the team with the most points wins. The third ref is what I am after.

Needless to say, Trump is a nightmare candidate for me, as he basically demonstrates the opposite of all my desired traits. DeSantis almost as bad. The ideal for me would probably be Justin Amash, but I doubt he is running. I also like the Forward Party, but they are also not running a candidate for president. After that, it might be Christie that best fits my mold. Biden isn’t bad. Haley might be ok too.

 

If Haley were to win the nomination somehow, a key question to me is how Trump and his core supporters would respond. I doubt Trump would ever concede, and he might go so far as to paint her a cheater supported by the deep state. On the other hand, Haley has indicated that she would pardon Trump, and maybe that'd be enough to unify.