During a brief moment in the first debate of the Republican primary for president, I saw it: a move that could overturn the chessboard of the 2024 election and change the political landscape for decades. A move so earth-shattering and yet so simple, a move the GOP will never take.
Be moderate.
The question was on climate change. After the moderators laid out the facts — fires in Maui and Canada, heat waves across the country, and 100-degree temperatures in the ocean off Florida all point to a human detriment to the planet — they gave the floor to a young conservative, who asked the candidates what they were going to do about the issue of climate change. He pointed out that it was a big issue for most people his age, and raised the concern that the Republican party was ignoring a major problem for a growing demographic.
The answers were predictable: climate change is a hoax, everyone on the stage is bought-and-paid for, etc. etc.
But former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s response stood out. She said climate change was real, and that we deserved clean air and water. She said the United States should pressure other countries with large carbon emissions — like China and India — to cut back on their footprints.
In those brief seconds, I could actually see myself voting for Haley. Her perspective of global leadership on the climate impressed me, and felt a welcome change from the idea that the Democratic Party is the only viable option for an eco-friendly vote. For the first time, it seemed like there were options on environmental policy — options that were genuinely different perspectives on how to combat the issue.
This was compounded with Haley’s answer on abortion. While her fellow candidates spewed their rhetoric and pounded the podium, she took a far more moderate stance. She said the GOP needs to “humanize” the issue, and only pursue regulation that the country found common ground on — pointing out that no extreme bans would get 60 votes in the Senate.
Here was the Republican party’s answer to Democratic domination of the youth vote: a moderate candidate that seemed like she was actually thinking about the issues in search of a solution. Haley seemed like she would offer legitimate conservative responses to issues that worry young people today, responses that could form the basis of an entire party platform that reflected Republican values.
Would this necessarily guarantee the GOP youth votes? Maybe not. But it would certainly get a lot more people considering Republican candidates on the basis of their merit, and not just on their ideological fervor.

Why Haley could never win
Let’s start with the abortion issue. By advocating for a humanizing discussion and pitching herself as the moderate, Haley obscured the fact that her advocacy for a 15-week ban is still quite extreme. She did not explain why women should no longer have the right to choose after an arbitrary time or offer any solutions to people that are not even able to obtain an abortion until after 15 weeks due to costs, medical complications or issues with access to healthcare.
Haley’s proactive thoughts on the climate are also somewhat of a misnomer. The United States remains the world’s second-largest producer of carbon-emissions, and focusing on other countries does not abdicate our national responsibility to the environment. Criticizing China and India is also not really something that the United States can necessarily do. We grew our economy with coal dust and black gold — without concrete climate leadership, the U.S. would be shutting down those countries’ efforts to grow and not offering a viable alternative in return.
All of this does not even mention Haley’s views on social issues. She has called trans athletes competing in women’s sports “the women’s issue of our time” — with no evidence to back it up. Her humanizing rhetoric on abortion feels empty when it’s accompanied by regressive and hateful rhetoric on gender identity, especially when considering that suicidal ideation and attempts are at staggering levels among the LGBTQ+ community. Is that not worth the same compassion as abortion? Are you really going to expect my vote after telling me that the lives of my friends and colleagues are not even worth a genuine conversation about the issues?
If my first thought was that Haley could serve as a blueprint for the GOP to win over young people, my second was that Haley serves as a reminder of why that will never happen. What solutions-based thinking the party can generate is invariably overshadowed by its extremist rhetoric — which is a shame, considering, in my opinion, principled conservatism has some good ideas in terms of fiscal responsibility and limited government.
If nothing else, it would also restore a level of sanity to the political environment, and move the conversation back to policy for all candidates — blurring party lines and allowing both parties to court independent or swing voters on the basis of sound policy.
It feels like the last few election cycles have been a choice between insanity and sanity. One party parrots whatever’s trending on Twitter and throws out mind-numbingly ill-considered policy, while the other just focuses on keeping the ship afloat. Ideology dictates votes more than actual ideas, and that’s not healthy.
I watched the Republican debate for its entertainment value, not to be an informed voter. I knew I would never get close to voting for a GOP candidate, and I didn’t think I would actually see thoughtful policy. And, after a little bit of my own thinking, I can see that I was right.