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To the Editor:

Should this letter be published in The Tidewater News, Virginia’s Republican Presidential primary will have already occurred.  So, I will write in the past tense.  Although I knew that her path to the Presidential nomination seemed unlikely, I voted for Nikki Haley.  Here’s why.  As an independent voter who leans fiscally and socially conservative, I strongly believe she is the best choice to hold our country’s highest office and the best choice to take on President Biden in the 2024 election.  As a two-term conservative Governor of a conservative state and as a former Ambassador to the United Nations, she has the experience and credentials to be our president.  I am confident that she will uphold conservative values, while conducting herself with character, dignity, and respect for the office while supporting the U.S. Constitution.  I am also confident of things she will not do.  Nikki Haley will not recruit cabinet and administration personnel based on their unwavering devotion to her but rather on their experience and qualifications for the job at hand.  She would never disparage military veterans shot down over enemy territory because they were captured as a result, nor would she disparage active-duty military who are deployed for not being stateside to campaign for their spouse.  When making arguments against those who disagree with her position, she would not use sarcasm and assign nicknames like ‘sleepy” and “birdbrain.”  Instead, she will make sound arguments that are convincing based on the facts she presents.  And finally, should she lose an election, she would not repeatedly declare otherwise, despite all reasonable evidence to the contrary.  Going forward, I hope things change so I can vote for Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential election.

Allen Harper

Franklin, Virginia