Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley needs to offer specifics on why she should be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor, officially kicked of her presidential campaign Wednesday in Charleston, South Carolina. She said it is time to move past "stale ideas" and called for a new generation of leaders.
"The bigger challenge for Ms. Haley is identifying the rationale for her candidacy beyond a winning persona," the WSJ editorial board said Tuesday night, a day after Haley released her intentions via a social media video.
"Her campaign announcement stressed a belief in America as a force for good, the seriousness of global threats, and the follies of the progressive left. Is there a Republican presidential candidate who believes something different?"
The WSJ editorial board also said Haley "hasn't staked out any clear domestic policy directions, and she doesn't have an obvious core of support."
"Her 'new generation' line suggests Ms. Haley, age 51, will make her relative youth and vitality a contrast with Messrs. [Joe] Biden and [Donald] Trump. Good idea, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another likely candidate, is 44. Other likely candidates are similarly youthful," the WSJ board wrote.
The WSJ editorial then concluded with an example of a past candidate.
"Ted Kennedy famously fizzled in the 1980 Democratic primary when he couldn't answer the question 'Why do you want to be president?'" the WSJ board wrote. "Ms. Haley needs her own answer."
Despite its critique of Haley, the WSJ editorial board commended her entrance into the race and encouraged other GOP candidates to step forward.
"Some Republicans want to clear the field for one candidate to beat Donald Trump, who would almost certainly lose again to President Biden," the board wrote. "But running for president is an ordeal, and primary contests have the virtue of identifying candidates' weaknesses that will give GOP voters an idea of who is the best long-distance runner.
"Ms. Haley's candidacy is welcome in that sense, and she brings clear strengths."
The board cited Haley having been a popular governor, having held a Cabinet-level position in a foreign-policy role, and as someone who "brings racial and gender diversity to the GOP field."
However, she has the "reputation for speaking in the absence of knowledge," and "her colleagues in government have been critical in their memoirs about her work ethic and depth."
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