Whoops.
Posted on 02/21/2023 3:24:08 PM PST by conservative98
URBANDALE, Iowa — Older Republicans say they aren’t opposed to Nikki Haley’s call for a new generation of politicians leading their party.
But when she calls for mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75, some of them start to feel insulted.
The 51-year-old Republican presidential contender has made evaluating the mental acuity of elder statesmen a key part of her opening campaign pitch. It’s one of the only ways Haley has sought to explicitly differentiate herself from former President Donald Trump, who is 76. And it’s one of the cudgels she’s deployed against 80-year-old President Joe Biden.
It’s also a risk.
In her short time on the trail, Haley has irked some older voters, the cohort that just so happens to be a substantial and reliable voting bloc within her party.
Nikki Haley takes shots at older politicians in 2024 announcement
SharePlay Video “I do like Nikki’s platform, her plank regarding term limits. I think that’s important,” Richard Ploss, 71, of Exeter, New Hampshire, said at her town hall in Manchester. But the mental competency test? “That’s a little over the top.”
“Well, we’re old …,” his 72-year-old wife, Susan Ploss, interjected. The Republican couple, who own a chemical supply company and previously voted for Trump, hesitated to applaud the line in Haley’s speech and ducked out before the question-and-answer portion of her event.
Interviews with more than a dozen attendees at Haley’s first campaign events in recent days — all but three in their 60s, 70s and 80s — revealed a GOP primary electorate open to a younger standard-bearer but sharply divided over the insinuation that someone their age might be lacking in mental aptitude. Seven said they opposed the call for applying mental acuity tests to elderly politicians. Three thought the testing requirement should apply to people of all ages. And three thought her plan targeting older people was a good idea.
Some political veterans in the key states said they weren’t surprised by those findings.
“I just feel like the competency test was a gimmick to get attention and one that ultimately could backfire, because arguably, the largest voting bloc in the Republican primary is older voters,” New Hampshire-based Republican strategist Mike Dennehy said. “New Hampshire’s population has been aging over the last decade. There are more and more older people coming to New Hampshire to retire.”
Haley’s campaign, in a statement to POLITICO, said she is merely suggesting the type of brief screening that doctors frequently used to measure older patients’ cognitive abilities..
Whoops.
I’d rather have all members of congress drug tested daily.
Nikki needs to take an eligibility test.
Make all potential candidates for federal government positions take a mental and drug tests. I am convinced Biden is pumped full of meds daily just to keep him going.
Hook ‘em up to a polygraph instead.
Nikki Haley is unqualified and untrustworthy. Period.
Nikki Haley is unqualified and untrustworthy. Period.
She's as eligible as Obama was.......Right?
She’s echoing the message of the party which is time for a new generation to lead rather than the likes of Joe, Pelosi, Schumer, et al who have steered this nation for decades.
The ballot box IS the term limit. I oppose term limits based on my experience in California where our reform of term limits meant the perpetual lobbyists, union bosses and deep state run things. Democrats knew what they were doing with “reforms” in California over the years. Nineties term limits ensured a churn that pushed out of Republican faces, top two reform in the 2010s keeps Republicans out of the general elections. The only trick missing is “rank choice voting” but they don’t need it since California is indisputably blue across the state.
They have destroyed the Republican brand in California by never missing a beat to attack the party no matter how distant and irrelevant Republicans are from the problems in California. It’s never the Dems fault.
I do not like.Haley but the competency test is not a bad idea other than no demonrat would ever fail one.
Ok…only people who can launch nukes and sign federal laws should have to take them.
Hell I’m 74 and I would not hesitate to take the test. Having said that, I know a lot of people my age who are barely sentient.
Anyone of any age who wants a position of authority, whether civilian or in government, should be prepared to be tested. Certainly, anyone over normal retirement age (65)
In my opinion, of course.
What about a competency test for Kamala Harris (age 58, but VERY ditzy)?
I am a flight instructor now 74 years of age. My real job was oilfield and later pharmacy. I undergo a flight review every two years. There is not a mental competency test for such. I assure you if the reviewing pilot thought I was mentally not good enough, I would not have my rating renewed.
On more than one occasion we have had to go to a pilot of great experience and skill and tell them it is now time to “hang it up” and quit flying solo. I hope I recognize that in me before that conversation is given to me.
You are a complete maroon
She was born in South Carolina. Last I checked that makes her native born
Non Naturals need not apply.
Congress critters need to have a daily audit of their finances.
No Nikki
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