Nikki Haley officially launched her 2024 bid to win the Republican nomination for president on Wednesday in Charleston, South Carolina. She began the announcement with a sentence she often repeats – “It’s a great day in South Carolina.” The crowd was large and enthusiastic.

The overriding theme of her remarks was that there is a need for generational change. It’s time to make room for new leaders. She has a vision for America that includes permanent politicians finally retiring. She wants term limits for Congress and mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.” It’s refreshing for someone to finally say it about mental competency. I’m not particularly a fan of term limits, I choose instead to prefer elections to take out politicians when someone fresh and capable comes along. I understand the call for term limits, though. The Founding Fathers never intended that we be governed by career politicians. But the mental competency tests? I’m all for that. Voters have a right to know how mentally healthy a candidate of a certain age is. We are living through the nightmare of a mentally feeble president who often is too dazed and confused to know where he is or how to get off a stage after a speech. We don’t know who is running the White House but it’s not him. And, as far as Trump goes, his mental competency is superior to Biden’s but, at age 76, he’s showing signs of spiraling into Biden territory. He often goes to social media to attack both Republicans and Democrats with attacks that should not be made. Racist attacks against Elaine Chou or Glenn Youngkin are unacceptable. Those attacks turn him into what the left says about him. His attacks against Ron DeSantis are in unhinged territory, especially the ones where Trump criticizes DeSantis for how he handled the pandemic in Florida and the nasty attempts to call DeSantis a groomer. Which voters does Trump think he is winning over with that nonsense?

Haley delivered an effective message about a need for fresh ideas and new faces.

“We’re ready. Ready to move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past, and we are more than ready for a new generation to lead us into the future,” she told the crowd gathered in Charleston, S.C. “America is not past our prime,” she added. “It’s just that our politicians are past theirs,” she added.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) endorsed Haley today at the rally. He’s a member of the Freedom Caucus.

GOP Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, who has been an ally of Trump, endorsed Haley for president in 2024 on Wednesday and said Republicans were looking for “new leadership with a new vision at the top of the ticket.”

Norman praised Trump in the past, arguing in 2016 Trump was “exactly who the Republican Party needed” and that the country was “better off now for what President Trump accomplished.” But Norman, who served in the South Carolina statehouse with Haley, argued it was time for a new chapter in the GOP.

“We’re at a pivotal point, and most of the Republicans I know are now looking for new leadership with a new vision at the top of the ticket. There’s also no question Nikki Haley has the right leadership qualities and vision to move our country forward,” Norman said.

I heard Kellyanne Conway on an FNC morning show today and she was criticizing Haley for not mentioning Donald Trump so far. She pointed out that Haley served as his U.N. Ambassador to the U.N., resigning from her second term as governor to do so. (I wonder if Kellyanne is advising the Trump campaign, don’t you?) Well, Haley did mention Trump today in her launch rally. She spoke about promoting America First policies at the U.N. I’m among those who think she did a good job there, too.

It’s interesting seeing the long knives coming out against Haley and the hit pieces in the media. It’s all predictable because she is linked to Trump and is a woman of color who is a conservative with a solid resume. You know she’s hitting a nerve because Whoopi Goldberg was slamming her on The View yesterday for not being negative against America. That’s how pathetic the left has become. How dare Nikki Haley say that America is not a racist country, especially since she is a woman of color. Nikki Haley is a happy warrior and the left, especially women on the left, can’t stand it. Sunny Hostin called her a “grifter.” The NYC audience clapped like trained seals for such vitriol. So much for women supporting women, eh?

Trump is already going after her. He’s just warming up. Trump even felt the need to remind Americans that it was his administration that got Otto Warmbier released from North Korea. Why did he do that? Cindy Warmbier, Otto’s mother, introduced Haley at the rally this morning and gave her support for her candidacy. That’s why. It was a powerful gesture and spotlighted Haley’s experience on the world stage. Let the left and the super-loyal Trump supporters go after Haley for her America First policies with a strong interest in national security. Her experience with international leaders is a plus not a negative to be scorned.

I like her. I appreciate her ability to get her message across in a Reagan-esque way. It’s much more appealing than the anger and divisiveness we’ve seen from recent candidates. This isn’t 2016. Voters need hope during these hellish Biden years when even going to the grocery store produces anxiety. I hope she moves forward and does well. She needs to start strong and get moving quickly before others enter the primary race. I’ll be curious to see what Senator Tim Scott decides about his own run in 2024. Will he do it? Haley was the governor who appointed him to the Senate when he first went in. Scott is going to Iowa this week and making moves that a potential candidate would make. We’ll see what happens. In the meantime, Nikki Haley is off to a good start.