For this week’s column, I want to discuss two trailing thoughts I’m having: Nikki Haley and a recent winter trip gone wrong.
Nikki Haley
Let’s look at what happened in the New Hampshire Republican primary for president this past week. This was the race that Nikki Haley wanted between her and Donald Trump, one on one. She hoped she could keep Trump’s victory to single digits. Well, Trump won by those dreaded double digits: 12%. Trump now wants her out of the race, and Haley has surprisingly declined. And she’s correct for a reason most are not looking at.
The Republican party base has become a MAGA base, meaning he will win almost all the upcoming primaries, but that alone does not bring him to the nomination. What happens if he has a health problem? Haley’s in the wings. What happens if he is indicted? Well, 42% of Republicans say they would not vote for him. Haley’s in the wings again. Haley is not good on LGBTQ+ issues, or on race issues for that matter (she seems to have a hang up on the word “slavery”). But as almost all Democrat and Republican pundits would tell you, Biden will most likely win against Trump. Now you understand why both Trump and Biden want her out. A Biden-Haley race might be different. I tried to tell people in the Hilary Clinton campaign that they should want to run against Sen. Ted Cruz. They wanted Trump. My logic was simple. Cruz runs a typical campaign. With Trump, you can’t calculate his statements and moves.
Winter travel
Every January, Aspen Gay Ski Week is a major destination for thousands and I was going to be on hand for several events thanks to my friends at JPMorgan Chase & Co. But winter weather created a trip unlike any before. Having my husband, Jason, with me ensured that I didn’t lose my temper. After going through four canceled flights, eight flight delays, missing a connecting flight and spending two full days in two different airports, our troubles just began. On the final flight from Dallas to Aspen, we were delayed by extra weight on the plane, which caused 25 minutes on the runway running jets to dump fuel to lower the weight. As we were flying over Aspen, the captain said we lost our time to get into the airport before the snow, so we were diverted to Denver. In Denver, there were no options for flights to Aspen that night or the following day, and car companies were not renting cars to drive to Aspen due to the storm and avalanche warnings. So we just flew home after a distressing three days.
It has been an honor to share my journey — from Stonewall to today — with our community. It hurts me when I’ve agreed to do an event and can’t attend, but circumstances intervene. My hope is that those who were expecting to hear from me understood. We’re still a young community and networking events such as this gives us all an opportunity to look at best practices and have fun at the same time. While I’m sorry that I missed out on the networking, I’ve been assured that fun was still in high spirits! Well done!