Within the next presidential term, many Americans will complete their undergraduate programs and enter the workforce. Our current leadership, both Republican and Democrat, has worked hard to create an economy and political climate that we are terrified to start our lives in.
Sixty-one percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and this number is a devastating 73% among millennials and 66% among Generation Z. Young families across the nation are unable to purchase a home, pay off their debts or afford groceries. Meanwhile, they are navigating the national security crisis we are experiencing in this nation, with 83% of Americans reporting they have concerns about our relationship with China, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
All of this has created a painful moral crisis in our nation, and the only solution is a presidential candidate who believes that there is still a strong and proud America underneath it all. That is why I’m backing Nikki Haley for President of the United States.
Her record is strong as a state legislator, two-term governor and ambassador to the United Nations, which earned her a wealth of meaningful foreign policy experience. An accountant by trade, she finished her B.S. in accounting here at one of the most special universities in the nation, Clemson University. Just 10 years later, she ran for state legislature as a young adult and new mother and beat a 30-year incumbent.
There, she fought for transparency and won, officially putting every legislative vote on public record and, therefore, protecting the integrity of South Carolina politics. As governor, she inherited a state struggling with recent changes in industry. She responded by bringing large companies, such as Boeing, into the state by cutting taxes and reforming education to include improved workforce development. Under Haley, over 85,000 new jobs were created, and 35,000 South Carolinians left welfare behind for meaningful careers that provided above and beyond for their families.
During her time at the United Nations, she stood up to China and Russia every time and advocated that we stop spending our tax dollars on nations that hate America. Even this record speaks to her career as an accountant because she believes in common sense spending and balancing our budgets.
Without a doubt, Haley is the obvious choice for young Americans, especially students thinking about who they want to lead America as they enter the workforce and begin their lives. She left both South Carolina and the United Nations stronger and prouder than she found it, and her record shows that she will do the same for the United States of America.
Chloe Johnson is a sophomore political science major.
