"The Nikki Haley on stage during the first Republican primary debate would be a strong candidate in a general election against any Democrat. While the former South Carolina governor was shining, Sen. Tim Scott faded, performing as though his objective was to preserve the possibility Donald Trump might pick him as a running mate, not to win the nomination himself. I was genuinely surprised by Haley. She sounded like the Haley I’ve been covering since her first run for governor to before she gave in, like most other Republican officials, and bent the knee to Donald Trump. I thought that version of Haley was dead, but there she was, proudly on stage Wednesday night. She spoke hard truths to what she knew might be an unreceptive audience. The debate was hosted by Fox News, — a rightwing operation posing as news — which had to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit because of its role in spreading lies about the 2020 election. The debate crowd was clearly pro-Trump, supporting a front-runner who didn’t even bother to show up. It made Haley’s decision to refuse to kowtow to the former president the way Vivek Ramaswamy did even bolder. She was aggressive when necessary, particularly in exchanges with Ramaswamy, and measured and nuanced when that made the most sense."