Washington: Indian-American Nikki Haley,
a rising star of the Republican party on Sunday dismissed as
"silly" that she is an aspirant to get her party's ticket for
Vice-President for the 2012 presidential elections.
Haley,38, said, she is focused right now on her
current job - Governor of South Carolina.
Born of parents from Punjab, Namrata 'Nikki' Randhawa
Haley was sworn in as the Governor of South Carolina in
January this year.
After Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, she is the second
Indian American Governor of a State and the first Indian
American woman to reach this elected position in the United
States of America.
"No," Haley told Christiane Amanpore of the ABC News
in an interview.
"There have been a lot of suggestions that you would
make a great vice-presidential nominee, that you'd be great on
any ticket. It's been discussed publicly.
Where do you stand on that? Would you want to do that
if you were asked?" she was asked.
"No wiggle room at all. We are staying in South
Carolina, and we're going to continue to lead it in a way that
makes everyone proud," Halley said.
"I find it silly that it's being talked about, but I
will tell you this. The people of South Carolina took a chance
on electing me. It is my job and my family's job to prove to
them that they made a good decision," she said.
"I plan on committing to the people of this state my
full four years in office, and I look forward to watching the
2012 and making sure those policy discussions are there, but I
also plan on making the people of South Carolina very proud.
I represent the best state in the country.
There's no better job than that," Haley said.
In a wide ranging interview to the ABC News, Haley
said there is chaos in Washington right now and that needs to
be stopped.
"We are seeing total chaos in DC right now.
The very first thing they need to do is make sure
that they stop raising the debt. They need to make sure that
they balance their budget like every other state in the
country, and we've got to get control of our spending.
It is chaos in DC and they need to stop," she said.
You know, government is notorious for saying the sky
is falling. What I will tell you is every governor in the
country has balanced their budget through very tough times.
We have all had to make strong decisions.
We have all had to go back to the basics and say what
is the role of government? What do we have to have and work
our way up?" she said.
Haley's support to any Republican presidential
aspirant is considered to be very critical as no Republican
has won the nomination without first winning South Carolina.
Haley, the first term governor, is being courted by
all the potential candidates.
"I think she (Sarah Palin) is amazing at getting
people to know the power of their voice.
I think that she woke up a lot of people in our
country that just really thought that government was a waste
of time, and she got them to care again," Haley said when
asked about Palin.
"I think that there will always be a place for her.
But now it's time to talk about policy. And I think that if
she chooses to get in, she'll understand that the policy
issues of today are relevant and important right now too," she
said.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, May 15, 2011, 20:45