Nikki Haley wears the skirts

In a crowded field of Republican presidential candidates, Nikki R. Haley is starting to stand out. At least that seems to be the conclusion of pollsters, both voters and donors, who have helped boost her numbers since she first entered the debate in August. She is so on the rise that ‘Saturday Night Live’ has already started preparing a Haley character.

But as the third debate — and perhaps Ms. Haley’s debut as an “SNL” character — looms, it’s worth considering how tactically she’s taken advantage of the fact that she stands out undeniably even before she opens her mouth has opened to show off. her foreign policy experience, or berating a competitor, to her advantage.

Yes, I’m talking about gender. Being a woman has always been seen as an issue to be managed in a presidential race. Mrs. Haley uses it as an asset. As her opponents mocked each other, she announced in the first debate: “This is exactly why Margaret Thatcher said, ‘If you want something said, ask a man.’ If you want something done, ask a woman. ”

And where is that woman? Just open your eyes and look.

In that first debate, surrounded by seven men in the exact same outfits — dark blue suits, white shirts, red ties, small flag pins, otherwise known as the political uniform of the non-debating Donald J. Trump — Ms. Haley was a beacon in a light blue bouclé skirt suit and high heels.

In the second debate, with the men in much the same outfits (Tim Scott was wearing a red and navy striped tie at the time), there she was, in shiny crimson silk shantung and pumps. And chances are, as the field narrows in the third debate, such differences will become even more apparent.

“Political campaigns are about differentiation,” said Cheri Bustos, a former Illinois congresswoman who said she also wore skirts and heels during her first primary campaign, when she was the only woman in a field of six. “The best candidates look for every opportunity. Nikki Haley took advantage of the situation.”

And she has done so, rejecting conventional wisdom when it comes to women seeking the highest office. You know, the truth that pantsuits should be the uniform of choice for both women and men, to better fit the group and downplay the whole gender issue.

Hillary Clinton was, of course, the ultimate pantsuit champion, although she ditched her signature rainbow of pantsuits for basic black when she took the debate stage in 2016, only switching to symbolic suffragist white after winning the nomination and setting a tone that has since American female political wardrobe defined.

In the 2020 election cycle, Kamala Harris, Tulsi Gabbard and Marianne Williamson stuck almost entirely to the dress script, with Ms. Harris in dark suits and Ms. Gabbard and Ms. Williamson in white. Since Ms. Harris became vice president, she has worn dark pantsuits almost exclusively.

But Mrs. Haley wears the skirts. And not just any skirts: knee-length skirts. The kind of skirts often called ‘demure’ that suggest crossed legs at the ankle and traditional gender roles. The irony is that by adopting this more classically feminine garment in this context, she looks acceptably conservative and radical at the same time.

After all, you’re not exactly fooling someone in a pantsuit. So why not upend the status quo and wear something your rivals can’t wear?

Moreover, the pantsuit is partly a democratic convention. Republican women have adhered more to the tradition of sheath skirt suits in presidential politics. When Sarah Palin was John McCain’s vice presidential running mate in 2008, she wore skirts and skirt suits to most of her major public appearances, including her debate with Joe Biden. Ditto Elizabeth Dole in 2000 before her presidential run.

Many Republican candidates appear to be buying into the idea expressed by Mr. Trump during his time in office that the women who worked for him should “dress like women,” in the most clichéd sense. Although Ms. Haley’s interpretation of that idea is less Fox News host and more Thatcherite. (Mrs. Haley gave her a title 2022 book about female leadership “If you want something done.”)

Yet clichés, which are typically shared, are also a subtle way for Ms. Haley to plant a seed in the minds of viewers without anyone necessarily being aware of what’s going on. “Her presentation adds to her credibility,” said Frank Luntz, a political communications strategist. “Her verbal strategy and her visual strategy are synchronous.”

Ms. Haley may have changed her views on Mr. Trump and his transgressions, especially the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, but she has always stuck to certain core principles, at least when it comes to her image: color, heels, skirt or dress (if we weren’t at the Iowa State Fair where they wore jeans). She grew up in her mother’s clothing store in Bamberg, SC. ​​Her husband is a commissioned officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard and is currently serving in Africa. She understands the impact of uniform.

One of her favorite lines, trotting in for the first time 2012 when she was governor of South Carolina, is about her shoe preference. “I wear high heels, and it’s not a fashion statement – ​​it’s for ammunition,” she said at the time, adding: “I have an all-male Senate. Do I want to use this for kicking? Sometimes I do.”

She reused the line, with a few edits, when addressing the issue American Israel Public Affairs Committee in 2017: “I wear high heels. It’s not for a fashion statement. It’s because when I see something wrong, we kick them every time.”

She then made it the capstone of her February announcement video: “You should know this about me: I don’t tolerate bullies, and if you lean back, it hurts them more if you wear heels.” And last week she discussed it on “The Daily Show” in reference to the rumors surfaced again that Ron DeSantis wore lifts in his cowboy boots to make himself taller — a claim that the DeSantis campaign has denied but which his opponents in particular Mr. Trumpsomewhat cheerfully embraced.

When Charlamagne Tha God, the show’s host, asked if Ms. Haley would wear higher heels than Mr. DeSantis so she could be taller, Ms. Haley responded, “I’ve always said, ‘Don’t wear them.’ if you can’t run in it, so we’ll see if he can run in it.

It’s probably no coincidence that Tom Broecker, the costume designer of “House of Cards” (and “SNL”), said he used to dress Robin Wright Penn’s character in pointy high heels when she was president.

“She felt like she was in control when she had them on,” Mr. Broecker said. “High heels make you walk and stand a certain way, as if you could go toe to toe with a person.”

Considering the cloud of suspicion hanging over Mr. DeSantis’ shoes, and what they might reveal about his insecurities, it’s not a bad time to have a facility with strategically handled shoes. Like Hillary Clinton, who after years of resisting discussion about her clothes finally began to joke about it, neutralizing it as a problem she could repurpose, Ms. Haley has preemptively weaponized her wardrobe for herself. She owns the heels in this race, just as she owns the skirt.

It may seem like a small detail, but it is becoming a significant detail.