South Carolina’s Nikki Haley is touting her background in her run to become the state’s first female governor. (Rich Glickstein/The State via Associated Press)
Yup, all because of the allegedly racist and sexist TEA PARTY!
"S.C. candidate looks to make history
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Accusations of infidelity couldn’t sink Nikki Haley. An alliance with the state’s disgraced governor couldn’t do it either. She is an Indian-American in a state not known for embracing women and minority candidates? No problem.
Just months ago, Haley, 38, was an obscure state lawmaker. Now she is the odds-on favorite to become the state’s first female governor, helped by an antiestablishment message that has endeared her to conservatives and the Tea Party movement.
Along the way, she has drawn comparisons to her party’s most public female personality, 2008 vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who endorsed her in May....
Well, I hope she is a lot smarter than her.
Haley almost won last week’s primary outright with 49 percent of the vote, but because she didn’t get more than half she faces a runoff Tuesday against the second place finisher, US Representative Gresham Barrett.
Related: Slow Saturday Special: South Carolina's Mad Hatter
Ragging on a Rigged Election
Just missed 50, huh?
Barrett, who got 22 percent of the vote, is not going down without a fight. He has questioned Haley’s record and run ads emphasizing he is a Christian family man, a clear swipe at Haley, who was raised a Sikh, baptized a Methodist and had marriage ceremonies in both faiths.
Yeah, it is OKAY to be a RACIST BIGOT if you are in GOVERNMENT!
Her most vocal critic, Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer, finished last in the four-way primary and has endorsed Barrett.
I'm sure that will help him.
Do you know the meaning of rejection, sir.
But conservatives are rallying around Haley, who has called for term limits, smarter spending, and more transparency in how taxpayer money is handled.
Conway Ivy, 68, a retired businessman from Beaufort, said he likes Haley because she stands for “less taxes, less government and more freedom. It’s very simple.’’
Haley is set to appear today with Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential candidate in 2008, and his wife, Ann, who has battled multiple sclerosis and other health problems and doesn’t campaign frequently.
Haley will also be joined on the campaign trail by Jenny Sanford, former wife of Governor Mark Sanford, who became popular here after her husband disappeared from the state last summer and returned to confess an affair with an Argentine woman.
But Haley has also made enemies, particularly in the state’s Republican establishment.
Then she must be doing something right.
She was once a strong ally of Mark Sanford, which made her something of an outcast in the GOP-dominated House.
I'm liking her more and more with each sentence.
She riled leaders there in 2008 by bucking their resistance to restrictions on payday lending companies and pushing for more recorded votes.
She toured the state with Sanford to highlight that issue, cementing her reputation as a boat-rocker. She also stood with the governor last year as he refused to take federal stimulus money, another stance unpopular with legislators.
Rather than trying to downplay her background, Haley is touting it as she takes on what she calls the state’s “good ol’ boy’’ system. South Carolina ranks 50th in the nation for the percentage of women in the state Legislature, and there are none in the Senate, the country’s only all-male chamber.
Haley grew up in rural Bamberg County, her mother teaching middle-school social studies and her working as a professor of biology at a local, historically black college.
At 5, Haley recalls being entered with her sister in the Little Miss Bamberg Pageant, which had a separate contest for the county’s predominantly black populace. The girls were disqualified because organizers didn’t know which pageant they should be in.
“I grew up knowing that we were different,’’ she said. “But it’s also the reason why I think that I focused so much on trying to find the similarities with people as opposed to the differences. I think there was a little bit of a survival mode there.’’
If Haley wins the GOP nomination Tuesday in this heavily Republican state, she will probably beat the Democratic candidate, state Senator Vincent Sheheen, in November.
Beyond that, said Dante Scala, a University of New Hampshire political scientist: “If she wins the nomination; wins the governorship she’ll certainly be one to watch for 2016.’’
Now, let's not get swept away by the pretty face.
Already had that happen once and was betrayed.
Also see: One For the Ladies
Make it two:
"Haley, Scott win GOP nods in pivotal S.C. runoff races" by Liz Sidoti and Jim Davenport, Associated Press | June 23, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. — In a break from the state’s racist legacy, South Carolina Republicans overwhelmingly chose Nikki Haley, an Indian-American woman, to run for governor and easily nominated Tim Scott, in line to become the former Confederate stronghold’s first black GOP congressman in more than a century.
Bob Inglis, a six-term Republican representative, fell to prosecutor Trey Gowdy, making him the fifth House or Senate incumbent to stumble this year.
I'm SENSING a THEME, aren't you?
We need to get rid of them.
In North Carolina, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall won the Democratic nomination to challenge Senator Richard Burr, a Republican, in the fall. Attorney Mike Lee took an early lead as Utah Republicans chose a GOP successor to vanquished Senator Bob Bennett in a state that has not elected a Democratic senator in four decades. In Mississippi, voters chose Republican Bill Marcy to face Representative Bennie Thompson.
Taken together, the victories by Haley and Scott — both favorites for the general election in November — offered clear signs of racial progress in the South....
Quit living in the past, MSM.
Already, 2010 is shaping up to be an antiestablishment year with angry voters casting ballots against candidates with ties to Washington and the political parties.
Boiling anger.
Perhaps no other contest illustrated that better than Haley’s. A state legislator with the backing of the Tea Party movement and Sarah Palin, she overtook the old-boy network.
“South Carolina just showed the rest of the country what we’re made of,’’ Haley said. “It’s a new day in our state, and I am very blessed to be a part of it.’’
Haley, 38, moved one step closer to becoming the first female governor in the conservative-leaning state. She also secured her place as a rising female star in the GOP....
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