Born Again? And Again?
There’s a “funny” joke going around about S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley … have you heard it yet?
It presumes that the recently-announced Republican gubernatorial candidate will be well-received by evangelical voters in certain parts of South Carolina because she is, well, a “repeat convert.”
“They won’t be able to get enough of (Haley) in the Upstate,” goes the version of the joke that we heard. “Those Bible-beaters love someone who’s been born again … and again … and again … and again …”
Yeah … ba-doom-ching.
This attempt at “reincarnation humor” is obviously based on Haley’s Indian-American roots and the Sikh background of her parents, which Haley – a Methodist – reportedly respects but does not share.
So, now that we’ve gotten the joke out of the way … who is the alleged jokester?
According to multiple sources – including one who claims to have heard the joke relayed firsthand – it allegedly originates from none other than Dick Harpootlian, the former Chairman of the S.C. Democratic Party and a legendary Palmetto political quipster.
Contacted early today by phone at a trial in Rock Hill, S.C., Harpootlian flatly denied making the comment.
“I’ve never said any such thing,” Harpootlian told us. “I respect and admire Nikki Haley.”
Harpootlian also pressured FITS not to run with the story.
“I suggest you not print something from anonymous sources that I have informed you is inaccurate,” he said.
“You know something, you’re a lot funnier in the newspapers,” our founding editor Sic Willie fired back at Harpootlian.
Haley’s ethnic background has been the subject of considerable conversation among party activists in the 2010 GOP primary. Heck, we’ve heard from people close to her rival campaigns about their various plans to make it an “under the radar” issue.
Of course, the Republican Party’s recent problems with racial issues may make that approach more difficult.
Haley’s campaign was not immediately available for comment.
Comments
By Andy on June 18th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
When will the upstate holy rollers learn they are not benefiting from electing so called “Christians” who wear Jesus on their sleeve?
Bush was “born again” and look where the hell that took us.
By Brandon on June 18th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
The fact remains, in this state, she is going to have to be clear and if need be, emphatic about her beliefs. The sooner, the better. If she starts this “private personal beliefs” business, her opponents will not skewr her, but their hacks will.
By roofus on June 18th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Andy,
I’ll take 8 years of Bush anytime to 3 months of Obama…
By Wow on June 18th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I love your site, Will. But, man, this is a manufactured story by a paid consultant if I’ve ever seen one…
I respect Ms. Haley and I believe she will rise to shine on her own without having to beg for media stories in which to flash her face and mention her name…
P.S.: Attempting to gain support for your client by painting her as the victim of the opposite party’s racist joke in the midst of the Depass issue is well thought out. I always enjoy a good page from an old playbook (See Lee Atwater, circa the late 1970’s-1980’s).
By fitsnews on June 18th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
“Wow,”
FYI I piss on Lee Atwater … or what’s left of him.
-Sic Willie
By James on June 18th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Unless I am missing something the joke doesn’t even make sense. It implies that she keeps going through Christian conversions over and over and over–as far as I know, she simply changed once from one non-Christian religion to a Christian denomination. And although I’m not a Methodist, I think they are mainline Protestant and don’t describe their new members of having been “born again”.
The joke would be funnier if you had some sort of holy-roller pol that kept changing from, say, Lutheran to Baptist to Fundamentalist to “New Age Christian”.
Anyways, the joke does sound like something Dick Harpootlian would say and then deny saying. I was in a ball room with him when he made the joke about Lindsey Graham being “light in the loafers” which he probably still denies making.
By Justwondern on June 18th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
WOW…The fact is Will has a very transparent website and makes no excuses for being a paid shill for those he promotes.
By fitsnews on June 18th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
“Justwondern”
We get this a lot. Who exactly are we paid to shill for?
Everybody says Mark Sanford but …
http://www.fitsnews.com/2009/06/03/sanford-fired-blanks-throughout-stimulus-shootout/
Oh snap!
BTW Sic what is with pissing on Atwater’s grave???? Sacrilege boy!
-FITS
By Hal on June 18th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
The larger point is that the Christian Right will vote for anyone that “says” they love for God, hate abortion and pack a gun.
Andre Bauer goes to church once a year, but because of the “I believe” tag the Christian Right will vote for him.
No one ever said reading the bible made you bright.
By Sandra on June 18th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Nikki shines well above any of the candidates for the clear fact she talks the talk and walks the walk. Not one of the other candidates can claim that.
By Jonathon on June 18th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Going to church every Sunday doesn’t make you a good Christian either. I know two men in my church that have had affairs…yet their Christian and go to church.
By Jon on June 19th, 2009 at 7:16 am
Oh, Andre is in the “church” alright. In a big way…heheheh
By Toyota Kawaski on June 19th, 2009 at 8:34 am
WONT MAKE IT OUT THE PRIMARY
By CL on June 19th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Andy,
I hate to break it to you, but Obama would qualify as born again. From all accounts, he was not raised a Christian. His mother seems to have been at best agnostic, and his dad and stepdad were both muslims.
By Toyota Kawaski on June 19th, 2009 at 9:43 am
CL sounds like Nicki and The Great Leader have a lot in common
By Wow on June 19th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Sic,
Again, I love your site and I think you have a wonderful way with words and are very strategic/talented. HOWEVER, I think, as the Fits Girls pointed out above, your hot air balloon-sized head has gotten the best of you if you truely think you could step into the ring with Mr. Atwater, the disrepect to whom you showed being disgusting.
Lee Atwater is the reason that people like you exist and is the only reason that it is okay for politicians to hire people like you and keep you lurking in the shadows of their political lives.
This is not to say that you are not talented. BUT, Lee would eat you for breakfast and then run seven miles with the President. See, when you have a problem with someone, you blast them on your website and often get recognized for your story, sometimes affecting the person’s current election/career/etc. This was represented by your “breaking” Dawson story about SLED. TEXTBOOK Atwater: no facts, no quotes, no lead in, and no follow up. Drop the devasting story a few days before the election, let it take its own legs, and never mention it again once your purpose was fulfilled.
HOWEVER, when Atwater had a problem with someone, he had no “website” to blast them on. Instead, he actually leaked to members of the mainstream media and had the ability to convince them time-after-time that his story was true this time no matter how many times he had used those members of the media to destroy his opposition with made up hit list-style attacks in the past. Further, when he had a problem with someone, he didn’t discredit them on his “blog”, he ruined their career, their dreams, their aspirations, and occasionally their personal lives.
If Atwater was not resting in peace and he had his targets set on you, you would be the strongest person in South Carolina to battle with him but at the end of the day, he would win, do so without ever linking himself to the dirt he used to destroy you, play some cords on his guitar with his blues band, meet up with a few of his mistresses, have drinks with the biggest Republican politician in town for the night, and then go home to his wife and children. Then he would do it again the next day without anyone questioning him…
I’m not saying, I’m just saying, give credit where credit is due… No doubt you probably have a shrine to Mr. Atwater, seeing as how you no doubt studied him in your time at Carolina and you have attempted to replicate his style and his mythical persona in your political life.
By sid on June 19th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
James,
I believe the story explained the over and over conversion angle of the joke with the reference to her parents’ Sikh background. Sikhs believe in reincarnation, as mentioned in the article. So, she was raised a Sikh (I presume), converted to Christianity (thus, “born again”), but the Sikh tie-in implies the recurring cycle of being reborn (or “born again”) repetitively through reincarnation.
Not a particularly clever joke, but I hope this helps with your understanding of it.