In news that will cause many South Carolinians to expectorate all over their computer monitors, S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley was named as one of ten “Republican” politicians who could conceivably jump into the 2012 GOP presidential race in the event that Mitt Romney is defeated in Michigan next week.
No really … she was.
Compiled by The Politico (or at least some chick who works at The Politico), this list of campaign 2.0 prospects listed Haley at No. 9 – behind Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee and John Thune (and ahead of Marco Rubio).
Not bad for a gal with a 34.6 approval rating in her home state … which she failed to deliver for Romney, by the way.
Of Haley, The Politico (or at least that one chick who works there) wrote thusly:
The Romney surrogate and South Carolina governor would certainly be a surprise entrant following the chatter about her as a possible candidate in 2016. But it might be time for the tea party favorite and youngest current governor to think sooner rather than later.
Wait … people are talking about Haley as a potential presidential contender in 2016?
Well yes … Haley’s political consultant is.
We’ve written in the past about the profound disconnect that exists between South Carolinians’ perceptions of Haley and the national press corps’ perceptions (which only recently began to assume a modicum of objectivity).
To the national press she’s a “rising star.” To people in this state? She’s, well … not.
Anyway, after getting dissed in a recent Romney veep shortlist discussion, it looks like at least one national reporter is ready to catapult Haley ahead of the former Massachusetts governor. Is such an honor deserved?
Vote in our poll and post your thoughts in our comments section below …
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By wawa February 22, 2012 at 10:00 pm
She’s awful… But she’s as good as any of the other GOP candidates (except for Ron Paul).
By Jake February 22, 2012 at 10:04 pm
Boy that’s as stupid as endorsing her for governor. Dumasses all over the place, local and national.
By Carter February 22, 2012 at 10:26 pm
Haley is a fucking idiot and for people to suggest it they are dickless.
By ? February 23, 2012 at 8:08 am
So does that make it ok if a woman suggests it since they are supposed to be dickless?
By Inletman February 22, 2012 at 10:28 pm
This has got to be a joke.
By Capt. Howdy February 22, 2012 at 10:49 pm
I’d call it par for the course.
Problem is these folks don’t realize that the greens are faster and the traps are all fluffy and deep.
This is what happens when amateurs go for “pro” status, and I don’t care who their “sponsors” are.
By Bailey February 22, 2012 at 10:56 pm
This explains it all.
photogenic, adj.
A subject (generally a person) is photogenic if appearing aesthetically or physically attractive or appealing in photographs. Photogenic drawing, coined by William Fox Talbot, also describes the earliest method for recording camera images.
By crackahasscrackah February 23, 2012 at 11:09 am
I look at that photo and I just don’t see how she keeps form dragging her teeth. That is all.
By Awaiting our leader February 22, 2012 at 11:47 pm
Leventis filibuster blocks DHEC nominee vote
BY GINA SMITH, gnsmith@thestate.com
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
State Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, took to the podium of the state Senate for four hours Wednesday in an effort to halt the nomination of Gov. Nikki Haley’s choice to head the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control.
“I hope the public is listening,” Leventis said as he hit the three-hour mark. “I hope they’re listening and questioning whether this is the correct way to do business. I don’t think it is.”
At issue is the nomination of Catherine Templeton, 41, the current director of the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, who was handpicked by Haley to run the larger, more complicated health and environment agency after its longtime director, Earl Hunter, abruptly announced his retirement.
Democrats have criticized Templeton’s lack of experience in health and the environment, and her unwillingness to move to Columbia from her home in Mount Pleasant. Templeton said she will work out of the agency’s North Charleston office, instead of its Columbia headquarters.
On the Senate floor, Leventis said more than 200 applications were submitted for the job, which pays up to $184,000 a year. “Two hundred applications, and no one was selected. Then someone who did not seek the job, did not want the job, at least at the onset, gets it.”
The lameduck Democrat, who has said he will not seek re-election, also said Republican Haley should define what she means when she says she wants the state’s environmental agency to be more “business friendly.”
Templeton, whose background is as a labor law attorney, has said she is up to overseeing the agency’s 4,500 workers, who regulate tattoo parlors, manage public health initiatives, test water for contamination, regulate pollution discharge and oversee thousands of health and environmental regulations.
Senators adjourned at 7:20 p.m. Wednesday without voting on Templeton’s nomination. They will convene today with Leventis still holding the floor.
By Dr. Spock February 23, 2012 at 6:43 am
State Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter is, as Nikki would put it, “so absolutely, no question” correct. It takes this man to attempt to right the wrong of the dimwitted, dickless wonders of the Senate Medical Committee.
By Dr. Sheldon Cooper February 23, 2012 at 6:45 am
Keep holding the floor, sir. As soon as the national media picks this up, Nikki & her suck up boys of the Senate Medical Committee will fold.
By Dr. Pierce February 23, 2012 at 8:06 am
Wow, senate members have a tough vote. Do you believe in an outstanding Retired Air Force General…… or do you believe in Queen Coconut Nookie Nikki of Mumbai?
By crackahasscrackah February 23, 2012 at 11:13 am
Cm’on, Will. You gotta get over your obsessive hatred for Phil Leventis and write about this shit. Leventis is hated in the State House, but for all the right reasons. He is unbending to the point of being rigid. He is no fun to be around. On some issues, he is liberal. On other issues, he is conservative. But, he always follows his conscience and doesn’t give a rat’s ass who he pisses off. I just want to know what he did to piss Will off so bad that he won’t cover this shit.
By RustyNail February 23, 2012 at 12:42 am
There is nothing surprising to me about Fox News giving her sound bite time. But I am still amazed that a reasonably well-respected journalist like David Gregory was still, until a couple of weeks ago, giving her air-time on Meet the Press. He was still, until a couple of weeks ago, talking about her as if she had credibility beyond her own front door. He has begun of late, when her name is mentioned, to play down any idea that she has national import—he must have noticed how much her endorsement helped Mitt. But, prior to that, my goodness…
A good barometer of just how popular this gubernatorial embarassment is in her own state is the list of tags found on the Amazon page that is hawking her upcoming, uh, memoir. Wow! Brutal!
By the way, is there an elected Republican official or a previously-elected-but-now-I’m-out-of-a-job-so-I’m-running-again Republican official who has not recently been or is not now hawking a book? From whence did all those ghost-writers come?
By tomstickler February 23, 2012 at 10:15 am
David Gregory “reasonably well-respected”? That is the problem with the Village media in a nutshell.
By Cancerman February 23, 2012 at 5:45 am
She looks like a gotdamn crazy bitch in that photo, because she is.
By L. Richter February 23, 2012 at 12:06 pm
No, No, No. You gotta ASS-ume that like Sarah Palin, Nik will get her pictures took from behind. Wearing those incredibly tight and short dresses, showing her eye-catching (don’t change that channel!) legs and beautiful rounded bottom. She’ll be the only woman in the race. Everyone else will be an ugly man that won’t catch MY attention!!! Go Nik !!! This is great !!!
By cash February 23, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Not crazy, but mentally ill. Needs felp.
By cash February 23, 2012 at 3:21 pm
edit/help.
By Republican Remorse February 23, 2012 at 6:35 am
Brain dead IDIOTS! This is why things are so screwed up here and in Washington. Anyone who has a local staff that allows their candidate to be aligned with her needs to fire them all! Are you listening Bachman and Romney?
It shows the staff does not know their asses from deep left field!
This woman is despised from the mountains to the coast! Are you listening FOX NEWS?
Idiots ALL!
By Smirks February 23, 2012 at 8:59 am
Fox News is too busy taking Palin seriously to hear you tell them not to take Haley seriously. Here’s a tip: Turn off Fox News.
By Robert February 23, 2012 at 6:50 am
Having her run for national office would be the end of her political career. An embarassing end.
By synthetic February 23, 2012 at 6:59 am
I just flew in from CA and sat next to a young man on the red eye flight. It appears that the view of young Californians is that Haley is nuts and not very smart. I think Haley (and her family and obviously 3 folks above in this poll) truly believes this BS. How does the saying go – “Liar, Liar, pants on fire”.
We are now the official joke of the nation when it comes to electing governors. Obama will unfortunately win reelection – the Republicans do not have anyone that can tow the line. The Repubs hijacked the Tea Party. The people are calling the Occupiers crazy. I believe the Tea Parties and Occupiers have more in common than they think. The two party system in this country is in shambles. There is not one good “statesman” on either side of the line. If there was, they would clearly see that unlimited terms has corrupted even those with the best intentions when they are initially elected – by the time they now make it to DC, they are already corrupt. TERM LIMITS FOR ALL – NO ONE PERSON CAN SERVE MORE THAN TWO TERMS IN ANY ELECTED BODY EITHER LOCALLY, STATE OR FEDS
By Smirks February 23, 2012 at 9:12 am
Term limits will not fix this issue. All that will happen is that bought politicians will secure themselves a job with whoever is buying them when their term is up. The campaign contributions and lobbyists then head over to the next corrupt candidate. In some cases, both choices are bought by the same people anyways (Goldman Sachs, for instance, supports both Romney -and- Obama).
The solution isn’t term limits, the solution is for voters to actually educate themselves and not vote for these clowns in the first place. Career politicians wouldn’t be career politicians if the same doofuses didn’t go to the polls every 2/4/6 years and vote them in again. Unfortunately, with the failing state of the educational system and the prominence of talking heads and heavily biased news outlets like Fox, that problem isn’t likely going to be fixed for quite a while.
You can protect Americans from a lot of things, but you can’t protect them from themselves.
By Dr. Spock February 23, 2012 at 7:39 am
Sic, where is the leading article today about … “Leventis filibuster blocks DHEC nominee vote.” This is one Senator who is trying to RIGHT THE WRONG of the embarrassing Medical Committee vote of Incompetent Templeton, thereby praising the glory of Nikki’s River Rape as she does victory laps on Twitter.
By Penny February 23, 2012 at 7:41 am
I forget, who are the losers of the Senate Medical Committee?
By Dr. Spock February 23, 2012 at 7:48 am
Disgraced Senate Medical Committee Members
Harvey S. Peeler, Jr., Chairman
John E. Courson
David L. Thomas
Robert W. Hayes, Jr.
Darrell Jackson
Michael L. Fair
Ralph Anderson
Daniel B. “Danny” Verdin III
Raymond E. Cleary, III
Kevin L. Bryant
Shane R. Martin
Floyd Nicholson
John L. Scott, Jr.
Phillip W. Shoopman
Democratic senators Brad Hutto, Joel Lourie and Clementa Pinckney abstained, but failed to vote NO. They failed to safeguard the citizens of SC. They failed to do the right thing.
By Dr. Pierce February 23, 2012 at 7:55 am
Time to ramp up the recall petition, and add these losers to the list.
By Andy February 23, 2012 at 8:05 am
People who work for blogs have to write stuff to justify their jobs, so they often write shit.
By Dr. Pierce February 23, 2012 at 8:10 am
Easy to do with Haley & her administration of misfit toys.
By Dr. Politicians February 23, 2012 at 8:14 am
So, where is the shit about senators loyal to Nookie Nikki?
By Capt Crunch February 23, 2012 at 8:16 am
Templeton did flunk the bar multiple times, like her mentor Mande.
By Dr. Politicians February 23, 2012 at 8:13 am
It takes a Retired Air Force General to filibuster the catastrophic antics of Haley & her Loyal Servants in the Senate. Preposterous.
By Ed February 23, 2012 at 8:22 am
Somebody must have been drunk or high.
By not surprising February 23, 2012 at 8:35 am
Politico is just setting her up based on her earlier momentum and superficial image, to later pull her down. They are aware of all her deficits, but she fits the left’s narrative of a hypocritical conservative…not unlike the former Governor. They can squirrel her away and at the critical moment, dig up the acorn and add it to the pile. It goes without saying, that she alone is responsible for her failings.
By Smirks February 23, 2012 at 8:53 am
This is just proof positive the GOP has no clue who the hell they are nominating anymore. First Dubya, then Palin, and now Haley? Really? Is this really the same party that had great men like Roosevelt and Eisenhower in office? Is this the same party that Reagan was part of? Are you done voting for men of great character and willing to pick up whatever gutter trash vomits the right consistency of rhetoric?
Republicans, take a damn good look at your party, because it is -nothing- like it used to be. All the GOP is now is a propaganda network pushing corrupt, self-serving rich people and the useful idiots that serve them.
By Dr. Spock February 23, 2012 at 8:55 am
Sic, The State, is rocking and rolling on the General’s filibuster of the DHEC nomination. Where are you?
By Billy-Bob February 23, 2012 at 8:59 am
Well, she is a GOP crook as well!!
By Bogart February 23, 2012 at 9:19 am
Republicans love Santorum and Gingrich,Haley fits right in.
By keeping 'em honest February 23, 2012 at 9:36 am
I smell another brewing scandal in the Haley camp:
A story up on the Spartanburg Herald’s site says that Haley will now reimburse SLED for out-of-state travel costs of her fundraising trips. Apparently, this has been a long-standing practice (paying SLED) which Haley has refused to do until caught by the Herald.
Interestingly, the pdf released by SLED of her trips where they provided security doesn’t jive up with some of the other out-of-state trips she’s taken (including some of the infamous selling-out-our-state to GA meetings). Either she took security from other state agencies THAT SHE IS NOT REIMBURSING, or she went with private security so that our state’s police officers would not be along with her when and if she deviated from moral practices.
By TheCoast February 23, 2012 at 11:33 am
I believe that DNR and DPS both supply staff for the security detail. Wonder if those agencies are reimbursed?
By cash February 23, 2012 at 10:11 am
Planted here in 1963. Bye-bye freedom as we know it.
By rwwllms February 23, 2012 at 10:23 am
Nikki Haley as President sounds like one of those SyFy Channel horrible creature/strange natural disaster movies.
By wawa February 23, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Lets not get our panties in a wad fellas. Fits was tweeted the article and decided to run it into a story and make his own article out of it. This seems like something Politico sketched up in about 5 min. For example Bob McDonnell wasn’t even on the list and he is at very lest as viable as Haley is.
I’d like to see her give it a go because Fits would finally have to put up or shut up when it comes to proof of an affair. The potential of her running for national office is the only conceivable reason I could think of that he could possibly have something damning on her he hasn’t released yet. Needless to say she could but wouldn’t get the nom – the 0.0001% chance she would have would be futile come the general election.
Also, if she were to get the nom I would think there is a possibility Obama could at least keep it close in SC… Something I’d never think I’d say. Surely the low country Republicans would rather weather the storm with an Illinois scape goat than vote for someone who would unquestionably be our most embarrassing president of all time.
By Bogart February 23, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Nikki made it to Huffigton Post again.She’s becoming a SC tourist attraction.