SC

Nikki’s National Star: On The Wane?

HALEY NO LONGER THE “FLAVOR OF THE MONTH” S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s 2010 campaign and her first year in office may have been unmitigated disasters, but the “Tea Party” governor did an excellent job positioning herself on the national stage as a “rising star” in the Republican Party. Haley was…

HALEY NO LONGER THE “FLAVOR OF THE MONTH”

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s 2010 campaign and her first year in office may have been unmitigated disasters, but the “Tea Party” governor did an excellent job positioning herself on the national stage as a “rising star” in the Republican Party.

Haley was on the cover of Newsweek. She struck a pose in Vogue. She was feted on a daily basis by “conservative” blogs. She was placed on all sorts of presidential and vice-presidential watch lists. Haley even lined up a gig speaking at the 2012 Republican National Convention … (albeit at great cost to her home state).

And unlike our founding editor she found time to write a book …

Buzz about Haley was everywhere – and national Republicans and their big money donors appeared ready to make her a major player on the national stage (cashing in on her status as a female minority).

Then things just sort of … well, fizzled.

In early 2013, national media articles about Haley started waking up to the chronic dysfunction of her administration. Then there was Haley’s disastrous 2014 reelection announcement – in which she invited three sitting GOP governors to an event that failed to draw much in the way of a crowd.

In recent months, talk about Haley as a presidential or vice presidential prospect has almost completely evaporated. In fact it’s gotten to the point national political reporters who pass through South Carolina are wondering aloud what happened to the Palmetto State’s formerly ubiquitous chief executive (who once famously referred to herself as the “flavor of the month“).

Don’t get us wrong: Haley certainly still seems to be a shoo-in for reelection in November – despite the emergence of a potentially credible libertarian candidate as well as an unexpected GOP primary challenge.

But her national star is clearly on the wane …

South Carolina Democrats are reveling in Haley’s diminished stature.

“Nikki Haley has proven to be wholly incompetent as governor and it’s no wonder her national profile is dropping as people around the country see what a disaster she’s been for South Carolina,” S.C. Democratic Party spokeswoman Kristin Sosanie said. “From covering up the hacking of 3.5 million people’s Social Security numbers for sixteen days, to her standing by as children die because her administration is more focused on meeting quotas than child safety, Nikki Haley has failed at leading this state time and again – that’s why she is so deeply unpopular in-state. South Carolinians deserve honest leadership and real accountability. It’s time for a change.”

Haley has focused on building her national brand at the expense of the state she governs. That strategy paid dividends initially, but now her failure to do her job has caused the national ink to run dry.

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48 comments

ReElect Nikki April 2, 2014 at 3:16 pm

At least you admit she is a shoo in for reelection although you refuse to acknowledge that SC is a mindless Right Wing voting state that simply votes for anyone with an “R” by their name.Indeed, you still try to act as if there is going to be a real contest with this”potentially creditable libertarian”stuff.As you well know he will get anywhere from 1-2% of the vote ,his “credibility”notwithstanding.

Nikki it is! Vote REPUBLICAN!Conservative “values!”

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Ticked Off Republican April 2, 2014 at 8:11 pm

Anyone but Haley!!

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Gary April 2, 2014 at 10:17 pm

Bwaaaaaaahahahahah Idiot Haley is a Koch Whore…

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GrandTango April 2, 2014 at 3:48 pm

She came out of nowhere to be elected governor…and you call her 2010 campaign a disaster..I cannot wait to see what you call Nancy Mace’s no-chance campaign…since YOU are the main reason she is not taken seriously.

Having FITS hate you is one of the BEST things that can happen to your campaign, w/ Obama being his only win…(which has been a truly unmitigated disaster)….

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??? April 2, 2014 at 3:52 pm

Wait a minute, aren’t you Fits or a Fits crony? How do you work that out?

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GrandTango April 2, 2014 at 4:21 pm

Kook much???

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euwe max April 2, 2014 at 6:30 pm

Much much?

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beenthere April 2, 2014 at 4:43 pm

Any Governor or citizen who can stand by and let children die and families suffer is a POS. Regardless of what party they represent. Lillian Koller, Jessica Hanak-Coulter and their Regional Managers @ SC DSS (not to mention the DSS Office of General Counsel……….yeah Ginny Williamson, you should be ashamed of yourself) should have been fired many months ago. They all drank Koller and Blanco’s Kool Aid and now will suffer the consequences in the end. They all want the money, period. Koller will hang them out to dry at any expense to try and save her own a$$. They are sucking this State dry at the expense of the taxpayers and N. Haley just stands by because she refuses to admit she made a mistake and worries more about her political future than children in SC. Treating children and families as nothing but numbers is sickening and disgusting.

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Torch April 2, 2014 at 5:21 pm

Hear that DSS is moving its entire IT staff from the building that the state owns. Wonder how much this will cost the taxpayer. IT staff in one building and the user staff in another building.

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beenthere April 2, 2014 at 8:41 pm

Koller and her crew are probably getting some kind of kick back like the Appropriate Response (or whatever she calls it now that there has been bad press) providers are probably providing her. The DSS building in Cola might be full though, with all the consultants, support staff, and relatives who have been hired by Koller and Jessica Hanak-Coulter. One of the guys who used to answer the phone in her office now makes almost $90,000 per year and I bet he is no more than 25 years old with zero experience (except answering a phone). More SC taxpayers money being wasted by these Haley appointees. For that kind of money, you could hire three Child Protective Services investigators! I am sure Richland County couId use them! Looks like paying some kid $90,000 a year is more important than protecting children here in SC. Thanks a lot N. Haley and Lillian Koller.

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aikencounty April 2, 2014 at 8:37 pm

Ahhhh, the TEA Party, wasn’t it “da bomb”?

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ticked off Republican April 2, 2014 at 8:05 pm

She did come out of nowhere and was not a blip on anyone’s radar for higher office! So, why in 2007, was I told by numerous people in Columbia about her involvement in an affair with Will Folkss?
The answer, no one, NO ONE made up this story! It was true and they were shocked a married woman, Lex. County Rep. was having an affair, courting political scandal! She lied about it then and lies about it now.
She should have NEVER been elected to the House of Rep., much less the highest office in South Carolina. She had probably gotten by with it previously and assumed she would again!
Let us not make the same mistake twice.
Vote OUT Haley! “It will be a GREAT day in South Carolina”!!!!!
I guess she feels comfortable with so much company in the party:
Sanford, Peeler, Eckstrom and who else we have yet to learn. If the Republican Party, MY PARTY, cannot get it’s moral and ethical act together, I’m finished, will swear INDEPENDENT or AMERICAN PARTYn allegience!

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aikencounty April 2, 2014 at 8:39 pm

The infamous “Family Values Party”.

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Bible Thumper April 2, 2014 at 10:06 pm

Oh Man! Now I believe. All because an anonymous person said he/she heard second hand rumors in 2007. How could I have been so stupid?

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shifty henry April 2, 2014 at 4:10 pm

“And unlike our founding editor she found time to write a book… then things just sort of … well, fizzled.”

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euwe max April 2, 2014 at 6:37 pm

She should have started working out and posed in a bikini with an M16.

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shifty henry April 2, 2014 at 7:57 pm

G. Gordon Liddy put out a calendar where female listeners sent mostly nude photos of themselves holding firearms. I bought a few of them to give as Christmas gifts. Somewhere in my archives there may be one left. This was when Liddy had a radio program.

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euwe max April 2, 2014 at 8:19 pm

I was so stunned when I heard he was touring with Timothy Leary, I almost ran off the road.

I listened to his program a few times – he was suggesting that one wear a suit if he plans to engage in crime.

If you have a calendar, digitize it and share it with the world!

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aikencounty April 2, 2014 at 8:36 pm

G. Gordon, the only one of that sorry bunch who had any CLASS!

euwe max April 2, 2014 at 8:39 pm

It’s said that Satan will let him wear a suit in hell… but he won’t be able to take his tie off.

shifty henry April 3, 2014 at 12:40 am

Liddy was a rascal. Anybody see him in Miami Vice reruns?

Smirks April 2, 2014 at 5:07 pm

And unlike our founding editor she found time to write a book …

Just hire a ghost writer, bro. Everyone else does.

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euwe max April 2, 2014 at 6:31 pm

I’ll do it… for a nominal fee.

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euwe max April 2, 2014 at 6:36 pm

Before I came over here, I had never heard of Nikki.. if you’d have asked me I would have commented on how far Mötley Crüe had fallen since getting off drugs.

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Centrist View April 2, 2014 at 6:36 pm

I heard that Nikki Haley and Sarah Palin will team up for a remake of the sitcom “Laverne & Shirley”

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Why not April 2, 2014 at 8:08 pm

How about “Dumb and Dumber”?

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aikencounty April 2, 2014 at 8:39 pm

Who gonna be Lenny and Squiggy?

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shifty henry April 3, 2014 at 12:47 am

Mikie and Jakie..??

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shifty henry April 3, 2014 at 12:46 am

Now – Now— Laverne and Shirley would have been fun to have as neighbors…

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euwe max April 2, 2014 at 6:38 pm

Haley certainly still seems to be a shoo-in for reelection
——–
looks like Shifty Henry is right! Damn it, I hate it when sane people spoil my fun.

“certainly”

That’s the word to follow the name “Haley.”

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shifty henry April 2, 2014 at 7:16 pm

—- what did I say?

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euwe max April 2, 2014 at 7:26 pm

“Uh, Nikki, can you talk to Leon for a minute? Here’s the phone, and just tell him that your DNA is still on this finger. Yes, it will be mentioned in my book. Yes, you were wonderful! And, thanks Babe, I owe ya'”

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shifty henry April 2, 2014 at 7:34 pm

Thanks – that was pretty good (belly laughing) — and Will is still unincarcerated…..

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jerry April 2, 2014 at 6:50 pm

Haley had been a self serving disaster since she took office, hell a prostitute would have been a better Governor at least they dont lie about there intentions when they take your money…state agency after state agency under her control had been costing lives and money to thw people in this state. We need new leadership now.

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Ticked off Republican April 2, 2014 at 8:07 pm

Amen Jerry!!!!

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Thomas April 2, 2014 at 8:59 pm

No sitting Governor has had to be mired in baseless accusations as she. John Rainey’s allegations against Haley originally began in the form of a lawsuit filed in 2011, which was thrown out by a circuit court judge. Rainey, whose chief attorney in the case is Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian, appealed that decision and subsequently filed a parallel complaint with the House Ethics Committee. Haley was cleared of wrongdoing on June 29, 2012 by state lawmakers who investigated assertions that she had violated ethics rules when she was a state representative by lobbying on behalf of two businesses she worked for. “We turned over every stone that we could to find evidence that would make a different decision,” said Representative J. Roland Smith, the chairman of the House Ethics Committee. “It’s over. It’s been dismissed.”

Then her husband was “selected” to serve a year in Afghanistan. It was a tough start for Gov Haley and I will give her credit. Gov Haley also faced stiff opposition from SC Senate Pro Tem McConnell who also obstructed Gov Sanford’s efforts to pay down our debt. SC Sen Knotts would not apologize for his racial slur against her. On top of this, some Russian hacker stole our SCDOR information. The US Justice department never arrested the thief nor were there any cyber crime investigations by our Columbia FBI.

Governor Haley has stared down adversity. Governor Haley has fought the worst elements of our society. Governor Haley has fought for jobs. Governor Haley is just getting started. Governor Haley for 2014!

Paid for by Fits. My name is Thomas and I approve this message.

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guest April 2, 2014 at 11:22 pm

You are living in la la land and certainly not in SC!

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Bible Thumper April 2, 2014 at 11:30 pm

Winthrop’s poll also found:

• Haley’s approval reached 78 percent this month with voters in her party – a high mark for Haley in eight Winthrop University polls released since she took office in 2011.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/02/26/4725003/winthrop-poll-graham-haley-have.html#.UzzTrlDD-BY#storylink=cpy

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Ticked off Republican April 3, 2014 at 9:05 am

“You can fool all of the people, some of the time.”
“You can fool some of the people, all of the time.”
BUT
“You cannot fool all of the people, all of the time!”
Vote out Haley !!!
“It will be a GREAT day in South Carolina.”
“Join the movement”, vote out Haley!!!!

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shifty henry April 3, 2014 at 12:43 am

DAMMIT..!! You led me down the path and then threw a pie in my face!

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anon. April 2, 2014 at 9:26 pm

NIKKI HALEY ONLY CARES ABOUT NIKKI HALEY!

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Bible Thumper April 2, 2014 at 10:28 pm

Haley a failure? Here is list of her conquest (politically speaking).

Larry Koon
Jake Knotts
John Rainey
Gresham Barrett
Andre Bauer
Henry McMaster
Vincent Sheheen
Darla Moore
Larry Marchant
Will Folks

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Walter-White April 3, 2014 at 7:42 am

Darla will be at Augusta.

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Bible Thumper April 3, 2014 at 9:11 am

Politically, Darla is in the sand trap.

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GOP_USA April 2, 2014 at 10:34 pm

https://twitter.com/TRav4Senate

T H O M A S R A V E N E L F O R U S S E N A T E

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Walter-White April 3, 2014 at 7:39 am

She should’ve stuck with the Methodist white woman schtick.

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shifty henry April 3, 2014 at 2:01 pm

She NEVER should have released those photos of her wearing “hooker boots” .. !!

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BeachLover12 May 7, 2014 at 12:43 pm

I hope that everyone takes time to read this post.
I had many friends that helped Nikki Haley with her campaign. They made monetary contributions, walked door to door, contacted people via computer, and made telephone calls to help her win. What did she do after the election? She fired them, yes my friends, she fired them! I am almost certain that was done to appease another politician that had given her more money and had a little more political clout. I am ashamed to write this, but I helped her. Not knowing she was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Also, during state meetings she would point her finger at other State employees, and Dept. heads telling them they were not to speak ever until SHE SPOKE!
What about that fiasco with Dept. of Social Services? Children were placed in their care to be protected not abused. She suck her head in the sand like an ostrich to avoid discussing the topic of DSS.
This time my man is going to be Tom Ervin, he would be the best Governor South Carolina has had in a very long time. He was a politician for years, and is one of the finest men I have ever known.

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