LIBERAL D.C. INSIDERS GOING “GA-GA” FOR SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR
The Washington, D.C. establishment movement to draft Nikki Haley as an insider candidate for president picked up a curious new supporter this week … Barack Obama‘s former ambassador to Belgium.
Writing for The Washington Post, Howard Gutman speculated that “the United States may soon have its first female president … (and) it may not be Hillary Clinton.”
Gutman goes on to chronicle the GOP implosion we’ve written about repeatedly (here and here), spitballing as to who might be the ideal spoiler for the status quo at this summer’s “Republican” convention in Cleveland.
You know, since U.S. Speaker Paul Ryan isn’t up for the gig.
“Someone has to do the job. Someone with more to gain than lose,” Gutman wrote. “Someone whose star is still rising. And someone who’s in the fortunate position of being able to avoid Ryan’s fate of looking as though she’s trying to disrupt democracy by stealing the nomination from the voters.”
And who is that?
Enter Nikki Haley. Generally beloved by the establishment and the insurgent outsiders in the Republican Party, the South Carolina governor is among the few who seek out the cameras without looking like a 2016 subversive. She has license to engage with the media all the way to Cleveland. And since any eventual nominee is certain to see in her a strong asset on the campaign trail, a Cabinet official or even a potential running mate, her reputation will stay unsullied as the daggers continue to fly. She can in all good faith even continue to believe – or at least act as though she believes – that all she is doing is helping put the best face on her party in a moment of need. Ignorance can be such profitable bliss.
But the understudy often fills in when the lead goes down. With “none of the above” becoming ever more obvious as Cleveland gets closer, Haley’s convention speaking slot may need to be moved to Thursday night.
Hold up …
We’re not going to argue that Haley is “beloved by the establishment.” She’s done plenty to earn that love. But beloved by the “insurgent outsiders?”
Um, no. Not even a little bit.
Also … an unsullied reputation?
Anyway … aside from being an Obama ambassador, who is this Gutman character? What other credentials does he have for weighing in so decisively on the “Republican” nominating process?
According to Open Secrets, Gutman was a member of Obama’s national finance committee in 2008 and a trustee on his inaugural committee. In those roles, he bundled an estimated $500,000 for Obama’s election and another $250,000 for his inaugural. Prior to that, he raised money for uber-liberal global warmist-in-chief Al Gore.
Yeah …
Why would a left-leaning Washington insider like Gutman promote Haley? Easy: Because Haley’s become part of that crowd.
As we noted earlier this week in response to a “conservative” movement to draft her for president, “anyone who thinks Haley is a conservative needs to read this. Or this. Or this. Or … this. And anyone who thinks she’s done good things for South Carolina needs to read this. Or this.”
Haley is no conservative, we added … “she’s a cheerleader for the liberal ‘Republican’ establishment, a crumbling edifice to which she demonstrated her unwavering allegiance during her most recent failed foray on the national stage.”
Seriously: Look under the hood of the “draft Nikki Haley” movement. Whether her backers brand themselves as “Republicans” or Democrats, liberals or conservatives … it’s clear who they are.
Status quo scum.
The “draft Nikki Haley” movement is a cabal of connected insiders looking to continue the policies that have landed our nation in its current malaise … the same policies Haley has advanced in dirt-poor, dumb-as-dirt South Carolina.