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On the Road with Nikki Haley & Sarah Palin

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  May 15th, 2010 at 05:37 PM  | 

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palinandme.jpg

Big thanks to Lake Crazy for the awesome pictures of the event. I was not exactly in a position to take any.

I went over yesterday to South Carolina and introduced Nikki Haley at her rally with Sarah Palin. It was a terrific experience. Sarah Palin really is a terrific lady. So too is South Carolina’s next Governor, Nikki Haley.

Friends, we have a lot at stake in this nation. A lot of people seem to want to make it the Republican version of the”Year of the Woman.” Others want to make it the “Year of the Conservative.” I’ve got a problem with both.

The first is inserting gender over principles. The second is just used by Republicans like pretty much anyone in the South calls themselves a Christian without actually being one. For me, this is the year of the Freedom Fighter — one last stand to try to get real freedom fighters elected.

As I said in introducing Nikki Haley, she is a winner. Freedom wins with Nikki Haley.

She’s being outspent in South Carolina and her poll numbers are still going up. Let’s give her some money and see what happens. I’m in for another $100.00. What about you? Consider it an investment in freedom. Join Sarah Palin and me and let’s get Nikki Haley elected.

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COMMENTS

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  • winthisone

    I’m not happy with the anti-male attitude I’m beginning to see.

    Please … Sarah should support candidates who will fight for our freedom. That means candidates known to support tax and spending are out. I was not impressed with the McCain/Fiorina endorsements.

  • jenniferjmilleresq

    more likely to “fight for our freedom” than Nikki Haley. Palin nailed it with this endorsement like she has with all of them but those two. I don’t think it’s an “anti-male” attitude as much as a anti-establishment attitude that naturally addresses A LOT of Republican career politicians who happen to be male.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    If that were true she’d have backed Scozzafava.

  • NeoKong

    Did they ask about me ?

  • kowalski

    I don’t know anything about Nikki Haley except what I read on the interwebs. She seems like someone I could support, all things considered, she’s much more interesting to me than her opponents, and I don’t mean because she’s a woman.

    But what’s the deal with the crescent moon on her website?

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • kowalski

    .

  • SirGladiator

    Governor Palin has endorsed plenty of men as well as women, but clearly when she endorses another woman it does seem to get more attention. Maybe thats because the liberals want to marginalize the endorsement (by implying that she’s endorsing her because she’s a woman), but the bottom line is that Sarah only endorses good Conservatives, men and women. In fact in just three days one of Sarah’s endorsees is going to win his Senate primary in Kentucky, Randy Paul, and obviously he is a man.

    The fact that this could be ‘the year of the Conservative woman’ is actually a good thing in my opinion, I’d like to respectfully disagree just a little bit with what was otherwise an awesome article by Erick, because in 1992 the far-left got to have their ‘year of the woman’, and celebrate all the ultra liberal women getting elected, and make people feel like sexists if they didn’t vote for those liberal women. Its only fair that we should get to have a year of the woman of our own, with Conservative women, and make all the liberals look like sexists (which of course in many cases they ARE anyway) if they don’t support them. Turnabout is fair play, especially in politics, and this one is extra sweet :) .

  • feevert

    …did Mr. Erickson ask Gov. Palin WHY she would endorse a crooked loser like carly fioRINO over an impeccably solid conservative like Chuck DeVore?? Inquiring minds want to know, because, frankly, it just does not compute.

  • lakecrazy

    Our SC Flag has a Crescent, and a Palmetto Tree…
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Carolina

  • slumdog

    I dont think this is about choosing one candidate over the other because of their gender, but I dont think there is anything wrong with pointing out there are strong female,black and hispanic candidates that are willing to stand up for their conservative beliefs. The left has been using gender and race for years, and its about time someone stepped up and shoved it back in their face. your gonna get a little dirty when you play with pigs.

  • conservativecrusade

    me about the all of a sudden support for Haley over others who have years of proven conservatism, is her lack of years of proven conservatism. Has she been conservative and strong up to this point, yes. But so was Bob Inglis until he passed his third term. For awhile most of us conservatives in the state had high hopes for Bob, now we are working to get rid of him.

    This site has to make a choice, and the choice may not be a bad one. But after being burnt so many times by the unproven candidate, I have to stick with McMaster who has over 30 years of a proven record and who was the leader in the call for states to fight Obama’s HC bill. We have four good candidates, but Many of us in this state are very scared about an unproven candidate that will run our state. A few years is not a long and proven record.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    If you’d been in Atlanta with us you’d know all you need to know about Nikki Haley.

    And I’m pretty sure we posted a video for those who weren’t there.

  • azaeroprof

    As soon as I can shake loose a few bucks, I’ll send some her way.

    Hopefully Sarah will get some RS cred for endorsing her. I’m getting kinda tired of seeing more anti-Palin venom on RedState than I see on CNN!

  • itsjoanne

    and Jane Norton by the sound of this.

    Here is what she said to the Susan B Anthony fundraiser group:

    Palin told the 500 or so attendees, gathered at the Ronald Reagan Building, that this year?s lineup of Senate candidates included a number who fit the bill: former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, running in California; former state GOP Chairman Sue Lowden in Nevada, and former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton in Colorado. She also put in a plug for South Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley.

    http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/05/14/palin-look-out-for-stampede-of-pink-elephants/

  • streiff

    okay, I’ll go along with that.

  • Doc Holliday

    is there any other meaning other than being proud of South Carolina? Usually only Texans stick their flag everywhere (not that that is a bad thing).

  • Mary Beth
  • mbecker908

    been quite clear.

  • Bill

    Is Sarah Palin going to endorse Karen Handel here in Georgia. Did you get a sense of that?

  • itsjoanne

    But that piece I quoted there sounded as close to an endorsement as one can get for Lowden and Norton.

  • http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

    n/t

  • winthisone

    I think Erickson is gently reminding Sarah that there are men who vote too.

  • winthisone

    Perhaps you’ve not seen the news stories about Palin emphasizing “pink elephants” and endorsing women? While there are many really fine women, there are really fine men, too. I hate to see gender become a qualification. We must not forget that about 50% of voters are male.

    I will no longer contribute to Susan B Anthony until it is willing to endorse a pro-life man. If I’m not mistaken, if there is no pro-life woman in a race, they endorse no one? Is there any information to the contrary on that?

  • winthisone

    I’ve been wondering about Fiorina, too. It’s either because she’s female or because she belongs to McCain. Can’t figure out which, but it is not because Fiorina is a conservative.

  • jstjoan

    I just might forgive Sarah for her McCain/Carly endorsements if she followed Rep. Tom Price’s lead and came out for Karen. I think it would go over very well here in Georgia.

    Karen Handel is the ONLY Republican candidate running in GA with no ethics issues. And, she’s got the conservative creds to warrant an endorsement fro Sarah.

    http://twitpic.com/1o42i2

  • conservativecrusade

    Haley. That is not the point. We in this state are quite familiar with the short term conservatives that causes everyone to get starry eyed, only to have them disappoint us time after time. So far Haley has shown some backbone, but she does not have enough time in fighting the establishment and not nearly a long enough resume for anyone to bet the farm on. We could all list a spreadsheet of those who have started out great only to become a Lindsey Graham. Bob Inglis is the one I would most put up for my example.

    Haley will be a powerful republican one day. But for many of us who are scared of the Switcheroo folks that we will stick to those we can look back over many years and see consistent conservatism and backbone.

    Not going to get angry if she takes the primary and if she sticks to her past patterns, we will have a great governor. But until she has shown for years and many many votes that she is a true conservative, can’t vote for her at this time. And Since Palin has shown no real conservatism in her endorsements, for those of us still shocked by her Carly endorsement, this may be the same as a dem getting an Obama endorsement, death to the hope!

  • jenniferjmilleresq

    That’s what I always thought….

  • http://mises.org/store/Vampire-Economy-Doing-Business-Under-Fascism-The-P371.aspx workingtommyc

    The Statehouse event today was like an instant tea party. Three to four thousand showed up with less than 24 hours notice and was full of energy. This was HUGE. I defy any other candidate in the race to pull something like this off.

    No matter what you may think of Palin, she has a LOT of appeal and it was very apparent. I’m not a big fan of hers though I admire her ability to make Constitutional politics a popular subject for everyday Americans. Hey, every little bit helps.

    Nikki easily stood her own, however and it was apparent that Palin really knows Nikki and what she?s all about. It?s also obvious that she recognized Nikki Haley as part of the reform movement here in SC and across the country. The race has just gotten interesting.

    The crowd was nearly as big as the April 15th tea party of 2009 and a little larger than the tea party last month. Folks there, mostly sporting Haley stickers, were very excited and very loud in their enthusiasm for Haley and the special guest star, Sarah Palin.

    Nikki gave a rousing speech and Palin went into very flattering detail of Nikki’s campaign and her reasons for supporting it–all the usual stuff that is involved in such an endorsement.

    This is NOT a deal-sealer for Nikki Haley by any means. It is also not an intellectual nor philosophical milestone in libertarian/Constitutional politics, in and of itself, for a celebrity politician mostly known for being a celebrity politician to endorse Haley.

    In basic terms, it’s mostly an ice cream social in terms of modern campaigning: it turned out a huge crowd VERY quickly and got a LOT of attention–nothing to be scoffed at by ANY means in campaigning. In other words, in terms of Nikki Haley’s campaign to become governor, it is a HUGE win in getting attention to her candidacy, including more national and international attention–all BLOODY POSITIVE rather than embarrassing, by the way–to the SC gubernatorial race. (Are you listening, “Craig’s List Pimp” McMaster? Are you listening, “Stray Dog” Bauer? Are you listening, “No Show No Vote” Barrett?)

    This event is a testament to Nikki Haley’s ABILITY to get her message out. Very early on, Nikki worked hard and helped organize an army of regular folks, including yours truly, in the quest to get on-the-record voting. She works with US, the people. This is in stark contrast to making backroom deals to force unwanted, pork-laden laws on us as the likes of Glenn McConnell and Jake Knotts routinely do.

    Nikki can communicate at the grassroots level as well as the more rarefied air of celebrity conservative politics. She handles it very well in both extremes, in my opinion, because she is earnest in her political activities. She is very serious about winning badly needed reforms to fight the corrupt power brokers IN HER OWN PARTY. That takes GUTS!

    Since she has spoken up for on-the-record voting in defiance of leaders in both houses in the general assembly, there has been a wave of reform sweeping the state. Albeit this is the zeitgeist of the past couple of years, it must be noted that Nikki Haley was tea party before there was a tea party. Like many of us who have actively supported her focusing like a laser beam on transparency–the rock upon which all further reform will be built–she KNEW the problems and DARED to speak out when no one else would. SHE inspired other politicians to join her in the cause of fighting corrupt and free spending petty tyrants like Glenn McConnell and Jake Knotts.

    Nikki Haley is head and shoulders above the go-along-to-get-along crowd she is opposing in the GOP primary next month. Nikki Haley is a FIGHTER–or, as Sarah Palin put it earlier today, “She’s not a fighter–she’s a WINNER!”

    We’ll see about that in a few weeks. For now, all I can say is WOW-FREAKIN’-WOW! at the momentum her campaign has taken in this, the final lap towards the finish line next month.

    Whether this confluence of events was timed out perfectly by the managers of her campaign or simply taken proper advantage of as opportunities have presented themselves, Nikki Haley’s team has shown us all what a real campaign is all about. This is real, appreciable excitement. Win or lose, Nikki Haley and her team have stirred up real interest from the people that need to take notice before casting their votes.

    In a tea party era of popular unrest and demands to return to a legal form of government, Nikki Haley has shown that she can tap into this energy and take her rightful place at the head of a movement that is flexing its muscles in a manner not seen by any group in many decades.

    Yet, if you talk to Nikki Haley as I have, she’ll just tell you she’s doing it because she knows it’s the right thing to do. She has no real choice in her opinion. She has too much energy to sit still and what she does is done because she truly believes that responsible citizens cannot sit idly by and let government continue to abuse us.

    For what it’s worth, I’ll add my official endorsement for Nikki Haley to be our next governor to the endorsement of celebrity politician Sarah Palin’s. I know it may not be worth much in comparison but I cannot help but deeply admire someone who will fight for what is right no matter the consequences.

    P.S. Whether Nikki Haley pulls it off or not will depend on us. If you want to make a real difference this time around, get involved! Go to nikkihaley.com and donate money, time, whatever you’ve got. It’s all on US this time

  • jenniferjmilleresq

    for Henry McMaster means decades of participation and collaboration in a Republican establishment that has never introduced ANY legislation for transparency or accountability in state government. As I recall, it was Democrats that introduced the S.C. Freedom of Information Act in the late 80′s. Nikki Haley had to fight that Republican establishment to introduce and advance legislation requiring them to vote on the record. That tells you all you need to know about the kind of “proven conservatism” that McMaster and the other two “good candidates” have been a part of. I’m tired of needing a talking points lexicon to define opaque terms like “proven conservatism” which cover the truth.

  • jenniferjmilleresq

    Erick….Any chance of that?

  • jenniferjmilleresq

    By the way, when I read the account in the local news, “several hundred showed up…” Yeah, right. I KNEW that was way too low.

  • Jack_Savage

    “Why Erick – I had no IDEA you were this handsome and charming!”

  • 6eorge Jetson

    …nt…

  • conservativecrusade

    McMaster never served as an elected official, never. His entire tenure has been as a fed and state prosecutor, attorney general for the state, and as a United States Attorney under Ronald Reagan. He was at odds quite a few times with the establishment, so your rant does not apply to him. As state attorney general, he went to battle with not only the state dems, but also the state repubs. Then he went to battle with Obama and was the lead in putting multiple states together in the fight against the HC bill. Sorry but you are way off on this one.

    Gresham Barrett again was not in office for all the years you are talking about. In fact he did not start to serve the state until 1996 and went to Congress in 2002. So again, your problems and complaints do not apply. But since you made it clear you do not like people who kneel to the establishment, then you should really like this guy. One of his most stand up the crowd moments came in July 2006 when he along with only 33 other members refused to vote for the extension of the joke law called the Voting Rights act. He took a beating for this, but stuck to his guns. He is one of a few who consistently took a stand to keep fed law intact against online poker. He was stand up when he took the raise, given to all members, he was given and donated it to charity and voted against it. He introduced the STEP act which again came at a cost, yet he stuck to his guns.

    Both of the above men have been consistently pro gun, pro life, pro marriage, etc. Your whole rant about collaboration and such may apply to many many others, but you are way off base here.

    Bauer was only in the state congress for one term each. Three in the house and 6 in the senate. 1996-2003 then he want to Lt Gov. Now while he has had some issues with his driving, this is the guy who called the 2 billion tax increase done by the state congress while he was president ( no power to vote) out of order and appealed to the gov to veto it. Same guy who fought to allow citizens to be able to have lic plates with the words I believe with a stained glass window even though the party asked him to not get involved. Same guy who has taken crap to this day about making it clear welfare was being abused and needed to be ended. Both parties demanded an apology and to this day, none has been given. Now while this man may be a future star, again can not vote for him to he matures a little. His driving issues may seem small, but the issues that surrounded them were not small. He also has some other things that cause me to question his ability to lead in a way we need him to. But setting those aside, his record has stayed conservative. Had the other issues not happened, I would have considered him.

    Like Haley, great. She has been a shining light so far. But dont act dem and drop BS at the other guys just because they are not your choice. Misrepresentation of their stances does you nor your choice in candidate any favors. So if you have some information to prove your points other than conjecture and truth twisting, feel free to whip out those lexicon points!

    I will not vote for Haley in the primary, not because she is not worth it, but because after so many short term conservatives who switch their principles after a few years (Inglis and Graham to name two), I need to see Haley a few more years to see the proven track record. I do not need to dump nonsense on her to prove why I feel the way I do. She will be a star sooner or later, but many of us need to see that star shine a little longer to feel confident she will stay the way she is now.

  • slumdog

    her father campaigned for tarkanian.

  • slumdog

    that sensitive. If everyone doesnt support every candidate you like, or they say something that hurts your feelings, u take toys u go home?

  • Adjoran

    The concept was looking out over the ocean, past the Palmetto as the moon rises in the east. But in that case, the crescent can never be as it is depicted on the flag.

    Not that that’s unusual for South Carolina, though. Some years back we commissioned a license plate for a five-year period with the state bird – the Carolina wren – on it. Sometime after they were in use, it was noticed the artist put the wrong bird on it.

    Then there were the times we really screwed up and elected Lindsey Graham. Those hangovers STILL hurt . . .

  • Adjoran

    McMaster was also U.S. Attorney, appointed by Reagan, and a staffer for Strom Thurmond.

    If he wins, I’ll vote for him against whatever idiot the Democrats put up, but he is part of the establishment here. Our legislature has been in Republican control for years, but ignored the sound warnings Sanford kept shouting from the rooftops that the revenues would not keep up forever, that we on the state AND local level needed to moderate spending and prepare for the inevitable rainy day. McMaster pretty much stayed out of that fight.

    Barrett is a great guy, and I’d like to keep him in Congress. Maybe take Graham’s Senate seat in 2014 . . . okay, wishful thinking.

    Andre’s a weird dude, man. He’s almost a conservative Jerry Brown, and I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.

    But Nikki is the real outsider in the race, and we really need outsiders in state government here. The insiders are going to bankrupt us.

  • Adjoran

    the split-second crowd shot looked bigger.

    No doubt Haley is what we need. Our legislature is a pit of corruption, and she is one of the very few and lonely voices of reason amongst the business-as-usual crowd.

  • Adjoran

    Our Senators have usually adopted a hands-off approach in party primaries.

  • streiff

    you are entitled to pimp whatever candidate you wish. The place for that is in the User Diaries, not by trolling the comments of a frontpage post.

    Please take my suggestion seriously.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    Forget wikipedia.

    The fort that withstood the major British offensive in the Revolutionary War was made of palmetto logs that absorbed the canon balls. There is controversy about the crescent moon that may have been shining during the battle. Some say the sliver is actually a medal or sliver of the uniform of a soldier that died in the battle.

    more later

  • conservativecrusade

    he is elected. What I meant but poorly said, is he was never an elected rep who had anything to do with legislation. And he has been an attorney general under Sanford. But I have to disagree with the equating him to the bums in our congress(state). He has had nothing to do with the rules, laws, bills, spending they have become famous for. His job was law and when it came to the law, he has defended the constitution for nearly 30 years consistently.

    And We agree on Barrett. It would be a great win if he could unseat Graham. Maybe it is not too far fetched as the liking of Graham in this state has been nose diving.

    Agreed on Bauer. That is why I said there were issues for which I could not get behind him, but he is not viable anyway. I think after he is defeated in the primary he will start again and maybe he will mature a little and come back later.

    And again, I must state loudly, Haley has been a star and has shown conviction, But the reason so many in the state will not vote for her is the past lessons we have learned about newbies who start conservative and end up Graham or Inglis.

    There is sometimes good reason to give the “outsider” the job and hope they stay strong. But governor is the states equivalent to president. There is a lot of power in that position and giving it to someone without seeing years of doing what is right can come back to haunt you. There is no reason to not vote for her at this point other than the reasonable fear. But there is also no reasonable reason not to vote for the other two either.And the advantage to the other two is a proven record of doing what is right. And to have the presidents seat of the state, we better make sure the one we put in will stay conservative for up to 8 years or we end up with an Obama type situation. Remember Beasley? His actions have us Hodges and 8 years of him. Can not afford that again any time in the near future. Imagine for a sec that Haley wins, changes colors ( which has happened so many times before in this state) and because of her failure to do what is right, we get Ford in the next election. God forbid!

    Haley will not upset me if she wins as so far she is a breath of fresh air, but I would rather her stay in politics for a few more years fighting for us all while building a longer track record. The my and many others confidence will build. We are just tired of the Grahams and Inglis jackoffs right now to jump in head first!

  • conservativecrusade

    we both need to look up the definition again.

  • mbecker908

    Her comments are here. Note, I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with Palin and I’ve got no dog in this hunt because I don’t live in CA.

    You folks are threadjacking this diary, which is about Nikki Haley NOT Fiorina. If you don’t like Palin’s endorsement of Firoina write a diary about it.

  • RedBeard

    But I do understand why Erick wanted to be there. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with pretty ladies? I mean, really now. ;-)

  • clement

    including the finger at the bottom. ;)

  • conservativecrusade

    n/t

  • http://www.libertytreehugger.com reverelth

    I believe it makes a stand against the left, which gets away with the perception that it owns gender issues. This is not photo op outreach such as the left practices. The Haleys and Palins of conservatism are self-made, grassroots phenoms. God knows they can’t hide behind glass walls such the gender and race set-aside pols on the left do.

    I was glad to see Palin poking Obama with a stick about oil (something she knows vastly more about than him) on Greta this week, and telling him “Do your job” and protect the boder.

    The picture is money, Erick. The best the rest of can hope for is a cheesy shot across a table at a book signing!

  • streiff

    but if looking it up makes you feel good about yourself then knock yourself out. The warning stands.

    If you want to pimp a candidate do it in a diary. It isn’t going to happen again in comments on a story about a different candidate.

  • Doc Holliday

    sometimes I think I am just talking to myself here.

  • Doc Holliday

    I read it was about a coat of arms of a famous South Carolinian or the symbol of a “second son” on many coats of arms. I haven’t heard it was a mistake per se.

  • aesthete

    That was very interesting and informative; great take on the event. I suggest that you put it up as a diary, as it’s far to interesting to let languish in the comments section.

  • jenniferjmilleresq

    Senator DeMint gets involved in party primaries in other states. Wish he would here. He knows a lot more about this state than any other.

  • http://mises.org/store/Vampire-Economy-Doing-Business-Under-Fascism-The-P371.aspx workingtommyc

    I usually post at this site:

    http://atgpress.com/wtc/indexwtc.htm

    And it will be put up as soon as some temporary technical difficulties are overcome.

    My count of the crowd is only an estimate. I have some photos of most of the crowd here if someone wants to make their own estimate:

    http://www.facebook.com/#!/WorkingTommyC?ref=profile

    I may have been off some in my estimate but there were, at the very, very least 2000 people there. The place filled up very fast after everything was set up. The press always makes out like only a couple of dozen people show up at any event they don’t like.

    On one occasion, ten years ago, the press made realistic estimates of about 10,000 and then actually lowered it until by the end of the day they were reporting only a couple of thousand.

    Also check this out:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mchY0CB0NCc

  • jenniferjmilleresq

    that support my “rant” that they are part of the establishment. And BELIEVE me, I will vote for whatever Republican wins, but this primary is worth getting the most conservative in and that requires some truth. Apart from scary personal problems (ie driving record, etc) Andre Bauer has collaborated closely with Jake Knotts in the General Assembly. He is the MAIN opposition to the transparency legislation and other reform measures. Henry McMaster is part of the establishment. He served as the elected Republican Party leader for years (and yes all that amounts to decades when including his other years in elected office) and there were some ethical issues with money that were raised about his term there. As the party leader, of course he was part of the establishment. I would argue that Nikki Haley has more of a track record as a reformer than McMaster does. Gresham Barrett (14 years in office) voted for the financial bailout too and missed more votes than any member of the House or close to it. The point is, that what an elected official actually does in office matters more to me than some omniscient prognostication of electability. Nikki Haley has actually done something measurable. The number of years in office is not as important as what is done with them. Shining the light on the primary candidates and supporting the most conservative is essential.

  • ebone

    Is the ONLY position that votes for WHO gets on the Ballot. Why doesn’t Eric or Sarah or Rush or Sean or Glenn say that. When people ask, ” What can we DO?” The only response should be” Become a Precinct Committemen ” Is there another answer that is MORE effective, powerful and true that changes anything? Will a sign, a talk show or a letter replace the VOTE? I ain’t about feel good. It’s about putting a stop to the insanity. The only thing that stops it, is a PC’s vote.

  • bs61

    Enforce your own term limits since they seem to lose their conservatism over time in DC. DC corrupts even the best of them, so don’t vote for them for more than two terms.

    My own personal opinion is not to vote for the most senior rep with their clout – this just gives them the opportunity to sell out.

  • ZootSuit

    Nikki Haley is my first choice and has been long before Erick or most of the non-SC members of RedState ever heard of her. However, she has her problems, too. When you talk about transparency, let’s just say her actions have not always backed up her rhetoric.

    Of note, South Carolina already has a mechanism to force a recorded vote on just about all bills. However, until recently (i.e. when she started to run for governor and even then, not so much) Haley has rarely ever called for a recorded vote herself during her tenure in the Legislature. I give her credit for pushing the issue now, and she was stripped of a committee position because of her support for transparency now, but let’s be honest and admit that she is using her support as political grandstanding.

    Again, unless I am misunderstood, she has a fairly conservative record but it definitely is not as “pure” as some people here (and some in South Carolina, too) want to believe.

    As for Henry McMaster, jenniferjmilleresq and Adjoran are correct: he is the establishment candidate. A vote for him is a vote for the “same ole, same ole” Republicans that got this state (and this country) in many of the predicaments its in now.

    As for Andre Bauer, think of Mike Hackabee with better hair. Seriously, Andre Bauer is Mike Huckabee with better hair. Personally, I will vote for Obama before I’d ever vote for Huckabee, Huckabee is that bad. And yes, I will vote for whatever idiot the Democrats nominate before I vote for Bauer. Andre Bauer is that bad.

    Indeed, to all of you non-South Carolinians out there who have no idea who Andre Bauer is, just think about Mike Huckabee. If you like Huckabee (which I know some of you do), then you will like Bauer. But if you don’t like Mike Huckabee and/or think he is an idiot, then you will not like Andre Bauer and think Bauer is an idiot, too.

    And as for Gresham Barrett, my Representative, think TARP. Enough said?

    So yes, I am supporting Nikki Haley. To me, she is definitely the best option we have.

  • southernfriedyankee

    There are some good comments here. To the supporter of McMaster: conservative crusade. McMaster would be my # 2 choice. I used to be a member of his church and I believe McMaster is an honorable man. But to me he is also part of the traditional good ol’ boy structure. Haley is not a native southerner.

    I hold that to be a good thing. I think voters want a fresh outlook. Would someone argue that they shouldn’t vot for her because she is only a first generation daughter of immigrant?

    My father was a Filipino, my mother, a German, what I learned from them is what Nikki learned from her first generation immigrant parents: just how great this country is compared to most, and how greatful we should be each day to have the freedoms we have.

    I identify with that, but I also see something else in her: the fact that she can think on her feet; an inner strength and fortitude, and convictions. Make no mistake about it she is not going to give up on that bill.

    Name me one other politician or person who has been running during the past 15 years that has identified the secret voting issue and raised the issue to the forefront.

    Nikki Haley has, and that to me speaks volumnes.

  • http://mises.org/store/Vampire-Economy-Doing-Business-Under-Fascism-The-P371.aspx workingtommyc

    Updated video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B55w6kNeoA8