Posted on 02/01/2012 4:48:10 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
If you were a campaign strategist for Newt Gingrich, you could not have wished for a better outcome than what occurred in the recent South Carolina primary. Weeks before the election, Mitt Romney seemed like he had a virtual lock on the GOP nomination, consistently leading Gingrich and others in preliminary polling. In addition to having sizeable advantages in funding and organization, the Romney team also captured the early endorsement of Gov. Nikki Haley.
But somehow, in the days before the election, Gingrich vaulted past Romney and actually bested his opponent by 12 percentage points on Primary Day. One might be excused for wondering what the Romney campaign did that was so wrong that led to this demoralizing loss — or what the Gingrich campaign did that was so right.
While much has been made of Gingrich's aggressive debate performances as the reason for his success in South Carolina, I would like to offer another hypothesis: What if Team Gingrich correctly guessed that there would be no better way to handicap his rival than to have him endorsed by one of the least popular Republicans in the state and then have her shadow him at every prominent campaign event before the primary, all the while Newt scoops up the endorsements of more influential state leaders?
It may be far-fetched to suggest that Haley was a double agent secretly working for Newt, but if the results were planned, they could not have worked any better. Not only did the primary campaign reveal a great deal about the presidential contenders, it also revealed much about the style and judgment of several prominent state Republicans.
First, credit must be given to U.S. Rep. Tim Scott and Sen. Jim DeMint, who maintained their posts as Republican kingmakers by remaining impartial throughout the primary. Though courted by nearly all of the candidates, their choice to not endorse any particular one allowed them to stay relevant throughout the South Carolina primaries and beyond. GQ magazine even named Scott as one of the 50 most influential politicians in Washington, a noteworthy commendation given the fact he is a freshman legislator.
Kudos should go to S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell and former Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer for picking a winner. Not only did they bet early on Gingrich and win, but they were front and center during Gingrich's victory speech on all the major networks. If Gingrich is fortunate enough to prevail in November's general election, there is no doubt that he will remember the South Carolina Republican leaders who supported him during his first primary victory.
We also learned a lot about Gov. Haley's style and substance during this primary. There she was shadowing Gov. Romney at every turn before his shocking loss, particularly those for which there was national television coverage. After Romney's defeat, the governor was suspiciously absent from the stage during his concession speech. Given the chance to show her loyalty to a candidate who sought her support, she jumped ship quicker than a Costa Concordia captain, having arguably left a commensurate amount of damage. Perhaps it is far-fetched to blame Romney's loss on Haley, but how else can you explain that Gov. Haley's endorsement did not even win Romney the governor's home county of Lexington?
Even if Nikki Haley was not directly to blame for Mitt Romney's loss, her endorsement obviously did little to help him. If having Haley on the Romney team was a Gingrich plan, it was a damn good one.
Ho, boy.
This is about the same mental stability shown by The Ralien (aka, Ron Paul) in espousing conspiracy theories that come out of nowhere.
What a dildo.
If you were to ask me, and I don’t know why you would, this seems a little far-fetched... ;-)
Twilight Zone time.
geesh
And the winner is:
"It may be far-fetched to suggest that Haley was a double agent secretly working for Newt ...
Maybe the true winner in SC was deMint. He didn’t endorse anyone and just let Newt and Myth just go at it. Regarding the Haley angle...even Jesse Ventura thinks the author is moonbat crazy.
I just saw a pig fly over my house!
Conspiracy theories thrive when the populace can no longer trust, revere or respect those in government. Imagine having respect or reverence or trust for Holder, “The Divine One,” Barney Frank etc. etc.
Sorry Nikki,
No taksee-backsees. You own it.
In the closing days of WW2, there were lots of top ranking Germans who weren’t in the bunker at the bitter end. Many jumped shipped and tried to say “NO, NO, I never liked Hitler...I actually tried to help the Jews!!!”
Sorry Nikki. Not being at Romney’s concession speech is like a rat jumping the ship. YOU OWN IT NOW!!!!
FYI,
Nikki was at the NH and SC debates as a Romney advocate in the post-debate spin rooms.
She is deep in the Romney doo-doo. The stench is still on her.
I recall all too well the supposed lotharios who came out of the woodwork (of Republican political campaign management) to claim they'd had illicit sexual relations with Nikki ~ sometimes in back of a restaurant in a parked car ~ at the time of day, in fact, when you were allowed to park (safely) for free IN FRONT OF THE RESTAURANT.
She hadn't been there anyway. More serious, someone got to someone in Google and had some of the photos of that area nearly blacked out. Very suspicious stuff ~ rarely seen!
If you think for a second Nikki, whose been wrongly accused of screwing around is going to support a guy who has been rightly accused of screwing around you got your head screwed on wrong ~ which I think you knew in the first place.
As a rule I take any internal Republican complaint about Nikki with a very large grain of salt. She was subjected to real abuse ~ actionable abuse ~ which, if she had not been running for office, could have been turned into lucrative slander and libel suits!
I wasn't surprised at all she to find her endorsing Romney.
What happened to Nikki Halley? I thought she was going to to a good job?
Sorry not buying it.....Gov. Haley probably is trying to spin her endorsement of the RINO loser. She is in heap big doo doo(To use some Rush Lingo) with the Tea Party and most likely a One Term Gov.
As a rule I take any internal Republican complaint about Nikki with a very large grain of salt. She was subjected to real abuse ~ actionable abuse ~ which, if she had not been running for office, could have been turned into lucrative slander and libel suits!
I wasn’t surprised at all she to find her endorsing Romney.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That’s the rub Muawiyah. In 2010 the accusations were nothing but unsubstantiated trash (much like the trash heaped on Palin...which continues to this day).
But there is a slight twist. There was no proof to the 2010 charges, but there is proof of her shilling for Romney at the NH/SC post debate media spin rooms and endorsing him early in the process. She simply can’t deny it or walk away from it. She owns it.
In the 2010 SC primaries, Haley was running 4th and was fading fast. To be blunt, she was going nowhere. True, Romney’s pacs did give her money (hence the payback this year) but the real reasons for her comeback (and last-minute hack attacks) in 2010 were two things: (1) Tea Party/conservative grass roots support and (2) a strong endorsement and stumping by Sarah Palin which opened the flood gates of money and support.
Fast forward to 2011 when Palin was getting hacked by the Giffords shooting...not a peep of public support from Haley. Nadda, zilch, zero. In January 2012, when she endorsed Romney and ACTIVELY worked for him, a lot of grass roots supporters felted punched in the gut. And to rub salt in the wound, she couldn’t even deliver the goods.
To be blunt, she overplayed her hand and will now face angry primary/general voters in 2014. Her current handling of SC legislative matters are a mixed affair from the NRLB incident with Boeing, state immigration, voter ID laws and budgetary concerns. If she’s lucky, she’ll get a job in the Romney administration (if Mitt wins). Same goes for Gov. Christy...he ain’t doin so hot in New Jersey.
After all, with the discovery of what the Democrats were doing in Fast and Furious it was an easy leap to the conclusion that they were probably involved in Jarred getting a gun to assassinate a Republican judge.
You rarely hear even the most rabid Democrat say anything about Palin or targets anymore.
But what you were asking Haley to do with respect to Gingrich (perhaps) WAS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
Romney got some money flowing her way too.
Haley is always going to be in trouble with one sort of Republican in South Carolina.
Hmm ~ Jesse ~ whichever way he’s going, go the other way!
The Giffords thing was rather sudden ~ didn’t linger for months once we got our response position together.
-——Kind of spit up the coffee on that one. Just what was Haley’s response in defense of Palin...of course once the shock of incident was over and the lambasting of Palin started (which went on for weeks).
After all, with the discovery of what the Democrats were doing in Fast and Furious it was an easy leap to the conclusion that they were probably involved in Jarred getting a gun to assassinate a Republican judge.
——Eh??? Gosh kemosabe, lost me there. If that was a joke, it kind of fell flat.
You rarely hear even the most rabid Democrat say anything about Palin or targets anymore.
-——DANG, spat out the coffee again (you owe me a new keyboard). Care to watch HBO in March (”Game Changer”). Watch MSNBC, MSM or read their publications much???
But what you were asking Haley to do with respect to Gingrich (perhaps) WAS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
-——Was not asking that...not even close. Most of the big hitters in SC were neutral (with few exceptions).
Romney got some money flowing her way too.
——Yeah, kind of mentioned that in my last post. Taking the money kind of makes you indentured. Mitt gives the money (Over 30k) while the TP/conservative foot soldiers opened their checkbooks and did her ground game (not to mention vote).
Mitt’s been opening his checkbook to buy a lot of endorsements. If not money, perhaps a cabinet post.
I’m sad Haley got caught up in it but her record in SC is what’s ultimately going to sink her. The Mitt endorsement was just salt in the eyes of the ground-pounders who supported her. She felt that it was the right thing to do, but choices have consequences.
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