Free Republic

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told The Daily Caller that Texas Gov. Rick Perry challenging former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to release his tax returns is a “distraction” and “nothing but a political ploy.” “I think those are distractions. I saw it in my race. They always say ‘show me your tax return’ just so they can start throwing holes in it. I think that will be his decision to make, but that’s nothing but a political ploy,” Haley told TheDC in the spin room of the GOP presidential debate. Gov. Haley, a tea party favorite, has endorsed Romney for...

(Reuters) - In South Carolina, the governor's mansion is on the grounds of a former arsenal that was burned down by the Union army during the Civil War. These days, that attack in the 1860s seems a metaphor for the besieged tenure of Republican Governor Nikki Haley. Elected last year as a symbol of the conservative Tea Party's rise in U.S. politics, the embattled Haley has had a rocky transition from government critic to government executive -- and potential player in the 2012 presidential campaign. Democrats and Republicans alike accuse her of being petty and distant. And some of the...