Not brother David, the ex-speaker and ambassador, but Billy Wilkins, the former head of the 4th Circuit:
After Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Mitt Romney for president this morning, S.C. frontrunner Newt Gingrich responded by announcing the endorsements of Billy and Debra Wilkins.
Billy Wilkins is a partner at the Nexsen Pruet law firm and a former chief justice of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. His wife Debra is a former member of the board of visitors at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Gingrich’s campaign noted that Billy Wilkins is “most recently known for playing a pivotal role in Boeing’s decision to locate in South Carolina.”…
Billy Wilkins
Maybe it doesn’t cut much ice with the rank and file voters who still like Nikki Haley, but they are, ahem, in the minority now. As for this minority of one, I certainly find the endorsement of Judge Wilkins to be more impressive than the one Romney bagged. For what little that’s worth. Newt’s all like, Yo, maybe you’ve got Nikki, but I’ve got somebody serious. So much for me being the wild man, huh?
Interesting that Romney, the closest thing the GOP field has to an establishment candidate, gets the Tea Party governor’s backing, but Gingrich the Perpetual Insurgent comes up with an endorsement as Establishment as Billy Wilkins.
You just can’t make any assumptions in this contest…
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You’re being sarcastic, right? Or at least I hope you are. I douby there are many voters who have any idea who Billy Wilkins is… In fact, I bet fewer than 25% know who John Huntsman is.
Newt must have promised he’d name a school in the upstate after him.
Kind of like Rick Perry getting the other Wilkins endorsement – the personification of the GOP establishment in SC.
David Wilkins and Katon Dawson with Perry. McMaster and Courson with Huntsman. Isn’t it ironic that it’s Haley and Loftis backing the establishment horse in this race?
Count me among those who have never heard of Billy Wilkins. Seriously Brad, how can this possibly make any difference.
Bud, I tried to clearly say that among the electorate, Nikki cuts more ice (it’s an interesting phenomenon that the farther you get from the State House — in other words, the farther you get from people who have had the unfortunate experience of having had to WORK with them — the more loyalty to Haley, and Mark Sanford before her, you will find).
All I was saying was that I am much more impressed by a Billy Wilkins. And I immediately added the caveat, “For what little that’s worth.”
As Kevin says, it’s interesting to see some of the people that your more serious, establishment Republicans are lining up behind.
And that last point is why it’s hard to predict what will happen. In past years, there has been a certain coalescing around a consensus candidate by the GOP establishment in this state, which is why SC has tended to pick eventual nominees.
But we’re not seeing that this year. You’re seeing the bigwigs line up behind candidates who are sufficiently fringe that we are surprised by their strength (Gingrich) or behind more moderate candidates who are not seen as having a prayer (Huntsman). And then you have a upstart like Nikki Haley backing the guy who, through most of this process, has seemed like the safest bet.
We’re just not seeing the usual patterns here.
I suspect that Haley chose Romney because she wants to be seen as backing a winner. It’s more about her than the candidate.
We’re just not seeing the usual patterns here.
-Brad
I have tended to see it that way myself and that is indeed the conventional wisdom. But is it really true? For heaven sakes we haven’t even voted yet and there is all these “it’s different this time” rants. Seems like there is always a great deal of sorting out in the weeks leading up to the primary season then for the Republicans to coalesce. Maybe it won’t happen this time but I maintain there’s a better than even chance that within 30 days everything will settle down and this will look like a garden variety nomination process.
Aw, c’mon, bud– I don’t think we’ve ever seen such a game of musical chairs as we have this time–the flavor of the month for first or second place? Usually, there is some shuffling among the top three or four and lots of nonstarters, if I recall correctly.
I’m not a huge fan of the horse race aspects of the electoral process. I don’t like handicapping and polls and such. I wish people would just try to figure out who aligns with their beliefs and/or who would make the best whatever the office is, and vote for them, but then I also wish people wouldn’t use their cellphones when they drive. Fat chance.
I agree 100% that folks should vote for their fave regardless of what the polls say. But as a statistician I really enjoy the horserace stuff. Especially in the GOP since I won’t vote for any of these guys. It’s just fascinating to see how it plays out. Like I say, my first inclination is to see a very different sort of horserace this time around. But only time will tell for sure.
Newt had ethical issues while he was Speaker of the House. He also has “John Edwards” morality.
How many wives has he had? Affairs while his wife was in chemo.
Those in Washington serve themselves instead of serving the public. That applies to Democrats and Republicans.
Did he arrest Billy, and what does Wilkins think in wake of this?
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich showed no sign Sunday of letting up on his assault on “activist” federal judges. During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Gingrich suggested the president could send federal law enforcement authorities to arrest judges who make controversial rulings in order to compel them to justify their decisions before congressional hearings.