While typing my last post, I was listening to Nikki Haley’s live presser about the weather. Occasionally, I would glance over, and was struck by how the gov had adopted the standard Chris Christie disaster couture, with the dark blue windbreaker and everything. (Although she added a stylish white turtleneck.)
I’m telling myself this doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean she’s going to stop lanes of I-20 going through Kershaw County just to punish Vincent Sheheen or anything. And so far, it doesn’t look like she’s packing on any unhealthy pounds.
Apparently, this has become the national standard for a governor wanting to show that he or she is in Complete Weather Disaster Command and Control Mode. Like a general getting out of Class A’s and into fatigues — or rather, like what that would have meant decades ago, before generals started going to the office every day in BDUs.
Anyway, it just struck me as an interesting visual. Increasingly, we think in visual symbols rather than words, don’t we?
And are we next going to see Gov. Haley walking alongside President Obama, showing him the devastation wreaked on our state? Probably not… although I see she has sought a federal emergency declaration, which I found ironic…
Related Posts
She looks appropriate for the occasion. A powder blue skirt suit would look off.
I am glad she seems to have toned down her anti-fed rhetoric!
By the way, that’s not the most flattering picture of our governor, but I assure you I tried to pick the nicest one out of four or five screen grabs I attempted.
You may not realize this, but Nikki Haley has one of those very mobile faces that can be caught in awkward transitions if you try to shoot her candidly. She’s kind of like Andre Bauer in that respect. (You have to shoot him with motor drive, and only one out of a dozen exposures will look normal.) This is balanced by the fact that she’s someone who photographs very nicely when posing — a blessing denied to most of us.
This was further complicated by the fact that she was in Serious and Concerned mode, so she was way sterner looking that usual…
It’s not that bad. I’ve seen much worse
Good look. Hope everyone is being safe out there. I went up to my office *in my wife’s Jeep) on Devine Street, and it’s pretty icy.
By the way, I saw Serious and Concerned Mode open for Soundgarden at at the Bank of America Amphitheater in 1995.
It looks like she got SC prepared for this mess. If all areas of the state fare as well as possible, kudos to her.
Meanwhile, Vincent Sheheen’s team is sitting in a room chanting “Please screw this up! Please screw this up!”.
Haley has figured out how to achieve the balance of staying under the radar on the bad stuff and out front on the things that will get her re-elected. I never would have thought it would happen but she’s moving into “lock” status for November.
I remember Carrol Campbell going on the 11:00 news when Hugo was coming to tell people to take it seriously. He was just wearing regular clothes sitting at the news desk. You got the feeling he just walked down the street and popped in because he thought it was important. He came across as quite sincere.
Haley may be sincere, but I always have trouble seeing her that way. She always comes across as being at least as concerned with the photo op as the actual point she is supposedly speaking about, to me. Maybe that’s not fair. I can’t tell.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
Tracy Flick
She does have an air of indifference about her. But I’ll cut her some slack here. Apparently SC escaped the traffic issues that plagued GA last time and NC this time around.
Seems to me that she wants to have it both ways. Is it cynical of me to think that she turned down federal money for Obama Care and is requesting FEMA money because she is appealing to her base? If she is the Tea Party woman that she purports, this seems a little oxymoronish. Helping out people who don’t have health care seems way more important than a four day ice storm.
I think she has decided that the Tea Party is winding down…
It’s a *nuanced* position.
Yeah, that’s the ticket….
Looking forward to Governor Sheheen taking every dollar he can from Washington… and going back for more.
People who are willing to try Obamacare won’t vote for her. If she leaves her base to freeze their arses off they won’t vote for her either.
Heck, the President isn’t even willing to try Obamacare. He’s delayed the Employer Mandate twice now. It’s like he’s some kind of anarchist, nihilist, tea-partier.
I object. The phrase “anarchist, nihilist, tea-partier” is doubly redundant. Or would that be trebly?
@Karen:
Current polling numbersxt (the RCP average of all polls) has Obamacare at 38.3% in favor.
I’m no political expert, but running on Obamacare seems “non-optimal”.
I think you underestimate the capacity of the average South Carolinian to contain within themselves a mass of contradictions. You’d think that people willing to try Obamacare wouldn’t vote for her – but I bet they will – and completely miss the contradiction in the process. I am constantly amazed at the ability of some voters to not vote in their best interest without ever realizing it. It saddens me that people are so ill informed or easily led.
Last Friday you whined that we ignored you, but today I am camping in the bedroom with dogs while our bathroom floor is being done, and I would welcome some diversion!