TweetThis could be a moment to pause and celebrate something. Not the ethics bill that passed the state Senate yesterday (I’ll let Cindi Scoppe tell you about its inadequacies, as she did in this column and this one), but the fact that both candidates for governor are vocal in calling it inadequate: COLUMBIA, SC — […]
Tweet 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 […]
TweetThe S.C. Democratic Party rather joyfully brings attention to this item that describes the back-and-forth between Nikki Haley and the office of her counterpart in Georgia, Nathan Deal. The piece quotes this from the Charleston Regional Business Journal about Nikki’s complaints in a speech to a civic club about the mess in Atlanta: Haley, who was in […]
TweetI saw I had an email the other day from the South Carolina Arts Alliance, and I figured, “Well, it’s about that time, when they’re gearing up to fight Nikki Haley’s budget.” I assumed this was the first of a series of increasingly frantic notices, as in 2012 and 2013. So I didn’t actually look […]
TweetAnyone who has seen her display her unarmed-defense skills may understand why Nikki Haley might want a gun — that is, if they forget for a moment that she has an armed escort, provided at state expense. But say she didn’t have protective detail. Say she actually felt a need to defend herself. Why would […]
Tweet Got this from Politico: You better think twice before messing with Gov. Nikki Haley; she’s a black belt. On Wednesday the South Carolina governor was presented with an honorary fourth-degree black belt. She was also shown breaking a board with an open-handed punch in a video released by her office. “I earned an honorary 4th degree […]
TweetStill catching up with news from over the long weekend. I was fighting a cold, and did not leave the house from Wednesday afternoon until this morning. Nor did I blog (did ya notice?) or even read news, which might have tempted me to blog, which I did not feel up to (or, as the […]
TweetI have a limited patience with discussions of public ethics. It would take more words than I feel like writing today to explain all the reasons why, but here’s the simple explanation: I find that too often, in the political sphere, when we speak of “ethics,” we are not talking about right and wrong; we’re […]
TweetEmphasis on the “slight,” according to the Democrats. Just about the same as the 3.53 percent margin of error: COLUMBIA — S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley holds slight edge on Democratic challenger Vincent Sheheen in their 2014 gubernatorial rematch, according to a poll done for the Democratic Governors Association. Haley, a Lexington Republican, leads 44 percent to […]
TweetReports this morning noted that Nikki Haley has amassed three times as much in campaign funds as has her once-and-future opponent, Vincent Sheheen. But she enjoys another advantage that I suspect could be even more important: She’s a much better public speaker. She’s energetic, articulate, engaging and sincere. And those things count with an audience. […]
TweetHere’s a release that came in from the Vincent Sheheen gubernatorial campaign: Dear Brad, When the going gets tough, Nikki Haley gets going…right out of state. This week a published report showed South Carolina topping the list of states slashing school spending and hurting public education, specifically citing Governor Haley’s political ideology as a main reason for […]
TweetLocally, and nationally, Democrats rushed to heap scorn upon Gov. Nikki Haley as she announced her re-election campaign today. From the Vincent Sheheen campaign: Dear Brad, Today in Greenville Nikki Haley will take the stage with governors from three other states as she officially announces her re-election campaign. She’s bringing in people from outside of South Carolina because it’s […]
TweetWhen we last looked at the matter, Nikki Haley had vetoed funding for the certificate of need process that state law requires before new health facilities can be built and operate — leaving DHEC with an unfunded mandate, and SC hospitals in limbo on major plans. Her action exhibited a blithe destructiveness across a wide […]
TweetI found it interesting that Nikki Haley, whose former employment by Lexington Medical Center raised ethical questions from many, once again vetoed funding for the operation of the Certificate of Need program. If you’ll recall, several years back, when Lexington Medical was fighting to get a certificate to do open-heart surgery, the CON process was […]
TweetAgain, Vincent Sheheen is challenging Ms. Transparency to live up to the reputation that she seems to want to have: Sheheen releases tax returns, calls for transparency from all SC leaders Senator calls for leaders to “walk the walk” on transparency and ethics reform Camden, SC – Today, Sen. Vincent Sheheen released his 2011 and […]
TweetThis came in today: Columbia, SC – Today Senator Joel Lourie and House Democratic Leader Rep. Todd Rutherford called on Governor Haley today to immediately remove and condemn Roan Garcia Quintana, a white supremacist, from her campaign committee. The letter below was sent to Governor Haley via email earlier this afternoon. ——————————————— Dear Governor Haley, […]
TweetFirst, I saw this release from the state Democratic Party: Columbia – Today, Winthrop University released its latest public polling data showing that once again, the majority of South Carolinians do not approve of the job Governor Nikki Haley is doing. The Governor made meager gains from within her Republican base but continues to turn […]
TweetI thought this was good in The State‘s story about Vincent Sheheen running against Nikki Haley again. It quotes him as saying: “The current administration and previous distraction have presented the same ideas and done the same things. It’s not just (about) Republican control, it’s this ideology of self-promotion and extremism that both Sanford and […]
TweetThere seems to be a new communications director over at the SC Democratic Party — Kristin Sosanie — and she put out a release today that is somewhat more substantive and detailed than the emotional, nyah-nyah stuff we usually get from political parties. I found it interesting, and relevant, enough to pass on in its entirety: […]
TweetI missed the State of the State last night — perhaps some of y’all would like to share your observations about it — but I read the newspaper story this morning, and the headline struck me as really ironic: Haley: Look to SC, not DC, for answers Really? Did she say that with a straight […]