Issue #95

by Art Kelly

In South Carolina, the strong vote which Nikki Haley received for governor may have given conservatives a new national star, while two Republican congressmen who voted for the bailout of Wall Street did not fare well.

The results from South Carolina showed that Haley came close to winning more votes for governor than her three primary opponents combined. The complete results were:

Nikki Haley 205,892 (48.9%)
Gresham Barrett 91,620 (21.8%)
Henry McMaster 71,317 (16.9%)
Andre Bauer 52,427 (12.4%)

Haley, who started the race as a little known state representative with no money, was able to beat a congressman, the state attorney general, and the lieutenant governor with the strong support of Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Jenny Sanford.

There is a similarity in their backgrounds of Palin and Haley. They both defeated incumbents in their own party and, once elected, fought against the GOP establishment in their states.

WCBD-TV in Charleston broadcast Haley’s victory speech to supporters on election night, in which she alluded to her outsider status.

"We saw us push against the establishment, we saw us push against the power, and push against the money. And boy did they push back," she said. The “push back” was in the form of a nasty smear campaign against her that appears to have backfired on her opponents.

Haley emphasized the importance of electing conservatives to office.

"South Carolina was settling for a Republican House, a Republican Senate, and a Republican governor. I won't stop until we get a conservative House," she said.

On election night, network commentators speculated that Haley might become a national star like Palin. First, however, she has to defeat Barrett in a June 22 run-off election.

Barrett, who has a lifetime American Conservative Union (ACU) rating 97.7%, nevertheless voted for the October 2008 bailout of the financial services industry.

That vote does not sit well with most conservatives, as indicated by the results of the GOP Primary in South Carolina’s 4th Congressional District. Congressman Bob Inglis, lifetime ACU rating 93.5%, came in second place against four opponents. The complete results were:

Trey Gowdy 34,045 (39.2%)
Rep. Bob Inglis 23,805 (27.4%)
Jim Lee 11,824 (13.6%)
David Thomas 11,049 (12.8%)
Christina Jeffrey 6,030 (7.0%)

During the campaign, Inglis’ support for the bailout was a major issue in the campaign.

At the time of the vote, ConservativeHQ.com’s Richard Viguerie predicted that the $700 billion Wall Street bailout would become the Panama Canal issue of the 21st century. “Republicans and Democrats alike who support this monstrosity will face the wrath of the voters if they stand side-by-side with predatory politicians and bureaucrats and their greedy friends who got us in this mess,” he said.

Inglis, who served in the House from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2005 to the present, will face Gowdy, a Spartanburg prosecutor, in the June 22 run-off.

The home page of Gowdy’s campaign website features a video of him opposing government bailouts.