Mitt Romney headed to S.C. for Nikki Haley (primary)
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38325.html
If he actually said that, then very few people heard it. I'll stand corrected if true, but if a tree falls deep in the forest, nobody hears it.
It is fairly well known that Haley gained traction only after Sarah Palin endorsed her, and her strong defense helped a lot when the allegations came out.
As to "minions", admit it, don't you wish your candidate had even had a paltry few?
:-)