Haley win a boon for Palin, Romney

www.Politico.com ^ | 6/23/10 | ANDY BARR

[SoConPubbie]

Nikki Haley may have been the big winner in South Carolina Tuesday, but she isn’t the only Republican whose star is rising in an early state that is key to winning the GOP presidential nomination.

Both Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, were also winners in the 2012 sweepstakes. They got behind Haley at critical junctures in her campaign for governor while the rest of the potential GOP presidential field either endorsed another candidate or stayed out of the fray completely.

. . . . . .

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s pick of Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer fizzled, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’s decision to back Rep. Gresham Barrett was slightly better and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s selection of state Attorney General Henry McMaster didn’t get him very far.

. . . . . .

[Servant of the Cross]

Try an unbiased source next time.

Santorum, however, doesn’t play coy when I ask him about what his endorsement means to a fellow Republican, if anything. “Palin is the only endorsement anyone wants,” he laughs. “If you ask who the most influential endorsers are, Palin is numbers one, two, and three, with maybe Sen. Jim DeMint at four. Her endorsement is the only one that matters this year. Just look at what she did for Nikki Haley.”

What about Romney, the man Santorum supported in the 2008 presidential campaign? “No offense to Mitt, but he doesn’t carry the weight,” Santorum says.

[GOP_Lady]

Like we all didn’t know that Palin is like a rock star.

[Servant of the Cross]

Like we all didn’t know that Palin is like a rock star.

AND that Mitt IS a lightweight ....

[GOP_Lady]

To some, yes, but to me, a successful person in both business and politics is not a lightweight.

I work with some very top-notch attorneys. Just because they're not “rockstars,” doesn't mean they're lightweights.