Free Republic

(Reuters) - In South Carolina, the governor's mansion is on the grounds of a former arsenal that was burned down by the Union army during the Civil War. These days, that attack in the 1860s seems a metaphor for the besieged tenure of Republican Governor Nikki Haley. Elected last year as a symbol of the conservative Tea Party's rise in U.S. politics, the embattled Haley has had a rocky transition from government critic to government executive -- and potential player in the 2012 presidential campaign. Democrats and Republicans alike accuse her of being petty and distant. And some of the...