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...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich still smashes his GOP presidential rivals in South Carolina, while his closest but still distant rival Mitt Romney received only a 4-point lift after an endorsement from S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley. A survey conducted Sunday evening by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research found support for Gingrich dropped from 38 percent at the end of November to nearly 31 percent among likely South Carolina Republican primary voters. Romney rose slightly from 15 percent to 19 percent. InsiderAdvantage CEO Matt Towery said the race in South Carolina should have gotten closer, but it remains a state where he predicts...