Gov. Haley to Endorse Rubio

 

Rubio-HaleyBig news out of South Carolina. Popular Gov. Nikki Haley will endorse Sen. Marco Rubio in the GOP presidential race:

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will win South Carolina’s most Republican coveted endorsement of the 2016 presidential race when Gov. Nikki Haley announces her support at a Chapin rally on Wednesday evening, a source with knowledge of the governor’s decision told The State.

Haley, the state’s most popular GOP politician in polls, has decided to back the establishment candidate considered to be in best position to challenge Republican front-runners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has shared advice on education issues with the governor and helped her raise money for her re-election bid in 2014, also was considered a top contender to win Haley’s endorsement.

But he has lagged in recent S.C. polls, falling to fifth in the six-candidate GOP field. Rubio sits third.

According to a recent statewide poll, Haley has a remarkable 80 percent approval rating among South Carolina’s likely Republican primary voters, and is often mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick. Haley joins fellow Palmetto State conservatives Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Trey Gowdy in endorsing Rubio.

Do you think this will help Marco’s fortunes in SC’s crucial vote — and does it make Haley a front-runner for his potential veep spot?

Update: C-SPAN is running a live feed of the endorsement.

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  1. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Yet another reason not to vote for Rubio.

    • #1
  2. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Peter,

    I don’t see how it doesn’t. On top of everything else, a Rubio-Haley ticket would be unbeatable. The democrats would lose very, very, big.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #2
  3. Austin Murrey Inactive
    Austin Murrey
    @AustinMurrey

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Do you think this will help Marco’s fortunes in SC’s crucial vote — and does it make Haley a front-runner for his potential veep spot?

    It probably will and more importantly it’d better help him. If he comes third or worse with Haley, Gowdy and Scott he’s lost the nomination.

    • #3
  4. Brian McMenomy Inactive
    Brian McMenomy
    @BrianMcMenomy

    Governor Haley has conducted herself with poise & grace when the lights have been the brightest (after the Charleston atrocity, her State of the Union response).  This should help Rubio & he’d be very short-sighted to not have her on the short list, should it come to that.

    • #4
  5. Brian McMenomy Inactive
    Brian McMenomy
    @BrianMcMenomy

    I will be fascinated, in a train wreck sort of way, to see Trump’s reaction to this.

    • #5
  6. LilyBart Inactive
    LilyBart
    @LilyBart

    A GOPe ticket!  Wow, hard to contain my enthusiam /s

    • #6
  7. LilyBart Inactive
    LilyBart
    @LilyBart

    Brian McMenomy:Governor Haley has conducted herself with poise & grace when the lights have been the brightest (after the Charleston atrocity, her State of the Union response). This should help Rubio & he’d be very short-sighted to not have her on the short list, should it come to that.

    The SOTU Response was terrible – hit all the wrong notes (IMO – and others’ opinions as well)

    • #7
  8. Austin Murrey Inactive
    Austin Murrey
    @AustinMurrey

    Brian McMenomy:I will be fascinated, in a train wreck sort of way, to see Trump’s reaction to this.

    He and Cruz are too busy having a, um, “staring” contest to bother.

    And he is, never forget, the candidate who doesn’t need endorsements, ground games or consistency to win.

    • #8
  9. wmartin Member
    wmartin
    @

    I think Rubio fanboys will be stunned by how poorly he does in a general election.

    • #9
  10. Quake Voter Inactive
    Quake Voter
    @QuakeVoter

    Rubio is not going to stop Trump with conventional politics and magic math.  He needs to upend things now.   Naming Haley as his VP now and starting an unprecedented campaign on two fronts (one unopposed) might change the dynamics of the race.  Get Trump making his rude, demeaning, insulting tirades at Haley.  That’s an Overton Window too far.

    • #10
  11. Austin Murrey Inactive
    Austin Murrey
    @AustinMurrey

    wmartin:I think Rubio fanboys will be stunned by how poorly he does in a general election.

    Honestly the worst scenario for the Republican party – by far – is if he wins the nomination and loses the general election.

    • #11
  12. Lazy_Millennial Inactive
    Lazy_Millennial
    @LazyMillennial

    Love it. She’d make a great VP, though I’d still prefer Carly Fiorina

    • #12
  13. Larry3435 Inactive
    Larry3435
    @Larry3435

    Mike LaRoche:Yet another reason not to vote for Rubio.

    Indeed.  If you’re a Democrat.

    • #13
  14. wmartin Member
    wmartin
    @

    Austin Murrey:

    wmartin:I think Rubio fanboys will be stunned by how poorly he does in a general election.

    Honestly the worst scenario for the Republican party – by far – is if he wins the nomination and loses the general election.

    It’s what I actually think will happen. Romney 2.0,  with rubio running a very donorist campaign with lots of yammering about a “New American Century”and pandering to Latinos. As with Romney,  GOPe and most of Ricochet will be convinced until the very last day that he will pull through…and then white working class voters will sit it out again and Latinos will go overwhelmingly for Hillary.

    • #14
  15. Frozen Chosen Inactive
    Frozen Chosen
    @FrozenChosen

    Rubio is picking up more key endorsements than anyone else. Whether they will make a big difference in the voting remains to be seen but they surely can’t hurt.

    If Rubio wins the nomination his VP has to be Haley or Fiorina, IMHO. Voting for the first female VP would help those gender oriented voters justify not voting for Hillary.

    This is probably a thought for another thread, but I think that most Bush, Kasich and probably Carson supporters would switch to Rubio rather than switch to Trump.  I’m not sure they would switch to Cruz if Rubio dropped out.

    • #15
  16. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    Austin Murrey:

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Do you think this will help Marco’s fortunes in SC’s crucial vote — and does it make Haley a front-runner for his potential veep spot?

    It probably will and more importantly it’d better help him. If he comes third or worse with Haley, Gowdy and Scott he’s lost the nomination.

    He could still come in third I think…I hope higher but 3rd and he’s still in this.  Then again, people still seem to be enjoying the trump clown show so I don’t have any idea what’s going on.

    • #16
  17. Max Ledoux Coolidge
    Max Ledoux
    @Max

    Frozen Chosen:Rubio is picking up more key endorsements than anyone else. Whether they will make a big difference in the voting remains to be seen but they surely can’t hurt.

    If Rubio wins the nomination his VP has to be Haley or Fiorina, IMHO. Voting for the first female VP would help those gender oriented voters justify not voting for Hillary.

    This is probably a thought for another thread, but I think that most Bush, Kasich and probably Carson supporters would switch to Rubio rather than switch to Trump. I’m not sure they would switch to Cruz if Rubio dropped out.

    Do you really think someone who’s considering voting for Hillary Clinton would vote for Rubio & Haley/Fiorina instead?

    • #17
  18. Petty Boozswha Inactive
    Petty Boozswha
    @PettyBoozswha

    I’m not a Rubio fan boy, I wish we could transplant Rubio’s personality and demeanor on Scott Walker, but that’s not the way it works. Rubio, and maybe Kasich, are the only guys we have that could win against Biden/Warren [who I would bet on at this point].

    • #18
  19. Larry3435 Inactive
    Larry3435
    @Larry3435

    Max Ledoux:Do you really think someone who’s considering voting for Hillary Clinton would vote for Rubio & Haley/Fiorina instead?

    Then who?  Trump?  Hell, I’d vote for Hillary if that was the choice.

    If we can’t beat a corrupt, robotic, venal, clone of Eva Peron, with a young, articulate, attractive Latino and a popular female Asian governor, then it’s time to just fold up the GOP and give up.  That is simply the best face you can put on conservative values.  So if you’re right Max, then there ain’t no conservative values left in this here former Land of the Free.

    • #19
  20. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Max Ledoux:

    Frozen Chosen:Rubio is picking up more key endorsements than anyone else. Whether they will make a big difference in the voting remains to be seen but they surely can’t hurt.

    If Rubio wins the nomination his VP has to be Haley or Fiorina, IMHO. Voting for the first female VP would help those gender oriented voters justify not voting for Hillary.

    This is probably a thought for another thread, but I think that most Bush, Kasich and probably Carson supporters would switch to Rubio rather than switch to Trump. I’m not sure they would switch to Cruz if Rubio dropped out.

    Do you really think someone who’s considering voting for Hillary Clinton would vote for Rubio & Haley/Fiorina instead?

    Max,

    The right way to put it is “would someone who’s considering not voting for Hillary Clinton then make the move and cross over”. I think the answer is yes. Hillary’s negatives continue to mount. She turns off young voters. Older voters are slowly realizing just how real the Email/Clinton Cash scandal is. They are looking for what to do. Those that are hopeless will chase Sanders and then do what the donkey tells them to do anyway. There are many in the middle looking for something else. If only 20% are candidates for a cross over the effect could be YUGE!

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #20
  21. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    I dispute the notion that this is “big news” or will significantly move the needle.

    I don’t see much evidence for this conventional wisdom that endorsements matter, and that they really matter when the endorser is very popular. High approval ratings do not mean a person is actually influential.

    • #21
  22. Douglas Inactive
    Douglas
    @Douglas

    James Gawron: a Rubio-Haley ticket would be unbeatable.

    I laughed until I realized you were being serious.

    • #22
  23. Douglas Inactive
    Douglas
    @Douglas

    Larry3435:

    Then who? Trump? Hell, I’d vote for Hillary if that was the choice.

    But of course.

    • #23
  24. Austin Murrey Inactive
    Austin Murrey
    @AustinMurrey

    Concretevol:

    Austin Murrey:

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Do you think this will help Marco’s fortunes in SC’s crucial vote — and does it make Haley a front-runner for his potential veep spot?

    It probably will and more importantly it’d better help him. If he comes third or worse with Haley, Gowdy and Scott he’s lost the nomination.

    He could still come in third I think…I hope higher but 3rd and he’s still in this. Then again, people still seem to be enjoying the trump clown show so I don’t have any idea what’s going on.

    Rubio’s candidacy is built around conventional election thinking. He’s young, he’s handsome – and don’t kid yourself, that’s a huge part of his appeal to the conservative media – he has high favorability numbers, he’s the most electable.

    Rob likes to say that in the end Republican voters make the “sensible” choice so if he cannot get at least second with glowing coverage from the right, vicious attacks that hit his (current) main rival Cruz from the front runner and ignore Rubio himself and at this point almost universal support from high-profile GOP leadership in South Carolina he’s either not as electable as he’s supposed to be or the GOP has so enraged their voters that the conventional wisdom no longer applies.

    • #24
  25. Redneck Desi Inactive
    Redneck Desi
    @RedneckDesi

    Lets celebrate the diversity and talent of our side!

    • #25
  26. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Particularly because of the timing (right before the SC primary), it could have an impact. Especially with her popularity. It’s hard to say how much. And I do like the idea of a Rubio/Haley ticket!

    • #26
  27. Mendel Inactive
    Mendel
    @Mendel

    A Rubio-Haley ticket would be ridiculous because Haley is superior to Rubio in every aspect that supposedly make Rubio a good candidate.

    His alleged positives are that he’s a) young and attractive, b) somewhat conservative but not too “extreme”, c) well-spoken, and d) ticks off a demographic box.

    Haley bests him in all 4 of those categories. Why would a candidate choose somebody superior to himself to be his runner-up?

    • #27
  28. Sabrdance Member
    Sabrdance
    @Sabrdance

    1.) Endorsements are not everything, but they are not nothing.  Republicans in SC who are on the fence between candidates, donors who are on the fence, free delegates, people making decisions in the last days (as many of them do) -all these people can turn to GOP leaders they trust, both senators and the governor, and ask “who do they support.”  That can be up to 10% of the vote (though I’d predict more like 2-3%).  That’s the difference between 4th and out, 3rd and in, and 2nd and the new mantle of Conservative Hero.

    2.) I like Haley.  Can we please not throw her to the wolves like we did the last reforming woman governor?  “She is a governor with executive experience who well balances Rubio’s wonky-legislator personna.”  Good.  “She’s a woman.  Behold the magical power of ovaries.”  Bad.  One day, I’d like her to have the chance to run on her own, not see her drafting behind a two-bit demagogue.

    • #28
  29. Brian McMenomy Inactive
    Brian McMenomy
    @BrianMcMenomy

    LilyBart:

    Brian McMenomy:Governor Haley has conducted herself with poise & grace when the lights have been the brightest (after the Charleston atrocity, her State of the Union response). This should help Rubio & he’d be very short-sighted to not have her on the short list, should it come to that.

    The SOTU Response was terrible – hit all the wrong notes (IMO – and others’ opinions as well)

    I judge my response by what I see with my eyes and hear with my ears, not what someone else tells me to think about it.  I watched & listened to it and stand by my judgment.

    • #29
  30. Lucy Pevensie Inactive
    Lucy Pevensie
    @LucyPevensie

    Mendel:I dispute the notion that this is “big news” or will significantly move the needle.

    I don’t see much evidence for this conventional wisdom that endorsements matter, and that they really matter when the endorser is very popular. High approval ratings do not mean a person is actually influential.

    In general,  I  agree. In this specific case,  however,  you are wrong.  The Haley endorsement is huge in South Carolina, and so are the Scott and Gowdy endorsements.

    • #30
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