Mitt Romney is so enamored with his endorsement from South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) that he’s taking two crucial days off from the Iowa caucus campaign trail to barnstorm the Palmetto State with her. Romney’s dumping TV ads on the state, too, hoping to capitalize on the backing of the top Republican in the state Newt Gingrich says is his firewall.
But one unaligned and well-connected Republican operative in South Carolina says it’s not likely Romney’s new best friend will do much for him in the state she governs. A quick run of the numbers backs the source up.
A poll earlier this month put Haley’s approval rating among registered voters in South Carolina at just 35%. Forty-three percent of those surveyed disapproved of the job she’s doing.
Haley’s term in office has been beset by scandals, including allegation that she’s been actively scrubbing email communications from the record books and suggestions that she’s been rewarding donors with state jobs among other things.
Recently, a conservative Republican powerbroker (and Jon Huntsman backer) called Haley “the most corrupt person to occupy the Governor’s Mansion since Reconstruction.”
Nevertheless, Romney had her endorsement in 2008 and has been at pains to get it again, contributing $62,000 to her gubernatorial campaign through his PAC in 2010.
There’s no doubt that Haley is a national Republican star, and having her by his side will likely be very helpful to national fundraising, provided her scandals don’t become a bigger story than her position as one of the GOP’s few prominent women and even fewer prominent minorities. But the South Carolina Republican operative says all that money and attention may not pay off for Romney in the end when it comes to actually winning the Palmetto primary.
“One assumes his campaign will light up the airwaves, which is a double-edged sword given Governor Haley’s problems lately,” the source said. “She has taken a beating over the past two months, and it’s showing in her poll numbers. She’s well below a 50% approval, which is shocking in South Carolina. Even worse, she’s polling terribly among Republicans.”
“I’m not sure if this endorsement helps Romney in the long term,” the source added.
The source said Romney’s “major structural problems” on the ground in South Carolina will likely be a more important factor in the end than Haley’s backing.
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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