Gov. Nikki Haley has never met a national media appearance she didn’t like, despite her well-known practice of black-balling local news outlets. But as she discussed her endorsement of Mitt Romney Sunday morning on NBC’s Meet the Press, “National Nikki” showed just how out of touch she is with the people of South Carolina.
It didn’t help that the governor’s appearance followed Michele Bachmann, another tea partier prone to making “factually-challenged assertions” while pushing extreme political ideology. True to form, many of Gov. Haley’s statements had little basis in evidence as she predicted Romney will do “very well” in next month’s South Carolina primary — despite polls showing Newt Gingrich leading in the Palmetto State by up to 20 points.
Haley also downplayed the most recent Winthrop Poll, which gauged her approval rating at 34%. The governor attacked the “local” poll’s credibility, saying it predicts President Obama will win South Carolina.
The only problem with Gov. Haley’s criticism, however, is that it isn’t true. Winthrop didn’t even ask whether Obama will win South Carolina, because doing so without a Republican nominee would be a waste of time. The poll simply put Obama’s approval rating in South Carolina at 44%, 10 points higher than the governor’s.
In one of the interview’s only notable moments, Haley went on the record to say she won’t accept an invitation to be Romney’s running mate if he asks. But with her poll numbers the way they are at home, we’re not sure why he’d want to.
