Thread: Exclusive: Gov. Haley endorsing Rubio for president

February 17, 2016 1:48 PM

Exclusive: Gov. Haley endorsing Rubio for president
The Buzz

A blog from The State's political team of Cassie Cope, Jamie Self and Andy Shain.
By Andrew Shain

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.

Haley’s decision was a bit of a reversal in the past day. The governor told reporters Tuesday that she had not made up her mind on who to back in the 2016 race.

She endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race. While the former Massachusetts governor won the GOP nomination, he lost the S.C. primary to former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, breaking the state’s three-decade streak of voting for the candidate who landed on the November ballot.

Haley has become a favorite to make vice presidential short lists after her handling of last year’s Charleston shooting and successful call to remove the Confederate flag from the S.C. State House grounds. She gave the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union last month.

The governor’s endorsement comes at a critical time for Rubio.

The Florida senator needs momentum in South Carolina after finishing fifth in New Hampshire after a rattled debate performance. Rubio trails Trump and Cruz in the Palmetto State with three days ahead of the S.C. GOP presidential primary on Saturday.

Haley joins U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of North Charleston, the only African-American Republican in the Senate, and U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, a Spartanburg Republican who heads a special panel investigating the Benghazi attack, in endorsing Rubio.

Rubio has had success wooing financial support in the state.

He met major GOP donor Hank Scott, chief executive of an Allendale lumber products company, at the S.C. GOP party’s annual dinner in 2012. Scott would later choose to back Rubio for president and donate a total of $200,000 to a pro-Rubio PAC, the largest contributions tied to the presidential race from a South Carolinian.

Haley and Rubio share similar backgrounds. They are both 44-year-old children of immigrants who were elected to their current seats in the Tea Party fervor of 2010.

Rubio first met Haley when they were first running for their current offices. The senator spoke at the S.C. GOP party’s annual dinner in 2012, a way for him to start building relationships in early-primary state.

They have communicated while Rubio has been on the trail. The senator also has said during stops in South Carolina this week how Haley would make a good vice president.

Haley has been battling with Trump. She said she was referring to him as one of the “angriest voices” in her State of the Union response and criticized him over his combative campaigning.

The daughter of Indian immigrants called Trump’s proposal to ban temporarily Muslims from entering the country an embarrassment to the GOP and un-American.

Haley has not criticized Cruz, but she has not kept in regular contact with the Texas senator, who like Rubio, is the son of Cuban immigrant.

Bush pushed hard for her support. His father and brother, both former presidents who won the S.C. presidential primary, have reached out to Haley in recent weeks.

But Bush is lagging in South Carolina. Bush sits in fourth in polls with several recent surveys putting him behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich in fifth.

http://www.thestate.com/news/politic...e60856927.html

Gov. Haley endorsing Marco Rubio for president today
Schuyler Kropf

Feb 17 2016 1:48 pm Feb 17 2:05 pm

Gov. Nikki Haley today is endorsing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for president, ending months of speculation and giving Rubio a much needed bounce heading into Saturday’s South Carolina Republican primary.

Haley is scheduled to appear with Rubio tonight at 6 p.m. in Chapin for a town hall gathering. The endorsement was confirmed to The Post and Courier by a source familiar with the governor’s thinking.

Haley joins U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and Upstate congressman Trey Gowdy as the most visible South Carolina politicians to go with Rubio. But her endorsement is the most critical prize of all, as she is both the elected leader of the Republican Party in the state and an emerging star on the national stage.

The 11th-hour endorsement still gives Haley time to appear on the stump with Rubio for the rest of the week as the GOP battle races to the finish line.

Her decision making was kept a well-guarded secret to the end. Rubio told The Post and Courier’s editorial board on Tuesday that he wasn’t sure Haley would step into the fray.

“I would love to have her endorsement,” he said. “I’m not sure she’s going to endorse anyone.”

The endorsement comes as front-runner Donald Trump holds a 16-point lead among Republicans expected to vote Saturday, according to CNN/ORC Poll released Tuesday, the latest measure of the race available.

Trump is at 38 percent, putting him far out in front of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, with 22 percent. Rubio is next with a 14 percent level of support. Following the leaders is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 10 percent; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, 6 percent; and Ohio Gov. John Kasich is at 4 percent.

http://www.postandcourier.com/articl...1603/160219418

Stepping in line.

http://www.alipac.us/f8/only-4-days-...ration-328933/

See Gov. Nikki Haley endorses Sen. Marco Rubio ahead of SC GOP primary



COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) -
After staying quiet as her fellow Republicans put down stakes in the Palmetto State in preparation for the South Carolina Republican Primary, Gov. Nikki Haley has finally settled on an endorsement.



The two-term governor announced during a Chapin rally that she is supporting Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for Saturday's primary.






Keep in mind that Marco Rubio not only supports giving amnesty to 10 -20 million foreigners who have invaded our borders, but Marco Rubio also spit on our Constitution by supporting fast trade promotion authority which allows our President to exercise Congress’ exclusive power to fashion regulations of commerce with foreign nations.



It is amazing how many snakes have come together to support our Washington Establishment’s pick for president.



JWK





To support Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush or is to support our Global Governance Crowd and their WTO, NAFTA, GATT, and CAFTA, all used to circumvent America First trade policies, while fattening the fortunes of international corporate giants who have no allegiance to America or any nation.

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Updated: 9:55 p.m. on Wednesday, February 17, 2016

CHAPIN, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio's presidential bid Wednesday evening, giving him an extra boost as the Republican establishment's embrace of the onetime insurgent grows, and he emerges as the chief alternative to Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz.

Ms. Haley's endorsement may not swing many votes — her 2012 backing didn't help Mitt Romney, who lost the state's primary to Newt Gingrich — but it signals Mr. Rubio's ascendance.

"I wanted somebody with fight. I wanted somebody with passion. I wanted somebody that had conviction to do the right thing, but I wanted somebody humble enough that remembers that you work for all the people," she said at a rally in Chapin.

The governor made the announcement as the fight in South Carolina boiled over ahead of Saturday's vote.

Mr. Trump has sent a cease-and-desist letter threatening to sue Mr. Cruz, demanding he pull down an ad highlighting Mr. Trump's former pro-choice position. Mr. Cruz on Wednesday dared Mr. Trump to file, saying he would love the chance to get the billionaire businessman in court, where he would have to answer pointed questions about his record — "under oath."

Mr. Cruz also released an ad eviscerating Mr. Rubio for writing the 2013 Senate bill to grant illegal immigrants citizenship rights, juxtaposing video of Mr. Rubio and Mr. Obama making the same arguments for its passage. The ad ends with an image of Mr. Rubio in the same red and blue hues of the famous 2008 Obama "HOPE" campaign poster.

Known for sharp-elbow campaigning, South Carolina is living up to that reputation this year, with Mr. Cruz throwing most of the jabs — and taking most of the incoming fire from the other candidates, who say he is lying about their records.

Mr. Trump also again accused Mr. Cruz of having stolen the Iowa caucuses this month when his campaign, extrapolating from a report on CNN, told voters that retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was dropping out — potentially boosting Mr. Cruz's vote total at the expense of Mr. Carson.

Mr. Trump said voters can't let that happen again and shouldn't reward Mr. Cruz for his behavior.

"Here's a guy, he raises [his hand on] the Bible, and yet he tells fibs, he tells lies, and then he does this stuff to Carson, and he does other things," Mr. Trump said at a rally in Walterboro. "Politicians are bad people, boy, they are bad."

Mr. Trump predicted that if he can win the South Carolina primary, he may run the table on the rest of the contests.

He is leading in polling in South Carolina, but a shocking survey from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found Mr. Cruz has overtaken Mr. Trump in national polling, 28 percent to 26 percent. Mr. Rubio trails at 17 percent, followed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 11 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 10 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at a dismal 4 percent.

"There's a new national front-runner on the Republican side," Mr. Cruz crowed Wednesday afternoon.

Most other national polls, however, put Mr. Trump much higher. A Quinnipiac survey also released Wednesday showed Mr. Trump at nearly 40 percent nationally — more than Mr. Rubio and Mr. Cruz combined, at 19 percent and 18 percent respectively.

Mr. Kasich won support of South Carolina's largest newspaper, The State, which said voters had a unique chance to break partisanship in Washington by picking the Ohio governor. A USA Today/Suffolk poll found that Mr. Kasich is the strongest Republican candidate in a general election, topping Democrat Hillary Clinton by a whopping 11 percentage points in a hypothetical November match-up.

Losing out on the endorsements of the newspaper and the governor, Ms. Haley, was a blow to Mr. Bush, whose claim to be the chief anti-Trump candidate is quickly fading. He has seen no apparent boost from having his brother, former President George W. Bush, join him on the campaign trail in the Charleston area Monday.

After spending weeks trying to kneecap Mr. Trump, Mr. Bush switched tactics Wednesday and aimed his fiercest barb at Mr. Rubio, saying the first-term senator's record doesn't stand up to his own as a two-term governor.

Mr. Rubio, meanwhile, stayed mostly positive as he collected Ms. Haley's endorsement. She joins his other top supporters from the state, Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Trey Gowdy, signaling that Republicans are coalescing around Mr. Rubio and hoping he emerges as the chief alternative to Mr. Trump.

Mr. Cruz honed his argument that he is the only consistent conservative in the race and said his opponents are trying to hide their own records by accusing him of lying.

"Ethics matter," Mr. Cruz said at a press conference called to battle back. "Their strategy of screaming 'liar' whenever anyone points to their record, and relying on fabrications, is not indicative of candidates running honest campaigns."

Rather than dismissing Mr. Trump's cease-and-desist letter on the abortion ad, Mr. Cruz called his press conference to dare Mr. Trump to file a full lawsuit, saying that would mean they would have to go to court over the veracity of Mr. Cruz's ad, replaying a 1999 interview in which Mr. Trump says he is pro-choice and would not ban partial-birth abortion.

Mr. Trump says he has evolved on the abortion issue and is now pro-life.
"Donald Trump does not want to be under oath answering questions about his own record," Mr. Cruz said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...rimary-report/