BACKROOM DEAL BEHIND “FIRST IN THE SOUTH” ENDORSEMENT?
S.C. governor Nikki Haley has a long and storied history of not shooting people straight … but she may have told her biggest whopper yet during this year’s quadrennial “First in the South” presidential primary.
According to multiple sources familiar with the situation, Haley told former Florida governor Jeb Bush, former U.S. president George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush earlier this week that she had no plans to endorse anyone in the Palmetto State’s pivotal “Republican” primary election this week.
Obviously things changed … with Haley endorsing Bush’s arch-rival and chief competition for the GOP establishment vote, Marco Rubio.
Needless to say Bush’s campaign was caught completely off guard by Haley’s endorsement – which appears to have been by design.
“She specifically told them she was not endorsing Rubio because she believed he lacked the experience for the job,” a source close to Jeb Bush’s campaign told us.
Another source close to the campaign confirmed this account … and said Haley even pointed the Bushes to media coverage of her “unlikeliness” to endorse as evidence of her sincerity.
Wow.
“She indicated the day before (endorsing Rubio) that she wouldn’t endorse,” the source said, referring to a conversation involving Haley and the former president and first lady.
Both of these pro-Bush sources tell us a deal was cut between Haley and the national “Republican” establishment – possibly involving the chairmanship of the Republican Governors’ Association (RGA), a job Haley has been coveting.
According to these sources, this backroom deal was part of an effort to finish Bush off in South Carolina so that Rubio could emerge as the status quo’s unrivaled champion in the quest to vanquish the insurgent, anti-establishment campaigns of Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
You know … the campaigns whose supporters Haley wants to silence …
Judging by the latest aggregate South Carolina polling from RealClearPolitics, Bush’s collapse was happening already … it didn’t really need a push from Haley.
(Click to enlarge)
But the new Rubio alliance with the D.C. GOP establishment apparently wanted nothing left to chance …
This website is obviously no fan of the Bushes … but it certainly appears they were the victims of deliberate political sabotage.
Something we know a little bit about over the last week as well …
21 comments
Words of solace for the Bush folks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzU9FgNTYrU
Great song. Kinda sounds like Randy Newman a little.
Yep. Its game time for Trikki Nikki. Boy did Jeb get brushed aside! It was very clear (2 me) that Nikki was going for Rubio after Tim Scott endorsed him. GOP must have pushed Nikki to time her endorsement right now cos Rubio was not pulling ahead of anyone in SC or national polls and he needed a big boost. Dont know if that will work for Rubio in SC or elsewhere….my prediction is Rubio will not be the nominee, but Nikki and Tim will get what they want…good deal, aint it.
Jeb should go home and tend to his millions. He aint going nowhere in the GOP primary.
He brought Georgie and his mama in already, not much left in his roster.
Your Bush sources couldn’t be lying could they? Not like they might want to discredit Haley and know you will literally publish anything without proof.
My sources have been telling me for a week or so that if she did endorse it would be Rubio. Then again it broke on Fits that the end of Rubio was imminent.
Wow. What goes around, comes around. I hope John McCain takes some solace from this. A betrayal of this kind is certainly deserved by the folks who gave us Iraq and ISIL. ( Sadam’s Revenge, assholes.)
Jeb out of $, will stop paying on Saturday according to “sources” aka erik erickson
When you have no morals in your personal life, why would you have morals in your professional life?
goes to show, never trust a sc politition, we really know how to pickum.
But always trust anonymous sources. ;-)
In politics, you usually make more enemies than friends.
I imagine jeb and his family were upset, but jeb just did not caught on. Too many faces and platforms in the fight and he never did distinguish himself from the others.
No one can trust that woman.
I’ll bet George and Jeb wished they hadn’t turned down that “make a sandwich” offer now.
That’s our Nikki!
“If you drag a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you’ll find”
I’ve said it many times, for years now! haley is a liar, cheat and back stabber!!!! Now the Bushes and others know it too!
You know the Bush’s have not said this publicly (Jeb!, George or Laura) and Haley has always been consistent in her statements. Could it be that anonymous sources lie? Could it be the same ones that said Rubio was keeping mistresses then later that he was gay or do all of Fits anonymous sources tell the truth?
Jeb note to self… Haley is a swingers swinger….your sissy ass had no chance with Queen Bitch Haley.
If she finally rids us of the Bushes she has my thanks.
ah yes the great Nimrod telling a lie…. wait…what she is a rising star in the GOP?
It was all the main stream media could do to insist how popular the Bushes were here. Yet, Jeb (ashamed of his last name) Bush never got out of single digit poll numbers. Turns out, South Carolina is the Bushes Graveyard. Which two NRC Republicans’ opinions did you base your opinion on!? Lazy, or Yellow journalism?!? …Catlin Dawson’s evil twin.