Palmetto State Player

I haven't dived into the whole Nikki Haley thing in South Carolina yet (Betty Cracker has the story here) but I will say TPM's David Kurtz and his take on the whole sordid affair is fascinating.

I hadn't seen South Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley on camera until we found this video of her today addressing a hungry pack of reporters eager for any morsel about her alleged affair with political consultant turned blogger Will Folks. As a result, I didn't realize what a consummate pro she is. She's something to watch. Collected, sharp-witted, and always a smile, but not plastic. She's got the makings of a national politician, were it not for the current messiness.

She has quite the personal story, too. She was born Nimrata Randhaw in South Carolina to Sikh immigrant parents. She became an accountant, married, and had two children. In 2004, she knocked off the longest serving member of the South Carolina House to win her seat, becoming the first South Asian elected to public office in the state.

She denies the affair, and he hasn't produced proof of it yet. So I'm withholding judgment. But if it is true and the attractive first generation overachiever ended up in an affair with a scraggly blogger then decided to run for governor, doesn't that make her pretty much a badass? I don't condone it, but I kind of admire it. 

This one's raising my Moose Lady alarm bells.  I always said that if a smarter version of Sarah Palin ever came along, the Democrats were in a whole hell of a lot of trouble.  If Nikki Haley manages to come away the winner in the June 8 primary, she'll be South Carolina's next governor.  Her politics are straight Palmetto State GOP, the Tea Party loves her, Club For Growth loves her, the NRA loves her, and she's an Indian-American woman who pushes the Palin talking points...and a hell of a lot smarter.

My inner Karl Rove says "What better way for the GOP to win than by playing the race card AND the gender card against those mean old racist, sexist liberals?"

The Democrats had better keep a very, very close eye on her.  More than anyone else on the 2016 radar (and maybe even 2012) this woman is a bonafide threat.