Nikki Haley Wins in Landslide

State Rep. Nikki Haley easily won her run-off for the GOP nomination for South Carolina governor yesterday, beating Congressman Gresham Barrett.  She has become the first woman to win a major party's nomination for Governor.  She sloughed off dubious allegations of marital infidelity and a particularly ugly campaign accusing her of not being Christian enough.  She's a Methodist, but apparently that's not enough for some Republicans, including State Rep. Boss Hogg Jake Knotts who actually said 

"Have you ever asked her if she believes in Jesus Christ as her lord and savior, and that he died on the cross for her sins? Have you ever asked her that?"

Apparently that's a requirement for office now.  Haley was criticized by at least one county GOP chair and prominent preachers for (horrors) attending annual Sikh religious services with her Indian immigrant parents and for participating in both Methodist and Sikh ceremonies when she married her husband, Michael.  How dare she honor her parents and her heritage!  Knotts is a particularly loathsome creature who called Haley and President Obama "ragheads" in a radio interview.  He's also a close ally of French Lieutenant's woman Governor Andre' Bauer, which is telling.  You are known by the company you keep.

Nikki is a conservative, Sarah Palin endorsed Republican, make no mistake.   She will run against Democratic State Senator Vincent Sheheen in November.  Her website make no mention of gay issues, but I would not look to her to be our friend.  Don't interpret anything I've said as indicating I support her, but I do think it's interesting that she's making a few Christianist heads explode.      

Election Day Roundup

Yesterday's elections yielded some interesing results in South Carolina, Arkansas, Nevada, California, and Iowa.

In South Carolina, State Rep Nikki Haley won 49% of the vote for the GOP nomination for governor, just short of the 50% she needed to avoid a runoff with Congressman Gresham Barrett.  The winner of the runoff will face State Senator Vincent Sheheen in November.  Keep in mind that Nikki Haley is a teabagger fav, endorsed by Sarah Palin. Don't think for a second that I support her. But this is South Carolina, people.  It's been years since a Democrat had a shot at the governor's race. Unless Haley really did sleep with every closet case in the GOP, she'll win.  Speaking of which, French Lieutenant's Woman Lt. Gov Andre' Bauer came in a distant 4th behind Attorney General Henry McMaster.  Too bad, so sad Andre'.  No word on his former aide Larry Marchant whom I would like to imagine waking up this morning with a thunderous hangover after drowing his sorrows in too many Creme de Menthe Frappes at PT's Cabaret.  I'm sure that's not true. 

On to Nevada where another teabagger fav, Sharron "Two Rs" Angle beat Chicken Lady Sue Lowden for the GOP nomination for Senate.  Two Rs will now face Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the general election.  In fact, Two Rs isn't just a teabagger fav, she's an an actual teabagger herself.  You better believe Harry Reid was popping the champagne corks over her win.  There's all kinds of crazy for him to exploit (she supports "phasing out" social security, she supports storing nuclear waste in Nevada, and on and on).  The teabaggers just handed Reid his only (slim) chance of winning in November.

Crazy Nevada Republican Governor Jim Gibbons became the first sitting governor in state history to loose a primary.  Why?  It could have been the sexual assault allegations (never proven) or the luxury cruise paid for by a defense contractor.  He also pushed through a provision that requires a 2/3 majority of both houses of the legislature for any tax increases.  This is the same sort of provision that has all but wrecked California.  In other words, Nevada was fucked by Jim Gibbons. 

In Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln somehow pulled out 51% of the vote, avoiding a runoff with progressive Lt. Gov.  Bill Halter.  She will have a tough battle against Republican Congressman John Boozman in November.

In California, it was the year of the unqualified women CEOs.  Failed Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina won the GOP nomination for Barbara Boxer's Senate seat.  Former EBay CEO Meg Whitman bought won the GOP nomination for Governor. She'll face former Governor Moonbeam, Jerry Brown, in November.   Meg spent $71 million of her own personal fortune to get this far.  We'll see if she can buy the governor's mansion.

Also in California, birther-in-chief Orly Taitz lost her bid to be California Secretary of State to former NFL player Damon Dunn who never even voted until last year.  There was speculation that she could win which would have been a huge embarassment to the Republican party.

In Iowa, some rabidly anti-gay bigots lost big.  Bob Vander Plaats lost the GOP nomination for governor to former governor Terry Branstad.  Branstad is not exactly a friend of the gays, but Vander Plaats tried to make marriage equality the major issue of the campaign.   In a state house race,  Ako Abdul-Samad won the Democratic primary against minister Clair Rudison who ran with the full force of the anti-gay Iowa Family Policy Council.  Like Vander Plaats, Rudison vowed to make marriage equality the decisive issue.  I guess Iowa voters were more concerned with issues that acutally have an effect on them.   

Marchant Takes a Polygraph!

Just when you thought he couldn't humiliate himself further, former Andre' Bauer for Gov. employee Larry Marchant has taken a polygraph to prove he really, really, really is a heterosexual had man-woman sex with Gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley.  The results?  Inconclusive.  The crack journalists at the Columbia Fox News channel (naturally) paid for the whole thing.  Click here to watch the WACH Fox (awkwardly pronounced "Wok Fox") report.  Not embeddable.  My favorite part of this story is WACH Fox reporter Emily Pace who breathlessly reported that the polygraph exam "literally took all day.  It began at 2:30 and ended at 5:00."  Katie Couric has got her eye on you, Emily.

I found an embeddable clip of the studly Mr. Marchant.  Decide for yourself if Nikki could have resisted his savage Hetero lust:



The only thing that makes me think he's straight is the hair. 

But wait, there's more!  Not to be outdone by Marchant's publicity, Andre' Bauer himself submitted for a polygraph!  At least, he released polygraph results that he said prove that he had nothing to do with the "unfortunate revelations" about Haley and the menz.  Andre had previously promised to submit to a polygraph exam about his own sexual rumors regarding the menz, but shockingly, none of those questions were covered.

SC Republicans are Freaks!

And I mean sexual freaks AND freak show freaks.  First, we had family values Governor Sanford hiking the Appalachian Trail all the way to some Argentinian tail.  Then, Mike Rogers of Blog Active, the guy who outed Larry Craig months before the bathroom incident, outed French Lieutenant Governor Andre' Bauer as a big ol' 'mo.  This was not exactly a shock after his interview with The State in which he brought up the homo rumors so he could deny them.  Not a brilliant move, especially since the interview took place in his beautifully-appointed downtown loft. 

But I digress.  Now comes news that leading GOP candidate for Governor, State Representative Nikki Haley allegedly had an affair.  She's a South Carolina Republican, so it's practically a job requirement.  Conservative SC blogger Will Folks has said that he and Haley did the dirty deed when he was single, but she was not.  He even has phone records showing lengthy, late night phone calls.  Frankly, I'm not sure I believe it.  Haley is pictured up top.  She's got kind of an Angie Harmon thing going, right?  Here's Folks:

Ugh!  How hard up do you have to be to touch that?  Would you risk your career for 30 seconds over Tokyo with that lummox? 

But wait, there's more!  The other day, Andre Bauer fired his "political consultant" Larry Marchant who, 2 hours later, alleged he also had an affair with Haley!  Here's Larry:

OK, this one looks doable in a total douchebag sort of way. 

Just to make sure the camera stays on him, media hag Andre challenged Nikki to take a lie detector test about her sex life and said he would take one himself.  Wow, Andre.  You really are totally lacking in self-awareness.  Here's the utterly brilliant Lt. Gov. explaining it all to Live Five:

There's still more!  State GOP Senator Jake Knotts called both President Obama and Nikki Haley "ragheads" in an internet radio interview.  Keeping it classy, Jake.  Haley's parents are Sikh immigrants from India.  Here's what Jake had to say:

"We've already got a raghead in the White House, we don't need another raghead in the governor's mansion."

I guess this is what passes for wit in SC GOP circles.  Here's Jake:

No, that's not Boss Hogg.  That would be an insult to the sophisticated nuance of The Dukes of Hazzard.   

Folks, when I was growing in The Palmetto State, I had no idea the conservative Republicans were getting all the action!  No wonder there are so many Republicans there!

h/t to LC NY Bureau Chief Doug.