Lots of strands in this web of deceit but I’ll do my best to sort it out for everyone with the help of Palmetto State Politics and Redstate.
First the players in this South Carolinian drama:
There is Nikkie Haley who is looking to become the first female Governor of South Carolina. She has most definitely messed up the good ole’ boy network going on in that state, which then has us come to the second player. Will Folks. Former speechwriter for Mark Sanford and the man behind this quote:
“The problem is that any time you have a largely uninformed and uneducated electorate, that kind of lowest common denominator mudslinging can be effective.”
– Will Folks.
A campaign consultant for one of the campaigns for Governor of South Carolina began approaching groups [in spring 2009] that were viewed as likely to be influenced by Governor Mark Sanford. Why? Because South Carolina politicos knew Rep. Nikki Haley was viewed as Sanford’s choice to replace him.
This campaign consultant began informing groups that a blogger named Will Folks was peddling a story that he had a relationship with Rep. Haley.
Multiple sources in South Carolina confirm that the political consultant in question denied his campaign would be responsible when the story came out, but the consultant was also adamant that if Haley was in the lead before the primary, Folks would drop the story.
So, the story WAS dropped last week but never really got much traction because folks has no evidence. Just his word. Oh, he has phone records showing he called Haley WHILE he was getting paid on Haley’s staff to write speeches. Big deal. Put up or shut up right?
Well, now that’s where these other players come in.
Rod Shealy – Longtime negative political consultant involved in South Carolina politics. Convicted of violating campaign laws in the past and author of numerous negative attacks against his clients opponents. Said to be the driving force behind Will Folks admitting to the affair with Nikki Haley, reportedly having all the pieces of the puzzle including photo Jake Knotts had a PI take.
Larry Richter – Candidate for Lt Governor and Rod Shealy’s boss when it comes to pay. Has paid Shealy over $31,000 in last few months, evidently for just this purpose. Richter hopes that by killing Nikki Haley’s chances that her voters stay away from the polls on June 8th which means Richter’s opponent Bill Connor will suffer as Haley’s supporters are nearly 100% Connor supporters as well. Richter also no stranger to the immoral and unethical as he was forced from his position as a circuit judge amid cocaine issues and a serious affidavit involving Richter betraying clients in the Charleston Catholic Diocese abuse case
Jake Knotts – Leaked Folks arrest for domestic abuse in 2005, later had a private investigator look into Folks and reportedly has an incriminating w/Folks and Nikki Haley. Has endorsed Larry Richter, one of a very few that have and has used Rod Shealy and Wesley Donehue in the past for various things. Harsh opponent of Mark Sanford so would seem to be a critic of Nikki Haley as well.
Andre Bauer – Said by many to be the beneficiary of all this. Rod Shealy is a Bauer adviser and consultant from way back and was a huge part of Bauer being elected Lt Governor. Andre Bauer, according to campaign disclosures, is not paying Rod Shealy anything during this election cycle. Larry Richter would be the only candidate that is actually paying Shealy, A large amount of money for a few months work at that.
Wesley Donehue – Has worked for Rod Shealy, Larry Richter and Jake Knotts and appeared to be pushing Will Folks to release the story via text messages while trying to pretend not to.
Larry Marchant – Longtime partner with Rod Shealy and Andre Bauer campaign advisor/consultant. Also owns the building the Bauer campaign is housed in along with the SC Club for Growth
(check Palmetto State Politics post here for more)
That last name in that dirty dozen is Larry Marchant.
Back to Erick Erickson:
Will Folks and Larry Marchant are connected and both are connected to Andre Bauer. Will Folks shops around a story that he and Nikki Haley had an affair.
For a week he dribbles out inconclusive proof of nothing more than what appeared to be an employer-employee relationship — something that in fact existed.
At the end of the week? Nothing. Not even the alleged picture which may or may not be a picture of Nikki Haley’s car parked in front of his house wherein he had his office in which he worked as Nikki Haley’s speechwriter.
Come this week, nothing.
Enter, stage sewer, Larry Marchant. He tries to get a newspaper to run a story that he too slept with Nikki Haley. The media does not take the bite. Andre Bauer fires him.
But in Andre Bauer’s statement, he says something curious — something revealing.
Bauer says, according to the press “he had become aware of a situation several days ago, and reached the conclusion that decisive action was dictated.”
I wonder what happened several days ago that caused him to become aware of the situation. Hmmmmm . . . .
As Nikki Haley notes, Bauer only fired Marchant after the press refused to pick up the story.
The video of the debate tonight that has Haley firing both barrels into Bauer is below:
…Nikki interjects into Bauer’s self-serving, passive-aggressive no comment on the games played by his staffer by pointing out that said staffer was paid by Bauer. Bauer thinks he’s deflected it by saying that he fired the guy (while trying to insinuate that maybe it was because he didn’t want a dirty adulterer around).
Then Nikki lowers the boom.
“Y’all were fishing the story last night and you didn’t fire him yesterday,” said Haley. “Only when no one would take it seriously because he’s a paid consultant that you decided to fire him today.”
So we basically come down to the nitty gritty of this story. Bauer doesn’t want to lose the race, nothing else is working, so lets call Haley a whore and hope it sticks.
Period.
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Ace (of Spades) has been ripping Will a big new one recently. It’s hilarious.
Go Haley!!!
Time stamp 3:34 of the video, Bauer’s expression to her retort with the true time table of the staffer’s day of termination is a classic example of a five year old blaming the dog for drawing on the wall and later caught in the act adding more to the, “dog’s” artwork.
I guess the liberal femi-nazis aren’t interested in women at all. Just certain liberal women. This is just hilarious.
I have always said women have to demonstrate they can take it, and Nikki is sure doing that.
Sarah is causing all kinds of hell out there for liberals.
This kind of stuff is nothing new for SC politics. I don’t usually comment on it as it’s not all that interesting to me even though I am a SC voter.
I still haven’t made up my mind who to vote for Governor in next Tuesday’s primary but have not really leaned towards Haley. I don’t know much about her other than the fact that Sarah Palin endorsed her. But Palin also endorsed Rand Paul in Kentuckey and I’m not so sure he’s not just as kooky as his father Ron.
I’m leaning more toward Gresham Barret, who was endorsed by former V.P. Dick Cheney who did a robocall for him recently which I received. Gresham is proud that he’s one of the most conservative members of the U.S. House and ran TV ads which said we have to “stop” Obama. Not sure how that message connects with the governor’s race but it was great to see him get fired up about stopping Obama.
P.S. I can’t believe that anyone thought to be Mark Sanford’s choice to replace him would be much of a favorite with voters.
Rolling out the virtue complaints shows that Americans have some core beliefs with the Middle Eastern “honor for men through women’s conduct” idea, doesn’t it? Surprise, guys, this happens to women all the time, not just in politics.
As someone who has begged for more women in Republican politics for years, I am disgusted by the quality of some of the women running for office. Jan Brewer just stepped in one huge, big fat lie – huge one.
Here in NM, the GOP nominee for governor could have a serious tax problem on her hands – enough to cost us the election. It is too early to tell on that one, but I am concerned.
Then there is Nikki Haley. This morning, on The Pink Flamingo, I wrote that if her name were Nick Haley, she would be toast. Perhaps we’re dealing with some mis-placed chivalry, but if we want women to stand on their own and succeed in politics then they need to be treated the same as men. No matter what you think about Will Folks, his call record and those late night calls by Haley are damning.
If she were a man she would be doing the usual, standing out with her family in front of a microphone, good little spouse biting back a few tears, proclaiming innocence, then being forced to resign a few days later. If we women want to get anywhere in the political world then we should be treated the same as men. A man would not get the benefit of the doubt.
There is one other little rumor floating around out there in the wild and crazy political world of SC. It is possible that the 2nd smoking gun, Larry Marchant, has been feeding Haley campaign plans of Andre Bauer. The reason, allegedly, that he was fired from Bauer’s campaign, was for disloyalty.
I don’t like Haley. If I were still living in SC, I would be voting for Gresham.
SJR
The Pink Flamingo
Mike dont let what the idiots in KY do in our politics influence your decisions. Ky is the same state that elected in Steve Beshear who all the while he was campaigning stated he was going to raise taxes and spend more. People didnt think he would do it and ousted a Republican who had us under budget, so when Beshear walks in what does he immediately do? Raise taxes, increase spending and now he has gotten rid of his leuitentant Gov and is bringing on the Mayor of Louisville who has been documented at paying for work for projects that he has no records of ever being done. Now these idiots are surprised Beshear is spending like a drunken fool and begging washington for hand outs.
I noticed that Andre Bauer nervously wet his lips quite a few times and could not look Nikki Haley or the moderator in the eye when responding to them. He is clearly uncomfortable and nervous. As a student on kinesics (body language,) it is my opinion that Bauer is lying and I suspect he is aware that everyone knows all about his involvement in this false, sleazy, accusation.
Bauer had the look of a fighter who got caught with an overhand right. He wasn’t prepared for the comeback at all, and was doubly surprised that it came directly from Haley. How could he not expect this after springing Marchant on her only hours before the debate? The guy is dumb as a rock and so are his advisers.
But oddly enough every single player in this whole nasty episode (except the one Barrett campaign official who used to work for Haley and was said to be shopping the story early on) is a close cohort of Bauer. Folks, Shealy, Donehue, Knotts, Marchant, Richter . . . you don’t have to connect any dots because there really aren’t any dots between them and Bauer (maybe Donehue, who is a Shealy toadie, wasn’t allowed to sit with the Playas).
And it’s always reassuring when three of six associates of a candidate for Governor don’t have criminal records, isn’t it? “Bauer: Because Not All My Friends Are Criminals!”
Darn, I forgot: Marchant has a recent DUI arrest, but it hasn’t been adjudicated yet, so 3 of 6 are still clean . . . stay tuned . . .
But wait…wait…it gets better folks. Now they’re saying that Nikki is a F***king raghead and a Manchurian Candidate sponsered by international Sikhs.
What next? A KKK lynch mob???
A MUST READ!!!!
http://minx.cc/?post=302304