It appears that Haley sees Barrett as her primary foe

Various factors lead VUI to conclude that the gubernatorial campaign of Nikki Haley sees Congressman Gresham Barrett as her main foe on the road to a runoff against Attorney General Henry McMaster.

First, there are the pro-Haley bloggers out there that rail against Gresham Barrett's record as a Congressman and hint at unsubstantiated rumors about Barrett's personal life.

Indeed, VUI received an email from a relatively anonymous source. That very strange email went on how Congressman Barrett, along with other Republican standouts ruined the sender's personal life. It closed with praise for Nikki Haley. It oddly seemed like another email received last summer that spoke of the Lt. Governor's personal life, but again somehow found a few lines in praise of Haley.

But, the official words of the Haley campaign made sure of the theory VUI had that Haley was after Barrett. In an official press release on February 23rd, the Haley campaign blasted Barrett for his bank bailout vote, (oddly enough, such was mentioned in the strange email), and then noted how even the ultimate RINO, John McCain, felt duped by then Secretary of the Treasury Paulson to vote for the bailout.

Fair enough. That is politics. VUI will not publish the contents of the strange email we received some months ago, because frankly, the accusations are unsubstantiated and hard to believe. But, the constant in those emails and in the latest Haley press release is the focus on Gresham Barrett. The logical conclusion is that the Haley people see Barrett as their biggest obstacle to the runoff and are firing everything that they have, and pretend to have at him.

So much for a positive and above board campaign by Haley. Haley is acting very much the good ole gal politician after all. Haley should not be faulted for that, for that is probably what it is going to take to get to the runoff. And, the runoff, according to Haley supporters VUI has talked to is the goal. Those folks think that Nikki Haley will whip McMaster in a straight up runoff, fair and square. Between now and the runoff, you can bet Haley won't be all sugar and spice and everything nice.


It is going to be interesting to see what Haley's denied attack dogs hit next.