Rep. Nikki Haley, by all considerations the “Sanford candidate” for governor, has moved a post and removed a picture of Gov. Mark Sanford‘s non-endorsement endorsement from her Web site today in the wake of the Governor’s, shall we say, eccentric behavior in the past few days.
However, she didn’t totally remove the post, which quotes Sanford saying, “Nikki Haley is a true conservative and one of our state’s leading voices for fiscal responsibility and government reform. It’s too early to endorse anyone, but I would say Nikki Haley would make a terrific and inspiring choice as governor, and she’s a great addition to the field of candidates.”
According to both The Fix and Politico, no one at her campaign is responding. However, we do not believe this changes anything about her position in the Republican gubernatorial nomination race. After all, we broke the story on May 6 that Haley brought in Sanford consultant Jon Lerner, who is known as one of the go-to guys for the Club for Growth, one of the primary third-party backers of the Governor and people of a similar ideology. She’s also hired away Justin Evans, formerly of the pro-Sanford conservative think tank S.C. Policy Council.
Unless something changes, she appears to be in close with Sanford’s cadre of well-heeled backers as ever.
