MORNING NEWSBREAK | With the pomp and circumstance of the S.C. GOP presidential battle now focused on Michigan (Tuesday) and Super Tuesday (March 5), many are left wondering what’s going to happen to the presidential campaign of former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley.
On Saturday, Haley got 40% of the unofficial vote in what was a two-way race with former President Donald Trump, whose supporters turned out to transform her home turf into his. With 100% of counties reporting, Trump nabbed 451,905 votes to Haley’s 298,674 votes in a race that got 755,800 voters – only about 15,000 more than in the 2016 GOP primary. See a detailed map of results and dissection of voting blocs in the race.
This story in The New York Times suggests Trump is underperforming in actual voting compared to polling for three reasons: Undecided voters who backed Haley in S.C. and other early states; pollsters got the makeup of their samples wrong; and there were hidden Democratic votes in the results.
Another story suggests some voters continue to be reluctant to back Trump. Another says voters may have just looked beyond Trump’s legal problems – 91 indictments – and other issues.
Washington Post columnist George Will argues Trump’s win was not spectacular as it is being spun: “His win was less “gigantic” than he had promised. In November 2016, he carried South Carolina with 54.9 percent and in 2020 with 55.1. On Saturday, in a primary in which mostly Republicans participated, he received only 59.8 percent.”
Trump is already focusing on a November battle between him and incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden, saying he wishes “we could do it quicker.”
Haley says she won’t drop out, but stories are cropping up that she may exit the race after Super Tuesday.
Kathleen Parker, another Washington Post columnist who lives in Camden, says Haley isn’t finished: “When Big Deal Don rolls into town and shakes hands at the Waffle House, folks feel suddenly noticed and important — and that’s magic. That’s power. Haley, for all her polish and political skill, doesn’t have the same ability to engage such people, even though she herself came from the tiny nothing-burg of Bamberg … She knows firsthand what racism feels like. Her face should be on billboards as a modern heroine of the quintessential American story. She should also be the next president of the United States.”
In other recent headlines:
CP NEWS: Auditors, lottery officials clash over mismanagement allegations. State lottery officials are disputing findings of a state auditor’s investigation reporting significant evidence of mismanagement at the lottery, including lax oversight of retailers, missing or incomplete employee records and, in at least some cases, a failure to conduct legally-required criminal background checks.
CP NEWS: Open carry gun bill still stalled. Progress on open carry gun legislation remained stalled in the S.C. General Assembly last week as infighting among gun-rights groups over differences between the House- and Senate-passed versions of the bill threatened to derail the measure.
CP NEWS: New PBS show features Charleston. A new PBS adventure show, America: The Land We Live In, premieres on Feb. 23 and explores the hidden treasures of the American Southeast — with Charleston as one of the pilot season’s key locations.
BIG MATCH: Two celebrated global soccer teams to be in Columbia Aug. 3. Manchester United and Liverpool — two or the most celebrated soccer clubs in England — will play an exhibition match Aug. 3 in Columbia. (And it will be hot, in more ways than one).
BIGFOOT: Life-sized Sasquatch cutout giving some travelers a thrill. The cutout is giving some drivers from Folly Beach to Charleston a thrill.
Some CCSD school trustees want contract investigated. Some Charleston County School District trustees want the contract of new Superintendent Anita Huggins investigated by the state for improprieties.
GUN VIOLENCE: 3 dead in Goose Creek double murder-suicide. Three people died Saturday in what police are calling a double murder-suicide in Goose Creek.
Liquor liability premiums hurting S.C. bars. State bars are getting crushed by liquor liability insurance bills as lawmakers look for a solution.
- Earlier CP coverage: Bar owners struggle as legislators look for solutions
$500,000 damage in crane accident. A Jan. 4 accident at North Charleston terminal derailed and damaged a mobile rubber-tired gantry crane.
Charleston’s apartment market is booming. A look at the market as high borrowing costs are thwarting new homeowners.
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