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| South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed the candidacy of Marco Rubio. |
"I wanted somebody with fight, I wanted somebody with passion, I wanted somebody who had conviction to do the right thing," Haley said during her announcement Wednesday (Feb. 17). "But I wanted somebody humble enough, who remembers that you work for all the people -- and I wanted somebody to go and show my parents that the best decision they made for their children was coming to America.”
The highly popular governor was in the limelight last month when she was chosen to give the Republican rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union address. In her speech she urged voters not to listen to the "angriest voices" in an obvious reference to Donald Trump. In followup interviews she criticized Trump for his campaign of fear mongering and opposed his proposals for banning all Muslims from entering the U.S. and his anti-refugee views.
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The Indian/American governor of South Carolina, the daughter of immigrants, puts herself in the Republican's "establishment" camp and may positioned herself favorably for her political future when her governorship terms out in 2019.
The highly popular governor was in the limelight last month when she was chosen to give the Republican rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union address. In her speech she urged voters not to listen to the "angriest voices" in an obvious reference to Donald Trump. In followup interviews she criticized Trump for his campaign of fear mongering and opposed his proposals for banning all Muslims from entering the U.S. and his anti-refugee views.RELATED: Time to bring down the Confederate flag
In her SOTU response, she received praise from both Democrats and Republicans as a voice of reason and may have put herself in a position as a dark horse candidate for Vice President - if not in 2016, certainly after her term as governor ends in time for the 2020 Presidential campaign.
While Donald Trump and Ted Cruz battle for the extremist vote, Rubio, Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are going after the Republican moderates, if there are any left of that silent breed.
By endorsing Rubio as a moderate Republican, she positions herself with the GOP moderates, who she is betting will outlast the more extreme elements of her party beyond this year's election.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who also coveted the governor's endorsement, said he will carry on despite expressing disappointment with Haley's decision to back his rival.
Haley's endorsement is not without risks. If Trump wins the GOP's nomination (which, more and more, looks like a very real possibility) you can bet that the businessman will have a long memory on his increasing list of winners and losers.
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