5/27/2010
CAJ note: We’ve been following this story since it became public on Twitter a few weeks ago. It wasn’t something we wanted to give credence to but have finally decided it really needed to be brought to your attention. Republican and conservative women, evidently, are going to be subjected to this every time they run for office or challenge the Left’s agenda in any meaningful way.
This one’s got it all…except any shred of credibility on Folk’s part, it seems. This appears to be more of the same old story from sick young Liberal males in the blogsphere. Where are all the Feminists, we often wonder, when this kind of crap hits the fan.
Nikki Haley and the Blogger who got links lucky–UPDATED–Sarah Palin & S.C. Republican Party weigh in.
by Melissa Clouthier
LibertyPundits.net
5/24/2010
As far as political scandals go, this is rather, well, weird. A prominent South Carolina blogger with an ax to grind says he had “inappropriate physical relationship” with Nikki Haley. First, what does that mean? Sounds like Bill Clinton’s “I did not have sexual relations with that woman Monica Lewinsky” to me. Um, what? Second, lots of guys including Erick Erickson are pointing out Nikki Haley’s hotness would mean she’d never be interested in a dude like Will Folks. This is a false theory. Lots of pretty girls are with ugly dudes. Lots of pretty girls are with ugly, stupid, poor dudes. That theory doesn’t fly.
Ben Domenech writes about the scandal over at New Ledger and gives this background:
With no personal knowledge of his rather vague claims, I can’t rebut them — except to point out that anyone who knows Folks or has met him (I have) knows him to be a very questionable source. That’s one reason local media, who know him well, seem more skeptical about this claim. And I don’t just mean because of the domestic violence thing, or the Corvette thing, or that the former rock bassist was fired from his job as Gov. Sanford’s press secretary after numerous negative political incidents. I mean, I’m not saying Folks is untrustworthy, but I am saying that Mark Sanford found him a bit too … odd.
Journalists covering this story may be confused by the fact Folks has publicly said nice things about Haley’s candidacy, but I’ve been told his private tone has been much different. Saying nice things about Haley was fine when she was third in the polls, but she’s in first place now, in part thanks to the backing of Sarah Palin but more importantly (for South Carolina) thanks to Jenny Sanford, who’s gotten most of the old Sanford team working for Haley.
Folks still has plenty of bad blood with the Sanfords — Jenny never liked him — and it wouldn’t surprise me if this is part of his motivation for making this claim, or if he were doing the bidding of one of Haley’s opponents. Either would make more sense.
So Folks is a weird blogger? Who woulda thunk it.
Doesn’t answer whether any of this is true or not. But what it smells like–besides smug Democrat body odor–is a hit job on a political opponent.
But who knows? Maybe pictures and hot texts will be produced.
In the meantime, it’s been fodder for libertarians and Democrats to lecture on the hypocrisy of those who have morals. Sigh. So annoying.
UPDATED:
Sarah Palin jumps in to defend Nikki Haley. She says, via Facebook:
When Nikki and I held her endorsement rally on the steps of the beautiful and historic South Carolina state house last month, I warned her and her family that she would be targeted because she’s a threat to a corrupt political machine, and she would be put through some hell. That, unfortunately, is the nature of the beast in politics today – especially for conservative “underdog” candidates who surge in the polls and threaten to shake things up so government can be put back on the side of the people.
South Carolina: don’t let some blogger make any accusation against your Nikki if the guy doesn’t even have the guts or the integrity to speak further on such a significant claim. And don’t believe anything a liberal rag claims or suggests unless the reporter involved has the integrity and the facts to report to you so you can make up your own mind. For traditional media to rely on an accusation via some blog entry is almost laughable, but I know the seriousness of it because that’s exactly what my family and colleagues have had to put up with, every single day, for the past couple of years.
Dr. Melissa’s article continues at LibertyPundits.net
“But wait,” as the late, great Billy Mays used to say, “there’s more!”
South Carolina consultant Wesley Donahue pushing Will Folks to leak worked for the Romney Campaign–UPDATED
by Melissa Clouthier
LibertyPundits.net
5/27/2010
More ridiculousness from South Carolina swirling. Consultants gone wild! Wow, this is soooo NOT surprising. Watch:
Now, and this is notably absent from the newsman’s report. Who is paying the consultant Wesley Donahue, who is leaking all this? Also, who is paying Will Folks?
Oh wait, lookie here, Wesley Donahue is a consultant, or has been, for Mitt Romney. Now things get more interesting. There’s this:
I’m afraid the suggestions this post makes aren’t completely accurate. I’d like to briefly set the record straight.
Last summer, Wesley Donahue and I spoke about collaborating to create a South Carolina-centric political news aggregating website that offered objective coverage, an idea that became The Shot. There was, at the time, no discussion of Mitt Romney. Had there been such a discussion, I wouldn’t have gotten involved. He’s not a candidate who shares my values.
Wesley showed me the site prior to its launch, and I offered advice as to how to it could be improved. I was never paid for my involvement, and I fully supported what I then perceived as a good faith effort to bring an objective political news aggregating site to South Carolinians.
Wesley and I talked over the months to follow about how far behind South Carolina political campaigns are in effectively utilizing the many capabilities of the Internet. We discussed a business venture that would offer web expertise to both Democratic and Republican candidates and were in the beginning stages of launching this business in January. I had designed a logo and a website for “Under the Power Lines,” which is what the business was to be called. I also bought the domain http://www.underthepowerlines.net.
When the opportunity arose for me to join the Obama campaign, I let Wesley know that I would no longer be able to pursue the “Under the Power Lines” venture with him. He is employed by Warren Tompkins, Mitt Romney’s Senior Advisor in South Carolina, and I anticipated that our proposed professional partnership could prove problematic down the road. I ceased all involvement with “Under the Power Lines” prior to joining the Obama campaign. Wesley continued building the “Under the Power Lines” business and brand. He had a new site built for the business ( http://www.politicalnetroots.com ) and a new logo designed. I was not involved with the building of the business’s website, did not take part in the incorporation of the business and have never been paid by Under the Power Lines, LLC.
That’s it. Not too sexy. The postscript is that Wesley and I still share a mutual interest in using the Internet as a tool for political communications and grassroots organizing in South Carolina, and in the future I look forward to helping Democrats in the Palmetto State capitalize on the nearly limitless potential of the Internet as a campaign tool.
The article, with more video, continues at LibertyPundits.net
We’d like you to investigate Nikki Haley for yourself and, if you feel inclined, help her campaign in whatever way you can.
