SC Blogger Claims Affair With Candidate
It's not often that admitting an affair is seen as a smart political move, but one SC blogger is claiming an improper relationship with a candidate -- one he hopes wins the GOP GOV primary.
Prominent conservative blogger Will Folks, who backs state Rep. Nikki Haley (R) in the state's competitive primary, wrote on his blog this morning that he and Haley have had an affair, and that he wants to admit it to deprive Haley's rivals of a weapon just as Haley catches fire.
"I refuse to have someone hold the political equivalent of a switch-blade in front of my face and just sit there and watch as they cut me to pieces," Folks wrote. "The truth in this case is what it is. Several years ago, prior to my marriage, I had an inappropriate physical relationship with Nikki."
Folks refused to discuss details of the affair, beyond offering apologies to Haley's family and his own wife (The affair occured before Folks was married, he says). But Haley, running as a social conservative, is vehemently denying Folks' assertion.
"I have been 100% faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage. This claim against me is categorically and totally false," Haley said in a statement. "These attacks -- and those sure to follow -- are an effort at distraction, but I will keep my focus on what matters, and that is delivering South Carolina's government back to our people. That's a fight I have fought for the last five years. That's why I entered this race for Governor. And that's what I will continue to do, despite any outrageous and false claims that are thrown at me."
Haley has surged lately, buoyed by support from ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin (R) and ex-SC First Lady Jenny Sanford (R). She is the favored candidate of Gov. Mark Sanford (R), whose PAC recently spent $400K on ads touting her candidacy. And at least one recent poll has shown her leaping ahead of the GOP field.
Haley's rise has alarmed those backing the 3 other GOP candidates -- Rep. Gresham Barrett, LG Andre Bauer and AG Henry McMaster. With just 2 weeks to go before the GOP primary, a late surge could put Haley over the top among a field that has otherwise failed to offer a clear front-runner.
But in an example of what Haley called "quite simply South Carolina politics at its worst," allies of other candidates are reportedly pushing the opposition research, slowly and surely, on reporters in hopes of taking her down.
"Within the last forty-eight hours several pieces of information which purportedly document a prior physical relationship between myself and Rep. Haley have begun to be leaked slowly, piece by piece, to members of the mainstream media," Folks wrote. "Watching all of this unfold, I have become convinced that the gradual release of this information is deliberately designed to advance this story in the press while simultaneously forcing either evasive answers or denials on my part or on Nikki's part. I refuse to play that game."
SC politics are notoriously dirty. The state that made Lee Atwater famous also produced anonymous robo-calls spreading false rumors about Sen. John McCain during the '00 primaries -- rumors McCain blamed on George W. Bush for years. Given its competitive nature, it has produced some of the most prominent political strategists in both parties, many of whom cut their teeth on some nasty races in the Palmetto State.
Whether Haley can survive remains to be seen, but the whiff of scandal that already surrounds her campaign could very well be enough to cut down any momentum she had built over the race's closing days.
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