COMMENTARY | On Friday evening, Mitt Romney made a campaign stop in Tilton, N.H., to shore up support four days before the GOP primary there even though he has a strong lead in the polls and is widely expected to win handily. Killing two birds with one stone. But he brought along Nikki Haley, the GOP rising star governor of South Carolina, a state which may be the last hope for some of the more socially conservative Republican candidates.
Haley followed New Hampshire State Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, in warming up the crowd before Romney took the mike and addressed the crowd. All three hit a common theme with anti-Obama rhetoric. In their prepared remarks, they did not refer to any of the GOP presidential contenders by name although Romney did caution that although he is expected by many to win New Hampshire easily, he knows anything can happen and that continued hard work in the state both by the candidate himself and his supporters will lead him to victory.
Haley, previewing her already taped Friday night appearance with Greta Van Susteren, announced to the crowd of 300 to 400 that Romney supporters that the latest polls showed Romney jumping into the lead there.
Haley, from my perspective, was the star of the evening, captivating the crowd with her opening remarks. At the end of the evening when Romney opened the session up for questions, he twice handed the microphone to Haley to respond when his own answers seemed a bit lackluster.
Romney positively beamed as she handled the questions with ease and demonstrated a relaxed rapport with the crowd. On one such occasion, Romney was asked if, as a multimillionaire, he might be prepared to pay a little bit more in taxes or give up one of his four houses so that middle class Americans might have to shoulder less of the burden.
Romney started off his reply by asserting "First, I don't own four houses, but thank you for the idea. That sounds like a good one." After a minute of discussing his plan to lower taxes to a less than enthusiastic response, he told Haley that he was going to hand her the microphone again and let her answer, which she did with ease.
A handful of "99 percent" protesters stood and chanted across the street from the Tilton School, flanked on both sides by sign-wielding Romney supporters. The two groups seemed almost amicable, chatting with one another off and on through the evening.
As a member of the audience, I didn't hear anything from Romney that I hadn't heard before. He hit the same themes and used the exact same lines that have been in the news from previous stump speeches. What was new to me as a New Hampshire resident, was South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. She appeared ready for the national stage and may be destined for a prominent place in Romney's administration should he be elected.
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