Washington (CNN) – South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Thursday the leading Republican presidential candidate was carrying a "golden bullet" to connect with women voters.
Speaking on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer," the Palmetto State Republican said Mitt Romney's wife Ann, along with the candidate himself, would need to answer women with concerns about his platform. Polls released in the past week show Romney trailing President Barack Obama by a large margin among female voters.
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"If Gov. Romney has not related to women, he needs to get out there and talk about the issues they care about," Haley said. "They care about jobs and the economy, and raising their families and all of those things. But they are obviously not relating to him as much as we want them to. That means he has to work harder, he needs to continue to do that, and he needs to bring that one golden bullet he's got, which is Ann Romney."
Haley said Ann Romney's history with battling illness helps her connect with voters.
"When they see how strong she is, the fact that she is an M.S. survivor, a cancer survivor, a great mom, a great wife, strong supporter, and hear her talk about him, I think he'll do a lot better," Haley said.
His wife aside, Mitt Romney will need to answer pressing questions from women on issues ranging from contraception to the economy.
"I think they need the ability to ask him those questions, and I think he needs to look them in the eye and give them the answers," Haley said. "Because that's what this is about. You don't go talk to people who you already have support. You talk to the people that still have questions. If women are questioning him, they have to ask him those questions."
In the CNN interview, Haley reiterated she wouldn't accept a spot on a GOP presidential ticket or as a cabinet official, a position she has staked out repeatedly in interviews this week. Haley said Thursday she wanted to "finish what she started" by serving her term as South Carolina governor.
Haley also detailed experiences, spelled out in her book "Can't Is Not an Option," about her childhood in a small South Carolina town.
"My father had a turban, my mother wore a sari. I was born in that town, and we lived in this small southern town, where they didn't understand us, and we didn't know how to fit in with them," Haley said, laying out how she was disqualified from a beauty pageant because judges didn't know whether to place her in the category for black girls or white girls.
Despite the challenges, Haley said in 2012 her small town in South Carolina had come a long way since her upbringing in the nineteen-seventies.
"What I hope people understand is that town took us in, allowed me to be part of girl scouts, supported my brother when he was deployed to Desert Storm. And that same town now has a sign that says 'Proud home of Nikki Haley,'" the governor said.
Also see:
Romney makes general election pitch in Pennsylvania, but can't ignore Santorum
Santorum: Romney attacks to fall short in Pennsylvania
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Just mandate that they get something for nothing or pay less for something.
Fact: Being opposed to the government mandating private insurance companies from supplying prescription medication does NOT equal banning contraception.
You have been brainwashed if you think otherwise. Sorry.
Nicky Haley needs to pay her taxes and stop using up all the toilet and kissing up to MITT ROMNEY. NICKY HALEY still doesn't fit in and hasn't learn how to fit in. Sad to say she is taking it out on race and women and doesn't realize it. Look in the mirror again NICKY and tell us what you really see. Being Humane and TRUTHFUL has NO COLOR. Visit http://nldrecognition.wordpress.com. READ OUT OF THE SHADOW in the March 2012 archive. NLD Mom/cancer survivor
Mormon = Army of wives = many women votes (all wives atleast)
Mitt = one wife = few women votes.
Looks like Ann Romney has to clear the air of how a mormon can have only one wife thereby prove Mitt respects women. Ann clear the air!
Somehow I'm not surprised that a "cali girl" wouldn't like conservatives. And, frankly, I could not care less about "cali girls". We'd be better off if "Cali" fell into the Pacific for good.
I'd rather see Romney take Fortuna from Puerto Rico or Rubio, or even Ron Paul as VP.
They're Mormons.
Golden bullet?
Or Golden Garment?
She's got great teeth..
At this point we've got to elect a new president, Obama has not been honest in 90% of his campaign promises and it aint the republicans fault, we voted for him to make change, all he's done since entering office is spend more and more of our tax dollars, he's failed in foreign policy and is arrogantly making decisions that he's whispering about with Russia...go for it Romney and Haley...
CT
Wll, Mitt has finally a story that sounds Presidential. For god Sakes we are already into April
Note how elitist liberals are complaining about people being required to get ultrasounds before an abortion. Ob-Gyns ALWAYS do an ultrasound before an abortion. They are just concerned that the woman would look at the ultrasound and they might change their mind about killing the child. And then a baby would be born rather than killed. And that is horrible I guess to progressives? How sad and how pathetic that is for them.
It's time we chose the best VP prospect. You know...the one most qualified for the job? In 2008 we elected a President based solely on skin color, and now conservatives think promoting some woman for female votes is a good thing? I'm a woman..and that type of thinking turns me away. I don't need a woman to "connect with me". How insulting. We don't need another McCain/Palin scenario. Let's get the most qualified candidate that EVERYONE can get behind. If that's Nikki, good. If not, NO!
Oh boy, another conservative woman for the liberal/progessive media to trash. Won't they have fun. Are you sharpening you knives Katie Couric?
I love Nikki Haley. She's been fighting the good old boy system in SC for years and is still at it. She has a lot of vocal detractors but they sound very biased and idiotic. Look at what she has done and ignore the noise.
It would be a mistake for Mitt to pick a woman vp. McCain did and it didn't work out. So, Mitt, stick with Paul Ryan.
My personal choice for a running mate for Romney would be Condoleezza Rice. I think she would scare the pants of Obama.
She's a real golden bullet. She should repeat her comment (made on tv) about how she doesn't feel rich (because money can come and go)....but not really go too easily when you've get a few hundred million. A real gold bullet.
he could win with her, BUT I still would prefer a conservative non zionist white guy as vice president
Here is CNN once again pushing a person as a VP candidate when it looks like she is not a natural born citizen. Unless both of her parents became American citizens prior to her birth, she is not eligible to be either president or vice president.
CNN wants an unqualified person to inoculate Obama who is an usurper after having presented a fake birth certificate as determined by three experienced criminal investigators as part of the old case posse of Maricopa County, AZ.
I am amazed at all of these comments and the commonality they share in being that they are so afraid of Obama being defeated in November. I love how women on the left tout how it is evasive to have an ultrasound before having an abortion. Boo hoo you have to see the child you are going to murder....deal with it. Afterall you are the ones that consider abortion a health issue and should be covered by medical insurance as a doctor would show you a picture of a cyst if they were going to remove it. But hey keep killing the babies and being against capital punishment as this makes great sense. Also, African American women keep supporting Planned Parenthood so Margaret Sangers eugenics can live on – if you don't realize abortion is crushing your race in the US know is going to be able to convince you. Keep up the good work ladies because your buddy Obama's budget is going to show his interest payments on the debt he has created is going to surpass our overall military budget. Maybe you should do us all a favor and get off your backs and support healthcare reform that might do something such as make our nation healthier....novel idea...but I heck if paying for your birth control to keep you nimrods from breeding is what we need to do then I agree with you it is so worth it....
Haley is about Mitt's speed. She was so unpopular in January she could not help in win he South Carolina primary when Gingrich clobberd him and she has not gotten more popular since then with the Tea Party people who backed her in 2010 before she dumped on them. The fact that she is "a woman' is a bad reason to nominate her just for that reason alone in 2012. She is not qualified but then she will not upstage the cold and stiff Romney either.
Earth to Mitt: Again? Another woman governor who has only been in office about one year?
A token woman on Mitt's ticket will not save him.
Women voters need to quit voting for politicians who promise to be a sugar daddy and figure out they are manipulated for their vote – Ann Romney should be an inspiration, not a threat if you are a contributing member of society and not a welfare parasite.
Coming after women's rights everywhere? Where has abortion become illegal, exactly? Either way, that one issue certainly does not equate to "coming after women's rights everywhere." Of course, let's not talk about the right men have to their unborn child. Well we can, actually, as that's a short conversation. He has zero rights. Zero.
Nothing annoys me more than people like you. The type who advocate feminism yet would never lift a finger to help men who are constantly punished by the court system in terms of sentencing, conviction, and custody of their children during divorce.
Planned Parenthood gets 80% of its money from private donation. I'm sure they can make up the difference and go without public funding. I'm quite sure you haven't given then a dime in terms of donating, so put up or shut up.
Btw, I'm pro-choice. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
I wouldn't vote for this hand picked white Obama for a million dollars. He's another puppet and a destroyer of the second amendment and another rich politician. They are all the same. I'm sick and tired of the same ol same ol hand picked must vote for this person because we told you to.
I'm going to write in Ron Paul and vote a libertarian ticket on the rest. The two party system has to end. They both have destroyed this country and now they are going to run some jerk that couldn't even beat McCain in 2008 and tell us that is who we have to have.
I'm sick of this. Only women that will vote for him is because he looks dreamy and presidential.
Ron Paul looks old. Yeah....this country deserves what it gets because we vote on how people look.