Nikki Haley Backs Away From Allen West VP Pick Comments

WASHINGTON -- South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley suggested Wednesday that Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) would make a "good" pick for vice president.

But speaking at a luncheon on Thursday, the Republican governor said she wasn't "qualified" to recommend a nominee and had only been commenting on which possible candidates had been mentioned.

"First of all, I'm not recommending anybody," Haley said at the American Enterprise Institute on Thursday afternoon. "I don't think I'm qualified to recommend anybody. What I will tell you, and what I was saying, was the people that have been mentioned. And all those people that I mentioned had been mentioned as a vice presidential nominee. I think there's going to be a slew of people and I mentioned that, you know, Allen West may come up."

Haley also named New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire as individuals she had heard suggested.

"We've got great people. We will have a great vice presidential candidate," Haley said. "But I also don't know that I'm the one that needs to recommend who that should should be. I think that Mitt Romney's going to have a tough time; I think that whatever it is, it will excite people and I think that it will be a good, strong partner for the ticket."

Haley has repeatedly quashed speculation about her own chances in the veepstakes, saying she wants to finish her term as governor of the Palmetto State.