New York Times –  Nikki Haley, at 39 the nation’s youngest governor, loves her iPod.

When she signed a long-fought bill to bring more transparency to legislative voting, the Black Eyed Peas blasted through the Capitol rotunda here.

Joan Jett, a personal hero because of her fight to prove that women can rock, provided inspiration when it seemed impossible that a relatively inexperienced, deeply conservative woman with Indian immigrant roots could win a bid to govern the state where the Civil War began.

But Ms. Haley’s most enduring theme song, as it was when she campaigned on Tea Party politics and a nod from Sarah Palin, might be Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.”

She has built a governorship on aggressive budget cutting, a relentless pursuit of job growth and a cheerleader’s enthusiasm for a state that often finishes toward the back of the pack in education, economics and health.

“We are now what every state is going to want to look like,” Ms. Haley said in an interview in her office almost six months into her administration.

“We are now the state that is very excited,” she said, referring to a catchphrase — “Get excited” — that she uses in virtually every speech, bill signing and elementary school tour that comes her way. “The people are now in charge.”

Ms. Haley’s image of the people’s governor is not exactly Jacksonian in its nature. Although her supporters praise the former legislator’s drive to improve government practices and spur business-minded economic change, critics have raised questions about the depth of her dedication to transparency and her skills on matters of politics, if not policy.

“Her understanding of the role of state government appears rather limited,” said the political historian Jack Bass, who has written biographies of Southerners including Strom Thurmond and, most recently, the book “The Palmetto State: The Making of Modern South Carolina.” But he offers an assessment shared by South Carolinians and national political observers alike: “I just find her interesting.”

Of the nation’s 29 freshman governors, her national profile is among the highest, an advantage she hopes to enhance with a memoir — “Can’t Is Not an Option” — scheduled for release by the Penguin Group in January. Telegenic and direct, she is popular with producers of national news shows. Her digital-savvy young staff issues YouTube-ready videos that show everything from her cabinet meetings to the crowning of collard greens as the official state vegetable.

A parade of Republican presidential candidates has passed through her office in the Capitol here, seeking her advice and, more important, her endorsement. South Carolina, which holds the South’s first primary, has correctly picked the Republican presidential nominee in every race since 1980.

She has repeatedly said she is not interested in being a vice-presidential running mate on the 2012 Republican ticket, but her name is already etched into the list of future party leaders.

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