Perhaps no other contest illustrated that better than a Tea Party-backed stiletto-heeled Republican of Indian descent  - Rep. Nikki Haley - whom South Carolina Republicans nominated to run for governor on Tuesday.

A state legislator with the backing of Tea Party activists and Sarah Palin, Haley overtook the state's old-boy network by beating a four-term congressman.

With her victory, she moved one step closer to becoming the first female governor in conservative South Carolina; she currently stands as the front-runner in the race against the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, who is of Arab American heritage.

Haley, 38, has secured her place as a rising female star in the GOP, if not a potential 2012 vice presidential candidate in the early primary state.

In her victory speech, she sought to downplay the politics of identity and to focus on governance in a state that became a comedic punchline a year ago, when Gov. Mark Sanford (R) disappeared and was discovered to have been with his lover in Argentina. The disgraced Sanford is leaving the post because of term limits.

Significantly, unsubstantiated allegations by two other Republicans that they had affairs with Haley, who is married with children, most likely helped rather than hurt her campaign. So did a racial slur by a Republican state lawmaker at Haley, who was raised Sikh, but became a Methodist at age 24.

"The unproven allegations and attacks against Haley actually played right into her message as a new kind of conservative," said CNN political producer Peter Hamby, who is in South Carolina reported during the campaign. "In fighting back, she was able to argue that establishment figures in the GOP were playing politics as usual and trying to stop a real reformer from taking charge in Columbia."

Former Alaska Governor and Tea Party doyenne Sarah Palin endorsed Haley. Palin called allegations from two men that they had amorous relationships with Haley "made-up nonsense."

For her part, Haley said that, if elected, she'll step down from the governorship if they're proven true. So far, no hard evidence of the supposed trysts has surfaced.

Tuesday's Republican primary runoff in South Carolina plausibly clears the way for Nikki Haley to join Bobby Jindal as governors with an epochal distinction: Two Indian Americans leading two Southern states.

Belonging to a community that makes up less than a percentage of the US population, their accomplishment is momentous, even more so because Haley would be the first female governor of her state.

Coupled with President Obama's own astounding win last year - he carried North Carolina, Virginia and Florida - a credible argument could be made that in politics, at least, a post-racial South is emerging in this decade.

Haley endured allegations of infidelity, and she and Jindal both faced down racial slurs and epithets on their road to victory. 

Jindal and Haley have thrown open the doors to political office, laying waste to minefields of ethnic slurs and perverse allegations that naysayers put in their way.

But, while Haley currently appears to be in the lead against her opponent, political analysts warn nothing is certain.

"Before we crown Nikki Haley, I have to say, I think Vincent Sheheen is a formidable candidate," says David Woodard, a political scientist at Clemson University and GOP strategist. "The Sheheen name stands in good stead here in South Carolina."