Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Haley to the Rescue

I often wondered why Haley Barbour, the Republican Governor of Mississippi, didn't run for president in 2008. I was more astonished that he was rarely mentioned as a possible VP runningmate for John McCain, a position for which he would have been ideally suited--a governor of a Southern state with loads of Washington experience. As former chair of the RNC from 1993-97, he oversaw the GOP takeover of Congress in 1994; and as co-founder of a successful lobbying firm in 1991, he has strong connections to the GOP establishment. He also was one of the few public officials who was viewed favorably in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as Mississippi fared better relatively than Louisiana in its response and recovery efforts.


Since the guessing game has now commenced about who in the GOP will run for president in 2012, the same old names are being bandied about: Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal. My question: what about Haley? Barbour was in fact asked about 2012 recently: “Oh, man,” drawled Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, when asked about 2012 and specifically his own interest in a possible presidential run. “I’m going to tell you something. One of the worst things that can happen to the Republican Party in our effort to rebuild is for a bunch of people to start running for president. Anybody harboring that ambition needs to squelch it until after 2010. … Anybody out there running for president is undercutting what’s important. You do this against your own interest.” Sounds like a shrewd answer. Look for him to announce his candidacy shortly after the 2010 midterm election.

2 comments:

KnightinBaldingArmor said...

Barbour is a very shrewd political insider. Not much gets past his grasp. However, I don't think he stirs up much within we Conservatives, but he'll toss his hat in the ring - as you say - about two minutes after the 2010 election!

Great site DC

DC said...

Thank you Balding Knight.

Haley is not flashy but is a smart politico--kinda the anti-Palin.

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