"Almost uncanny how the field is opening up for Barbour"

[Reaganfan]

http://www.northsidesun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Barbour+presidential+aspirations+alive%20&id=2904738-Barbour+presidential+aspirations+alive&instance=homeopinion

Five or so years ago I wrote that Haley Barbour should run for president. People laughed. They aren’t laughing now. The Washington Post is full of stories on the Haley Presidential Watch.

Washington Post political columnist Chris Cillizza recently wrote about Barbour’s small D.C. strategy sessions with key Republican players: “Barbour, who has served in a variety of top political positions including chairman of the Republican National Committee, is a well known commodity to the professional political class in Washington and probably doesn't need to do the sort of introductions that, say, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty might.

“Still, Barbour is smart to do these sorts of sessions since they ensure that the inside-the-Beltway buzz surrounding his potential candidacy will keep up.

“And, just in case you needed more evidence that Barbour is considering a run for national office in 2012, check out his schedule over the next two days: fund-raising stops in New Hampshire and Iowa!”

The Republican wannabes are dropping like flies. It’s almost uncanny how the field is opening up for Barbour.

Haley Barbour is the most competent politician I have been exposed to, and I’ve seen quite a few. Nobody could run the country better.

Every year at the Mississippi media Christmas party, I corner Gov. Barbour in the governor’s mansion: “It is your moral obligation to run for president,” I nag him. “You know that nobody else could run the country better. You’ve got to do it whether you want to or not.”

Every year he hems and haws. For a while, his standard answer was, “I’m on hurricane duty.” I accepted that for a while.

I know that he knows that what I’m saying is true. A man like Haley Barbour would never verbally admit to such conceit. I can see it in his eyes.

I remember the first time I met Bill Clinton, he was just a kid governor from Arkansas. He’s going to be president, I declared. People still come up and remind me of this prediction. How did you know?

Fifteen years ago, when Trent Lott was a senator, I wrote in this column that he could almost be president, but he was just a little too structured. Lott ended up leading the Senate, the third most powerful man in the country.

When I first heard Obama speak, I said to myself. “That’s it. The Democrats have their star. He’ll be the next president.”

No doubt, many other political observers can make the same claim. It’s not that hard. Tennis experts knew Roger Federer was going to be great long before he won his first Wimbledon. You know it when you see it.

The first clue is the ability to speak off the cuff with complete authority and command of the facts, without making gaffs. Clinton, Obama and Barbour all have this ability. But Barbour exudes the most sheer competence of them all. Second, you have to clearly exhibit ability.

True, Barbour’s average height and a bit pudgy. So what? Most voters can identify with that. Look at Grover Cleveland.

Southern accent? So what? Bill Clinton and George Bush have Southern accents. Bush would lay it on thicker when he was down South, which, by the way, is the fastest growing region of our country.

The beauty of the American political system is that ordinary voters, in the end, see through the glitz and can make the same judgment in character that the pundits make. We just see it a bit earlier because it’s part of our livelihood.

Competence? Look at how he handled the Hurricane Katrina response. Everybody in the nation knows that Barbour rose to the occasion. Compare that to the disaster in Louisiana. Compare that to the Bush administration’s Katrina response. Need I say more?

But there is more. Much more. When young Haley Barbour was chairman of the Republican Party, the Republicans captured the House, then the Senate, for the first time in 40 years. He was the true operative behind the phenomenal Reagan era Republican renaissance.

Look at how he’s run Mississippi. He was elected to the weakest governor’s office, constitutionally, in the nation. By sheer dint of will, character and competence, he’s now accused of running the state with an iron fist. Watching Billy McCoy try to do battle against Barbour is like watching Federer play me on grass. You really begin to understand the difference between the major leagues and the minors.

Barbour inherited a huge deficit and fixed it within a year and a half while spending record amounts on education. True, he had a nice economic tailwind, but even today Mississippi’s economic house is far more in order than most other states.

Long-range, it will be a decade before we truly appreciate Barbour’s foresight when Gulfport becomes a huge port on the scale of Houston and Los Angeles, employing 10 times the number of a Toyota plant (not Barbour’s best moment).

Talk about handling the media: Despite being heir to the Reagan legacy, mainstream liberal media portrays Barbour as a pragmatic moderate Republican. He has virtually no negatives other than his Big Tobacco connection, which the recent cigarette tax will conveniently dispel.

Competence does matter. Obama is smooth as silk and learns fast. Problem is simply this: His party has the wrong answer to many of our problems. Using bureaucrats to stimulate the economy is incredibly slow and inefficient. Adding more centralized federal commands to our health system is counter to the natural independence of our culture. Supporting Chavez sympathizers in their attempts to become dictators flies in the face of American defense of liberty. Shutting down our oil, gas and nuclear infrastructure in the hopes of windmills and solar panels is hopelessly unrealistic. And so on.

You would think the Democrats had it made. Blame the recession on the Republicans, wait for the typical turnaround and then claim credit for fixing the economy. But their boneheaded economic politics are so misguided and this recession so deep, the usual cyclical upturn may fail to materialize in time for the next election.

If that’s the case, the nation will turn to a man of stability, proven competence and impeccable conservative credentials, and Haley Barbour will occupy the White House.

[pogo stick]

Barbour will not win the nomination, if he does Expect to see a 49 state win for Obama.

[Smash255]

He could win the nomination, but some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi sure as hell isn't the way for the GOP to win back the suburban areas they need in order to have a chance.

[Tender Branson]

If Haley Barbour is the most competent politician this guy's ever seen, it would probably be best if Barbour actually won the nomination by hard work, and not by his opponents dropping like flies.  Seriously though, the only major thing that's changed in the 2012 race has been Palin's resignation as governor, and nobody knows how that's going to affect things in the long run.  Even if Palin doesn't throw her skirt in, how does Barbour make it past Romney, Huckabee, Pawlenty, or Gingrich?  

Now, there is always some Person X who seemingly comes out of nowhere and does really well in the Republican primaries.  In 2008 it was Huckabee, in 2000 it was McCain.  The problem is that none of these people end up winning the nomination.

But this guy apparently predicted Clinton and Obama.  So if we see a President Barbour, hat's off to him.

[Jayhawker]

I actually like him. He's someone who I think wouldn't do a good job campaigning, but he would be a good leader. Kind of like Tim Pawlenty. I would be perfectly content in casting my first presidential vote for Haley Barbour.

[paul718]

He could win the nomination, but some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi sure as hell isn't the way for the GOP to win back the suburban areas they need in order to have a chance.

But what if the voters don't view him as "some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi"?  What if they view him as "the experienced governor who performed admirably during a crisis" or "the governor who took over the country's worst state and made it better"?  I'm not prepared to support those statements (I don't know much about Barbour), but are they not possible?

[Smash255]

He could win the nomination, but some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi sure as hell isn't the way for the GOP to win back the suburban areas they need in order to have a chance.

But what if the voters don't view him as "some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi"?  What if they view him as "the experienced governor who performed admirably during a crisis" or "the governor who took over the country's worst state and made it better"?  I'm not prepared to support those statements (I don't know much about Barbour), but are they not possible?

I just don't see how he will appeal to the voters in Northern VA, in suburban Denver, etc.  The GOP is viewed as the southern party in many parts of the country (including areas the GOP needs) getting a big tobacco guy from Mississippi won't change that perception.  On top of that Mississippi is ranked last in basically everything, so its not like he can claim that he made all of these improvements.

[Lief]

YES PLEASE.

Barbour is like Huckabee, but without the folksy populism. He would be a disaster and firmly reinforce the idea of the GOP as a Southern regionalist party.

[Reaganfan]

He could win the nomination, but some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi sure as hell isn't the way for the GOP to win back the suburban areas they need in order to have a chance.

But what if the voters don't view him as "some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi"?  What if they view him as "the experienced governor who performed admirably during a crisis" or "the governor who took over the country's worst state and made it better"?  I'm not prepared to support those statements (I don't know much about Barbour), but are they not possible?

EXACTLY. If big-city liberal elitist liberal Barack Obama could win a Nebraska CD and Indiana, then Southern Governor Haley Barbour could win Colorado and Iowa and Ohio for sure.

[Aizen]

He could win the nomination, but some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi sure as hell isn't the way for the GOP to win back the suburban areas they need in order to have a chance.

But what if the voters don't view him as "some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi"?  What if they view him as "the experienced governor who performed admirably during a crisis" or "the governor who took over the country's worst state and made it better"?  I'm not prepared to support those statements (I don't know much about Barbour), but are they not possible?

EXACTLY. If big-city liberal elitist liberal Barack Obama could win a Nebraska CD and Indiana, then Southern Governor Haley Barbour could win Colorado and Iowa and Ohio for sure.

Wrong. If you want to win back Colorado and Iowa the Republican Party as a whole is going to need to demonstrate some intelligence. A fat tobacco lobbyist from the South will not achieve that.

[Mr. Morden]

You should have done a thread titled "Almost uncanny how the field is opening up for Jim Gilmore to run again".

[Reaganfan]

He could win the nomination, but some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi sure as hell isn't the way for the GOP to win back the suburban areas they need in order to have a chance.

But what if the voters don't view him as "some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi"?  What if they view him as "the experienced governor who performed admirably during a crisis" or "the governor who took over the country's worst state and made it better"?  I'm not prepared to support those statements (I don't know much about Barbour), but are they not possible?

EXACTLY. If big-city liberal elitist liberal Barack Obama could win a Nebraska CD and Indiana, then Southern Governor Haley Barbour could win Colorado and Iowa and Ohio for sure.

Wrong. If you want to win back Colorado and Iowa the Republican Party as a whole is going to need to demonstrate some intelligence. A fat tobacco lobbyist from the South will not achieve that.

We nominated a moderate guy who many conservatives disliked, who was well known for crossing party lines and was destined to be President, and he lost big. We won twice with a folksy Southern Governor.

[GLPman]

Although I don't see Barbour winning the nomination, I think it's very possible that he will do much better than expected.

[Reaganfan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSHwlU5z2sc

This guy is great.

[zclark1994]

He could work, but I'm not sure he's the best to go up against the Obama machine.

[Smash255]

He could win the nomination, but some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi sure as hell isn't the way for the GOP to win back the suburban areas they need in order to have a chance.

But what if the voters don't view him as "some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi"?  What if they view him as "the experienced governor who performed admirably during a crisis" or "the governor who took over the country's worst state and made it better"?  I'm not prepared to support those statements (I don't know much about Barbour), but are they not possible?

EXACTLY. If big-city liberal elitist liberal Barack Obama could win a Nebraska CD and Indiana, then Southern Governor Haley Barbour could win Colorado and Iowa and Ohio for sure.

Wrong. If you want to win back Colorado and Iowa the Republican Party as a whole is going to need to demonstrate some intelligence. A fat tobacco lobbyist from the South will not achieve that.

We nominated a moderate guy who many conservatives disliked, who was well known for crossing party lines and was destined to be President, and he lost big. We won twice with a folksy Southern Governor.

The current President at the time of that election was in McCain's party and HATED, he also picked a complete moron for VP, and moved a bit further right himself (and he wasn't exactly a moderate to begin with).  

How exactly are you going to win back the suburbs by picking a guy that represents a major reason why many of these suburbs have left the GOP in the first place?

[Reaganfan]

He could win the nomination, but some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi sure as hell isn't the way for the GOP to win back the suburban areas they need in order to have a chance.

But what if the voters don't view him as "some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi"?  What if they view him as "the experienced governor who performed admirably during a crisis" or "the governor who took over the country's worst state and made it better"?  I'm not prepared to support those statements (I don't know much about Barbour), but are they not possible?

EXACTLY. If big-city liberal elitist liberal Barack Obama could win a Nebraska CD and Indiana, then Southern Governor Haley Barbour could win Colorado and Iowa and Ohio for sure.

Wrong. If you want to win back Colorado and Iowa the Republican Party as a whole is going to need to demonstrate some intelligence. A fat tobacco lobbyist from the South will not achieve that.

We nominated a moderate guy who many conservatives disliked, who was well known for crossing party lines and was destined to be President, and he lost big. We won twice with a folksy Southern Governor.

The current President at the time of that election was in McCain's party and HATED, he also picked a complete moron for VP, and moved a bit further right himself (and he wasn't exactly a moderate to begin with).  

How exactly are you going to win back the suburbs by picking a guy that represents a major reason why many of these suburbs have left the GOP in the first place?

What did Haley Barbour ever do to them?

[Senator North Carolina Yankee]

He could win the nomination, but some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi sure as hell isn't the way for the GOP to win back the suburban areas they need in order to have a chance.

But what if the voters don't view him as "some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi"?  What if they view him as "the experienced governor who performed admirably during a crisis" or "the governor who took over the country's worst state and made it better"?  I'm not prepared to support those statements (I don't know much about Barbour), but are they not possible?

EXACTLY. If big-city liberal elitist liberal Barack Obama could win a Nebraska CD and Indiana, then Southern Governor Haley Barbour could win Colorado and Iowa and Ohio for sure.

Wrong. If you want to win back Colorado and Iowa the Republican Party as a whole is going to need to demonstrate some intelligence. A fat tobacco lobbyist from the South will not achieve that.

We nominated a moderate guy who many conservatives disliked, who was well known for crossing party lines and was destined to be President, and he lost big. We won twice with a folksy Southern Governor.

The current President at the time of that election was in McCain's party and HATED, he also picked a complete moron for VP, and moved a bit further right himself (and he wasn't exactly a moderate to begin with).  

How exactly are you going to win back the suburbs by picking a guy that represents a major reason why many of these suburbs have left the GOP in the first place?

What did Haley Barbour ever do to them?

It doesn't matter what Barbour did to them, its what Bush did to them. I will say the same thing about Barbour that I said last night about Huckabee. We need to get away from folksy southerners, say good bye to the cronyism and corruption of Bush that destroyed our party, and begin to act like the intelligent Party we used to be. We need to get back in touch with fiscal responsibility, we need somehow give a little ground on social issues to end the exodus of moderates and libertarians while at the same time not leading to a revolt of the hicks and hillbillies, and we have to get someone who not only is competent but exudes competatence to everyone, even those not from his background and ideology. If someone can tell me how Barbour helps the GOP achieve any of these I will gladly listen.

If a Southerner is ever again the nominee of the GOP again it will be in the form of either a Bob McDonnell or a Pat McCrory type not a Huckabee or Barbour. The South two is changing and growing and its time we realise that we can afford to take a few risks there. The only state that we could possibly lose that we didn't in 2008 is GA but remember if we due become a more Suburban party it will only help us there by reinforcing us in the Atlanta suburbs.

[Lunar]

Barbour could win a nomination though, if he ends up being the only Southern candidate.  A lot of GOP primary voters are Southern...

[Meeker]

Barbour doesn't stand a chance if Mike Rounds gets in the race.

[Lief]

Barbour could win a nomination though, if he ends up being the only Southern candidate.  A lot of GOP primary voters are Southern...

Enough to win a majority of delegates? Huckabee did pretty well in the South, and still only got like 300 delegates.

[Vepres]

Way I see it in terms of electability: Dark horse moderate/maverick>Romney>Barbour>Huckabee>Palin

[pogo stick]

Wow,  even I don't like Barbour as much as some of you other republicans. Now if Trent Lott ran then I'd support  a Mississippi republican

[Smash255]

He could win the nomination, but some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi sure as hell isn't the way for the GOP to win back the suburban areas they need in order to have a chance.

But what if the voters don't view him as "some big tobacco redneck from Mississippi"?  What if they view him as "the experienced governor who performed admirably during a crisis" or "the governor who took over the country's worst state and made it better"?  I'm not prepared to support those statements (I don't know much about Barbour), but are they not possible?

EXACTLY. If big-city liberal elitist liberal Barack Obama could win a Nebraska CD and Indiana, then Southern Governor Haley Barbour could win Colorado and Iowa and Ohio for sure.

Wrong. If you want to win back Colorado and Iowa the Republican Party as a whole is going to need to demonstrate some intelligence. A fat tobacco lobbyist from the South will not achieve that.

We nominated a moderate guy who many conservatives disliked, who was well known for crossing party lines and was destined to be President, and he lost big. We won twice with a folksy Southern Governor.

The current President at the time of that election was in McCain's party and HATED, he also picked a complete moron for VP, and moved a bit further right himself (and he wasn't exactly a moderate to begin with).  

How exactly are you going to win back the suburbs by picking a guy that represents a major reason why many of these suburbs have left the GOP in the first place?

What did Haley Barbour ever do to them?

Its the brand of Republicanism that he represents.  It just doesn't play well to the type of voter the GOP has lost and needs to get back if they have any chance.

Wow,  even I don't like Barbour as much as some of you other republicans. Now if Trent Lott ran then I'd support  a Mississippi republican

He would be a bigger disaster than Barbour....

[Keystone Phil]

I don't know if this is "canny" or "uncanny" but Naso's obsession with this guy is certainly annoying.

Now I'm not in the camp that believes Haley Barbour can never, ever, ever win a national election but the guy is very, very far from being a good candidate. Obama would need to be a total failure for him to have a chance. Barbour represents far too many Republican stereotypes.