Haley Barbour Isn't Running
I'm disappointed by this news. I was looking forward to Haley on the stump. From CNN's Political Ticker:
Republican Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will not run for president in 2012, he announced in a statement Monday.
“I will not be a candidate for president next year. This has been a difficult, personal decision, and I am very grateful to my family for their total support of my going forward, had that been what I decided," Barbour said in the statement. “A candidate for president today is embracing a ten-year commitment to an all-consuming effort, to the virtual exclusion of all else. His (or her) supporters expect and deserve no less than absolute fire in the belly from their candidate. I cannot offer that with certainty, and total certainty is required."
He's an amazing political genius. And a fluent, confident spokesman for the conservative cause. Glad he's on our side, and grateful for his contributions to Ricochet. But it would have been fun to have him in the mix.
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May '10
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
Wow. I'm really deflated by this news. Here's hoping he brings his considerable talents to bear in 2012 somehow, someway. After his performance last year at the RGA's helm I have to imagine his services will be one of the hottest commodities on the market (just as they always have been).
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
First question: who gets Barbour's endorsement, which is important because: (1) as a former RNC chairman, he's a brilliant strategist, as Rob notes; (b) as a former chairman of the Republican Governors Association, he's a conduit to a slew of GOP state executives -- and the big donors who love them. Could be an interesting conflict here, as the new chair of the RGA is Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who seems to be flirting with a presidential run.
Second question: with Barbour out, that leaves Huckabee as the only southerner in the field (I'm not counting Ron Paul or Buddy Roemer -- Texas is more southwestern than south; Roemer is a non-entity at this point). Why does this matter? Let's suppose Huckabee also opts out. Who, in the field, can go to South Carolina and fake a southern accent?
So who's the next big Republican to get off the fence?
Apr '11
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
What amazing timing. I was having lunch with co-workers a couple hours ago. CNN was playing on the tv in the food court. A list of prospective candidates was put up, including Barbour. One of my lunchmates asked "Haley Barbour, who's she?" I looked at him and said, "Haley Barbour is a dude." We all laughed uproariously. These are not uninterested, or unknowledgeable men I work with, but they had never heard of HB, not even once.
Dec '10
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
Maybe some northern or midwestern candidate will snag him for vice-president.
May '10
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
I think this misses the mark with South Carolina. South Carolina went for McCain pretty handily in 2008 and with Bush in 2000. For all of my clucking about our first in the South status, South Carolina has been pretty conventional in its primary picks over the years (most of the upsets come in New Hampshire). For better or worse, South Carolina's local flavor mostly comes from behind-the-scenes contests for the services of a passel of well-connected local consultants.
Jun '10
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
Ahem, we in SC can spot faked accents in three words. They are hated commodities. We don't mind so much what part of the country the candidate is from as much as what the candidate seems to think we are able to handle (We tend to get a bit touchy about folks who think we are naive). Bill Whalen, I am sure you did not mean to say we are too dumb to be able to tell if we are being pandered to or not but if a candidate came saying something like that, he would be invited to leave — quickly.
I am sorrier than I expected that Gov. Barbour is out. I didn't think he was electable because he sounds so Southern but he has wisdom that the country needs.
Jul '10
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
He would have cleaned Obama's clock in the debates.
Mar '11
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
Can't say I am too disappointed or shocked - I think he would have been given the Alinsky treatment, subtly or not-so-subtly painted as a member of the KKK, no matter how wise he is, and how unfair the smears.
It's probably a loss for the country, one of many.
Mar '11
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
I am thinking that cleaning Obama's clock in a debate is not going to be all that difficult, what with all the daylight between his previously stated positions, his actions as Chief Executive, and whatever is poll-testing favorably when the debates occur.
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
My younger niece attended Clemson, the other is looking to relocate to Charleston, and their mother, who lives in Wilmington (NC) does tons of work in SC as a medical-service field rep. So I know a little about the Palmetto State.
My point is candidates are always looking to fit into a state's landscape. I don't look for Republicans for lob around "y'all's" and praise grits and sweet-tea as the greatest inventions known to man, but I do think the accent would have given Barbour a certain "in" with voters he'd have been meeting for the first time.
BTW, I see Ron Paul is jumping in next week. Do we take him seriously in all of this, or is his stock falling?
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
Rob, I am on the other side on this one. I do not doubt that Governor Barbour is a good man, and I am confident that he is an able tactician. But I do not think that a man of his girth from Mississippi, possessing the accent that he possesses, can defeat a sitting African-American President -- unless he is exceedingly quick-witted with regard to the propensity of the other side to play the race card: which Barbour isn't.
I would be pleased if Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Mike Huckabee were to follow him out of the race.
The dinosaurs threaten to muddy the contest. It is on the newcomers that we need to focus -- Pawlenty, Daniels, and . . . perhaps . . . others.
May '10
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
Bill, with all your connections to the Promised Land, you should have a foolproof ticket out of California. Come join us in the state that's too small to be a country and too big to be an insane asylum.
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
Matthew, I'd love to relocate to the Low Country. But I'm afraid I'd overdose on shrimp and grits, shrimp salad, barbecued shrimp, boiled shrimp, sauted shrimp, shrimp kabobs . . . (he said, doing his best Bubba Blue imitation)
Apr '11
Re: Haley Barbour Isn't Running
It is truly sad, but I agree with AUMom, Paul, and David. So many from the coast would hear his accent and immediately think, racist, and dumb. I believe Haley Barbour is just what this country needs, and we need him because he is neither racist, or dumb. I'd rather have one Haley Barbour than 100 Donald Trumps!