MISSISSIPPI GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR: A 2012 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE?

Barbour was a DC lawyer, a DC lobbyist, a GOP White House political director, the RNC Chairman and is the current Chairman of the Republican Governors Association. So why not run for President of the United States?

...Mississippi GOP Governor, Haley Barbour

Mississippi Governor, Haley Barbour last week ordered a group of television photographers standing along a clean stretch of Mississippi beach to, "Get a picture of that beach, they are gorgeous & pristine!". This is the same man that had said to the press two weeks before, in his syrupy southern accent, "We haven´t had enough oil hit Mississippi´s beaches to fill up a milk jug."

This southern governor is the #1 sales person and PR spokesperson for the beaches and tourism of the Gulf state of Mississippi. While giving a speech at a La-Z-Boy furniture plant in Newton, Mississippi, Barbour said to the TV cameras, that the beaches were, "Beautiful, the coast is clear, and to come on down."

Yes, Governor Barbour is not only the #1 salesman for the Gulf Coast, he is now being talked about as a potential GOP presidential candidate in 2012. Barbour comes by his salesmanship through his many years as a lawyer and as a, "good old boy tobacco lobbyist and a major political GOP party animal".

In 1991, Barbour had helped found Barbour & Rogers, LLC, a Washington, DC based lobbying firm. Ed Rogers was a lawyer who had formerly worked in the George H. W. Bush administration. In 1994, Lanny Griffith (also a former Bush Administration appointee) joined the firm to form Barbour, Griffith & Rogers, LLC. In 1998, Fortune Magazine named Barbour Griffith & Rogers the "second-most-powerful lobbying firm in America". In 2001, after the inauguration of George W. Bush, Fortune named B.G.& R. the "#1 most powerful US lobbying firm". The B.G.& R. firm has had a prominent role in advocating on behalf of the American tobacco industry, their #1 client.

Barbour was also a former, Republican National Committee chairman from 1993 to 1997. He was a Reagan White House political director and he is a familiar enough national political animal to be known simply as "Haley" within certain Washington circles. In June of 2009, Barbour was elected the new Chairman of the Republican Governors Association. This occurred, following the resignation in disgrace of South Carolina Governor, Mark Sanford as its leader.

The governor is a mixed blessing for most of the serious residents of the Gulf Coast. When Governor Barbour made the comment that, "A bunch of liberal elites were hoping this would be the Three Mile Island of offshore drilling," A Ms. Diane Peranich, a local Democratic state representative stated, "I appreciate him promoting tourism, but not to the detriment of reality."

Barbour´s upbeat attitude about the oil disaster reflects the "happy-go-lucky" persona that he adopted from his political idol and former boss, Ronald Reagan. But his views have drawn criticism from the Mississippi locals, assorted bloggers and even the late-night TV comedians. There was even strong ridicule in a Web video comparing his beach-promoting statements with those of the now famous mayor in the movie "Jaws", who in the movie continued to urge tourists to enjoy the shark-infested waters of the mayor´s Amity Island beaches.

At 62, Governor Barbour is proof that if you hang around long enough, even a "good old boy lobbyist and political party animal" can come back into some level of "fashion". Barbour is a self-described "fat redneck", and he speaks in the local, "marble-mouthed Mississippi drawl". He loves Maker´s Mark bourbon, and the New York Times says he resembles "an adult version of Spanky from the Little Rascals and fits no one´s ideal of a sleek new political model: [he´s] squat, big-bellied and pink-jowled, he looks as if he should have a cigar in his mouth at all times (and occasionally he does)".

Hurricane Katrina was actually an event that boosted Governor Haley´s popularity due to how he came to the support of his Gulf constituents. Unfortunately, he has been a somewhat less than major critic of BP and their handling of the disaster. He has complained bitterly about what he calls the news media´s exaggerations and distortions about the spill. He stated in one item where he said, "I´ve heard reports that this would be a threat to Europe," he railed to The Sun-Herald newspaper. "That´s about the same as saying I´m going to grow wings and take flight."

However, as compared to Louisiana, Mississippi has mostly been spared the day-to-day incursion of crude oil along its state´s shores. This fortunate situation has allowed Governor Barbour to promote his most popular Republican causes. As an example, he remains enthusiastic about offshore drilling, an important source of jobs in his state. And there is of course, his personal "bogeymen", the White House-backed "cap and trade" energy policies.

The governor was also recently dubbed "the anti-Obama" by Newsweek. Mr. Barbour definitely has attributes that could prove to be assets for him if he decides to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. "If you think ahead to 2012, we are not going to beat the president with someone who has the same M.O. as the president," said Nick Ayers, the current executive director of the Republican Governors Association, of which Mr. Barbour is chairman.

But when comparing the president with the governor, there is no comparison.

At the Gulfport-Biloxi airport, Mr. Barbour had stood at the foot of the Air Force One staircase as he received the president. President Obama slapped the much-shorter governor´s wide back as they strolled across the tarmac. Wearing dark sunglasses and a pale blue polo shirt, the former super-lobbyist struggled to keep up behind Mr. Obama, who by-the way, has often derided all lobbyists.

Later, after the president departed, Mr. Barbour complained to a small group of reporters about all those pictures of oil-blackened pelicans that seem to accompany every national media story about the spill. "The way the news media, particularly television, covers it, you´d think the entire Gulf South was ankle-deep in oil," Mr. Barbour said. (He then declined a one-on-one interview with The New York Times, though he did order a Times videographer at the airport back to the beach to take more "pristine" Mississippi beach pictures.)

But as he was heading back to his waiting car, Governor Barbour turned to a photographer and expressed this closing wish: "I hope you´re making me look thin."

Copyright G.Ater 2010

Follow me on Twitter: gater01