Posted on 06/24/2010 1:08:50 PM PDT by speciallybland
As Haley Barbour continues brushing aside speculation about his presidential prospects, the Mississippi governor is discreetly building a complex political operation rivaling those of any other 2012 GOP presidential prospects.
His apparatus, which has socked away hundreds of thousands of dollars this year alone, will get a major boost — as will the Barbour 2012 buzz — when the governor takes some time away from the Gulf oil spill threatening his home region’s shorelines to attend a big fundraiser Thursday for one of his three political action committees.
The fundraiser, set for adjoining hot spots in Washington’s trendy Glover Park neighborhood, has been the talk of Washington GOP circles, boasting a host committee that reads like a next-generation GOP bundling and campaign dream team.
Ascendant lobbyists for the health insurance, tobacco, liquor, defense and pharmaceutical industries are jockeying for space on the host committee with hotshot, young finance professionals and accomplished political operatives such as media strategist Phil Musser and election lawyer Michael Toner — both of whom were coveted early signings by another prospective GOP 2012 candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty — robocall maestro Tony Feather and Phil Cox, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s campaign manager.
Sources said the event is expected to raise as much as $60,000 for a political action committee Barbour established last year in Georgia, which allows such committees to accept the huge corporate checks barred by more restrictive campaign rules at the federal level and in the two-term governor’s home state of Mississippi.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
I was born in a small MS town and there is no better state than that one. I don’t care what the reputation is as long as it keeps the liberals out of it.
It wasn’t 72 hours ago Barbour was saying all the good things Obama was doing for the area. Then he back tracked that of course Mississippi was in quite a different situation than LA. Weeks ago on Morning Joe he established all the advantages of having RINO’s in left leaning states, but with such affection for them you knew he was running for office, down the middle, without us as his base, to get those moderate, Rino votes which have kept all of us asleep for the last 30-40 years. He has the silver tongue of a southern charmer and has stated no where lately that the constitution is in real trouble. Does that not tell you he’s entrenched establishment and moderate, and from the old school? We ignore new blood at our own peril. These old guys know nothing but old politics.
You're right. How horrible it would be to have GOP politicians who actually understand politics. /s
New blood is terrific. Of course, sometimes "new blood" says or does incredibly stupid things, jeopardizing what should be an insurmountable advantage. Rand Paul anyone?
Why you think that having a politician understand perfectly well how politics works, is some kind of detriment, is a mystery.
National politics is a full contact death sport. No one understands this better than Haley Barbour. Of course, you'd probably rather have some inexperienced rube get crushed by Obama's war machine, because they don't have the experience to know how to fight back effectively. Politics is messaging, and there aren't too many Republican politicians who understand messaging better than Haley Barbour.
I’d put him in the 2nd tier or desirable candidates with Palin and Jindal.
No one without "General" or "Governor" in front of his name is presidential timber. Period. The only times senators win is when they are opposed by a senator, so one of them had to win. The only exception is Warren G. Harding, who defeated a governor after the Wilson administration.
Governor Palin draws crowds like no other, and Governor Barbour is strong with the media. Governor Jindal has his points. Just spare us the RiNOs, and spare us the senators and the governors who have been around too long. Some believe that Palin is damaged goods after the beating Big Journalism applied to her in the past two years, but IMHO she can handle herself as long as she is running her own campaign instead of being "handled" for a RINO at the top of the slate. And, IMHO, she won't accept second billing again.
Continue to share your wisdom, conservatism, and perspective on FR Conservativegreatgrandma. We need victory. We need a majority in the House to allow Rep. Darrell Issa's subpoenas to have results. Like you, I'd rather win with a coalition of 'less than perfect soldiers' than to lose the war for the nation's soul.
I’d say with the exception of Reagan, we had quite a sh*tty time of it electing governors. Maybe we should go with death row inmates. It’d be an improvement.
Oh yuck! Another professional politician who would sell his soul for a deal.
That is Barbour's strength.
And if that's a bad thing from a conservative standpoint we are doomed.
A Reagan like approach is exactly what saved us from Carter and it will take one even bolder to save us from Obama...
It's much easier to keep captured territory than to surrender it waiting for perfect soldiers and then needing to recapture it.
If we're in the mess we're in now because a bunch of Republican voters decided they wanted to teach the Republican party a lesson, this has been a mighty difficult lesson to learn. It has been a disaster.
It is a very simple fact that if it weren't for those 3000 "third party" voters in MN, we wouldn't be in this mess. Voting straight Republican is the only way to go. Fight it out in the primary and then vote straight Republican.
FYI -- looks like K Street has their man for 2012.
You read my mind. Thad is ready to come home.
I don’t care how many professionals he can hire to run his campaign. That usually gets us the Doles and Romneys and Mccains and Bushes.
Correct. These “professionals” are just Democrats in Disguise...and many of them have either worked, or will work at some other time...for a liberal.
You are not going to get real conservatism from Haley Barbour, I am afraid
Haley has ZERO chance, as we both know. Romney is the guy they are pinning their hopes on. The Establishment is casting about for someone who can divide the conservative vote and deny Palin the nomination, allowing Romney to win by pluralities. Sort of like a 2012 version of Phil Crane.
They know that one on one in SC that Palin will clean Romney’s clock. Even in a three way race with Huckabee, she still wins easily. They must think that if they stack the field with enough “conservatives” they can dilute her vote. Nice try, but Haley Barbour is a one percenter at best ( and he is only conservative when it is expedient bo be so). Ergo, no sale.
Memo the K Street: If this is the best plan you have got, I suggest that you collectively move yourselves to Switzerland. You aren’t going to like it when the new President starts to clean your Augean stables like she did the ones in Alaska.
An intriguing ticket:
Haley Barbour/Chris Christie 2012. America needs Heavy Weights, not Light Weights!
The gist of it was that fat Presidents generally preside over peace and prosperity, while rail-thin, fit Presidents usually give the country moral crusades and expanded government power.
Hey, we are picking a leader of the executive branch, we're not casting a chick flick.
It would be nice if there was the luxury of waiting for true conservatives but you have to build a majority any way you can. The strategy is simple--fight it out in the primaries but after that you MUST vote straight Republican.
You must have Republican committee chairs and there's only one way to get it--vote straight Republican.
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