The Anti-Obama

Haley Barbour makes the pitch:

Haley Barbour, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association and one of the most powerful Republicans said to be considering a run for president, is making the case that his southern accent and lobbying career might make him exactly the kind of candidate who can mount a successful campaign against President Obama.
[...]
"As far as southern accents and Mississippi, this country may be looking for the anti-Obama in 2012. Don't know. Could be," Barbour continued.

A corrupt lobbyist with ties to White supremacists? Yeah, that's the anti-Obama alright.

Give Him More Rope, Part III

Yes, the honesty is refreshing, but Haley Barbour is like a sick parody:

But I will know this: if I run for President, what you see is what you get, and I am from Mississippi, I do have a southern accent. I was a lobbyist and a pretty damned good one. And I'm very proud -- we were talking before the show came on -- I am happy about my life. I've got a great marriage. I've got great family, and I've had a great career. Wouldn't do anything differently."

"And I will tell you this -- the next President of the United States on January 21, 2013 - - is going to start lobbying. He's going to be lobbying Congress, he's going to be lobbying other countries. He's going to be lobbying the business community. He's going to be lobbying the labor unions, the governors, because that's what Presidents do, and I feel like it's an advantage for me to have the chance to do that."

Please oh please nominate this man. Nominate the man who wants to brag about his time as a lobbyist.

Give Him More Rope, Part II

Jon Chait is reporting that Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) is weighing a 2012 presidential bid. Hmm... the nation's first Black President, versus someone who thinks slavery wasn't a big deal. That's what we in the biz call a "stark choice". As Chait asks, "Is Boss Hogg not available?"

I was a bit disappointed when Gov. Barbour didn't lose his seat in 2007. But I consoled myself when I realized it just was setting him up for bigger failures down the line.

Picking a Nit

Who here is surprised that Mississippi Governor Haley "The top is not the top" Barbour (R-MS) doesn't think that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's omission of slavery from his "Confederate History Month" proclamation was a big deal? Not me!

UPDATE: The DNC smells blood.

The Education Agenda

A big part of Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's (R-Wildly Corrupt) budget plan involves closing down a bunch of HBCUs, consolidating them with Jackson State University. Leaders of the schools facing merger are strongly opposed to the idea. See the Field Negro for more. He observes: "And here I thought republicans wanted blacks to be educated. Why doesn't he merge Southern Mississippi into Ole Miss? I am just saying."

Barbour, for his part, said he's "not worried about appearing racially insensitive with his proposal." Surprise.

On this blog, of course, Barbour is most well known for successfully arguing that a year is not a year, but failing to persuade the state's high court that the top is not the top.

MS Sup. Ct. Quote of the Year

The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled 8-1 that Gov. Haley Barbour's (R) effort to drop the Mississippi Senate special election to the bottom of the ballot violates state election law, which clearly says that national elections (such as races for the US Senate) need to be at the top of the ballot. But the Court also held that it has no authority to actually order Barbour to comply, which is what the "1" was dissenting from (though it appears Barbour will comply voluntarily).

This is not the first time this election has landed in the lap of the MS Supreme Court. The last time, it was Barbour's successful effort to avoid scheduling the special election within 90 days of former Senator Trent Lott's (R) resignation. The law said that "The election must be held within 90 days, unless the vacancy occurs during a year when there shall be a general state or congressional election." As Lott resigned in 2007, and there were no such elections until 2008, it would seem that the 90 day rule would apply. Alas, the court disagreed, and that leads us to Justice Diaz's wonderful dissenting line:

Given the governor's recent success at convincing seven members of this Court that a year is sometimes not a year, see Barbour v. State ex. rel Hood, 974 So. 2d 232 (Miss. 2008), one cannot fault him for daring to return to our chamber and insisting that the top is sometimes not the top.

For. The. Win.

Consigned to the Bloody Deep

Mississippi Governor and noted corrupt maniac Haley Barbour (R) has decided to place the Mississippi Senate special election at the bottom of the ballot, where he hopes nobody will see it. He did so because "traditionally", that's where special elections go. Unfortunately, "legally", Mississippi election law mandates that federal contests appear at the top of the ballot. But Barbour has never much concerned himself with election law (and unfortunately, last time he got away with it).

There is no word as to whether the Democratic challenger, former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, will challenge Barbour's decision.

Give Him More Rope

So I didn't get my one wish for election night. And, in fact, CNN is reporting that now-reelected Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour could be on the Republican Vice Presidential short-list.

At first, my reaction was disgust. I find it viscerally offensive that Barbour could be elected to anything but "model prisoner", much less Governor or Vice President. But, upon reflection, this might be a good thing. Barbour has a massive amount of skeletons in his closet. He just screams slime (TNR had a great article on him that, unfortunately, I can no longer find -- but here is some info from The Washington Note). Putting him on a ticket would shout to the heavens: "K Street Corruption is Back!", and if Democrats can't exploit that come 2008, they don't deserve to win.

I mean, can you imagine a Giuliani/Barbour ticket? I'm squealing just thinking about it. And it isn't unreasonable either -- Giuliani needs to shore himself up in the south, and Barbour is about a south as you can get without resurrecting Strom Thurmond. But together, that's the sort of ticket that could give Nixon/Agnew a run for its money.

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If Wishes Were Horses

It's election day today! It's an off year, so there's not too much going on. But even in 2007, I have a wish list. Some of them, like Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY) being unceremoniously dumped out of office, will almost certainly come true. Others, like Democrats taking back the state legislature in Virginia, are more of a reach.

But the one thing I really, really want this election day, just isn't going to happen. But nonetheless, I make my plea:

God, if you're out there, please let the unspeakably despicable Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS) lose his re-election race.

Oh, and end world hunger. If you have time.

Thanks,

David

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