Here it comes

Washington Post – Did race bump Barbour from the GOP race for president?

Maybe it all boiled down to race, after all.

You may recall my reaction to the announcement by Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) that he would not seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. It was one of disappointment. A Barbour candidacy would have forced the good old boy to give a speech on race to rival then-Sen. Barack Obama’s masterful oration during the 2008 Democratic primaries.

In my post, I said that no matter what Barbour said it would have been fascinating. And then I asked, “[W]hat if this speech were part of Barbour’s problem going forward? What if he were unable to write and/or give an honest speech on race from his perspective that sought to explain and heal?” To be honest, I thought I was out on a limb with those queries. But a piece by Jason Zengerle on GQ.com raises the distinct possibility that I hit the nail on the head.

4/27/11