Bill Minor speculates(!) Barbour didn’t run because of finances
Unlike his three predecessors in the governor’s office – Ray Mabus, Kirk Fordice and Ronnie Musgrove – Barbour has declined to make public his federal income tax return. Possibly that was a factor in his decision not to seek the presidency and undergo the kind of scrutiny he would certainly encounter, because of his history as a big money Beltway lobbyist.
Somehow, the lame statement he issued about lacking “fire in the belly” when he suddenly dropped out of the GOP race after months of hitting the campaign trail in a half dozen states just doesn’t have a valid ring to it. Once again, it seems to be Haley Barbour at his opaque best.
But this is doubtless a time when Barbour is thinking seriously about the legacy he wants to leave. My hunch: to wipe out the remnants of Mississippi’s one-party Democratic state and leave a Republican majority in both houses of the Legislature. As to a GOPer to succeed him, Barbour seems to have a quandary. Not if he will be a Republican, but which one.
Read more: pontotoc360.com – BILL MINOR Barbour’s ‘opaque’ annoucement shrouded details
5/5/11
Magnolia Tribune
