AJC – Barbour has no chance because of Mississippi’s “redneck politics”
By all rights Barbour should be a front-runner for the nomination. He’s conservative, a smart strategist, well-connected in Republican circles and he’s been a first-rate governor. During Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, he was a star performer, in contrast to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco who never quite got it together.
Sanford is a white male conservative from the South, too, and he can be elected President because he’s from South Carolina, not Mississippi. I don’t think Haley Barbour, no matter his credentials, can win the Republican nomination because no white male conservative from that state can be elected President for decades to come. Liberal yes, conservative no. There’s too much prejudice elsewhere in the country from potential voters who equate Mississippi with redneck politics.
Atlanta Journal Constitution
6/15/9