Tex. Blog – Barbour to enter in 2012
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a longtime personal friend, was in Austin this week for a meeting of the Republican Governors Association, which he chairs. While in town, he was honored at a reception at the Barton Hills home of Cindy Barnes where he mingled with fellow Rs, along with independent admirers.
A visit with him rekindled memories of the 1980 presidental campaign, when he was the southern coordinator for candidate former Texas Governor John B. Connally. We recalled together the dark morning after Connally lost the South Carolina Republican primary, his last stand against soon-to-be-victor Ronald Reagan. I was on the plane with Connally from Columbia back to Houston when Connally wearily said, “Well, we need to call Haley”. That was because the next week brought primaries that included Mississipi and Georgia, two states he was directing, and the Governor did not want to ask him and his allies to continue a lost cause. So he made the call and reluctantly pulled the plug. Always the pro, Haley understood. But even this week, he recalled that his Georgia coordinator was particularly upset, because they were confidant that Connally would have won that state.
Texas “Off The Record”
Nov. 20, 2009
Magnolia Tribune
