Barbour: "Hoy votaría por Herman Cain"

The Hill:

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Thursday that if the election were today, he and his wife would vote for Herman Cain.

"He is likable. He does not give you the impression that he is full of himself, but rather than he is a straight-talkin’ person who, will tell you, he call it like he sees them. He’s not trying to sugar coat anything and at the same time he is not trying to be shrill and a chest beater. He’s a straight talker and I think that makes him very, very attractive to people," Barbour said on the Laura Ingraham Show.

Barbour also said that Cain would not have trouble in a general election against President Obama, a critique of some conservatives who don't believe the former Godfather's Pizza CEO would be viable in a nationwide race.

“If this election is where it ought to be, and that is a referendum on how President Obama is doing, Republicans are going to win," Barbour said. "If Herman Cain is our nominee against Barack Obama, I think he’ll sweep the south.”

Barbour está fuera

Barbour no se presenta. Algunos lo esperaban después de que Nick Ayers firmara con Pawlenty, pero no deja de sorprender visto el alto nivel de actividad que ha mantenido fuera de Mississippi en los últimos dos meses.

Tres posibles teorías para explicar esta extraña decisión:

1) Apoyará a Pawlenty. Punto.

2) Ha estado contratando y organizando personal en nombre de una posible candidatura de Mitch Daniels para que el Gobernador de Indiana no tuviera que hacer nada en esta primera fase.

3) Huckabee le ha confesado que se presenta, y Barbour ha comprendido que con el ex Gobernador de Arkansas en competición no hay espacio para otro candidato sureño.

Declaración de la oficina del Gobernador Barbour:

"I will not be a candidate for president next year. This has been a difficult, personal decision, and I am very grateful to my family for their total support of my going forward, had that been what I decided.

"Hundreds of people have encouraged me to run and offered both to give and raise money for a presidential campaign. Many volunteers have organized events in support of my pursuing the race. Some have dedicated virtually full time to setting up preliminary organizations in critical, early states and to helping plan what has been several months of intensive activity.

"I greatly appreciate each and every one of them and all their outstanding efforts. If I have disappointed any of them in this decision, I sincerely regret it.

"A candidate for president today is embracing a ten-year commitment to an all-consuming effort, to the virtual exclusion of all else. His (or her) supporters expect and deserve no less than absolute fire in the belly from their candidate. I cannot offer that with certainty, and total certainty is required.

"This decision means I will continue my job as Governor of Mississippi, my role in the Republican Governors Association and my efforts to elect a new Republican president in 2012, as the stakes for the nation require that effort to be successful."

NH Journal entrevista a Barbour

El Gobernador de Mississippi está realizando una gira de dos días por diferentes ciudades de New Hampshire. La gira incluye una recepción en una residencia privada de Bow, un desayuno-coloquio en un restaurante francés de Manchester, un encuentro con votantes en una tienda de armas de Hooksett, y una reunión con un grupo organizado de mujeres republicanas del estado.

Ayer concedió una entrevista a Amelia Chasse, del NH Journal, en la que reitera su intención de competir por la victoria en la primaria de New Hampshire, en caso de que decida presentarse a las elecciones.

Barbour y Gingrich con Bryan Fischer en Iowa

Entrevistados por Bryan Fischer (líder de American Family Association) en su programa de radio después de la conferencia Rediscover God in America celebrada en Iowa.





Continúa: Parte 2 / Parte 3 / Parte 4

Barbour promete competir en el Caucus de Nevada

El Gobernador Haley Barbour es el primer republicano que da señales de querer intentar disputarle la victoria a Romney en el Caucus de Nevada (a celebrar el 18 de febrero, 2012). Romney tiene en ese estado una base política consolidada desde su cómodo triunfo en el caucus de 2008, y ningún candidato había dado hasta ahora muestras de tener intención de invertir tiempo y dinero.

Barbour visitó ayer Reno y Carson City para reunirse con el Gobernador Brian Sandoval y el Congresista Dean Heller, y mantener un encuentro de más de media hora con operativos republicanos, abogados y lobbyistas. Tras las reuniones atendió a la prensa en su hotel y prometió volver si decide presentarse.

(...) "Estoy aquí porque estoy pensando si me presento a Presidente. Si me presento, competiré para ganar el Caucus de Nevada y la elección general." (...)

Barbour ficha a asesora de Jeb Bush en Florida

Informa el Miami Herald:

(...) In what may be a sign that Haley Barbour is ready to go from potential presidential contender to candidate, the Mississippi governor has signed up veteran Florida political strategist Sally Bradshaw.

Bradshaw told the Herald/Times that she is joining the Barbour campaign and will be doing work for his political committee. "If he becomes a presidential candidate I'll work for him here," she said.

A native of Greenville, Miss., Bradshaw, 45, was former Gov. Jeb Bush’s top political adviser for more than a decade and in 2008 worked on the presidential campaign of former Masschusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. She is not returning to the fold of the assumed frontrunner, however. After surveying the field for 2012, Bradshaw believes its "wide open" and that Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chairman and head of the Republican Governors Association, "is the right fit for me." (...)

Mike Dennehy se unirá al equipo de Barbour en NH

Dennehy era uno de los estrategas políticos más solicitados en New Hampshire. Recordaréis que ocupaba el tercer lugar en la lista de National Journal. Fue el responsable de la impresionante victoria por 16 puntos de McCain sobre Bush en la primaria republicana del estado en 2000.

Union Leader:

(...) The Granite Status has confirmed that Concord strategist Mike Dennehy, who was John McCain's national political director and senior adviser in 2008, has signed on as a senior paid adviser to likely presidential hopeful Haley Barbour.

(...) At the moment, Dennehy and his firm, The Dennehy Group, will advise Barbour's political action committee, Haley's PAC. But if Barbour runs for President, Dennehy confirmed he will be with him.

(...) McCain, with Dennehy's help, won the New Hampshire primaries in 2000 and 2008. Dennehy was McCain's state campaign manager in 2000 and then was national political director, and later, a senior adviser, in 2007.

Dennehy backed Phil Gramm for President in 1995 and 1996. (...)

Barbour quiere gastar menos en Defensa

Durante una cena con unos 100 altos cargos republicanos en Davenport, Iowa, el Gobernador Haley Barbour se desvió de la línea general del partido en materia de defensa y política exterior, y abogó por una reducción de tropas en Afganistán y recortes presupuestarios en el Pentágono. Marca una primera gran diferencia con sus posibles rivales, que hasta ahora se han mostrado mucho más prudentes y ambiguos en estos puntos.

(...) Barbour, a likely candidate for president in 2012, told Iowa county leaders and activists here that the GOP won't have any credibility on cutting spending if they're not willing to trim the defense budget — often considered sacrosanct for Republicans.

"Anybody who says you can't save money at the Pentagon has never been to the Pentagon," the Mississippi governor said. "We can save money on defense and if we Republicans don't propose saving money on defense, we'll have no credibility on anything else."

(...) He also said that the U.S. should consider reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan. "I think we need to look at that," he said when asked if the U.S. should scale back its presence.

But he said his reasoning isn't financial.

"What is our mission?" Barbour said. "How many Al Qaeda are in Afghanistan. ... Is that a 100,000-man Army mission?"

"I don't think our mission should be to think we're going to make Afghanistan an Ireland or an Italy" or a Western-style democracy, he said. (...)

Barbour con la Iowa Federation of Republican Women

Ayer en Des Moines.

Barbour ficha a Paul Young en NH

Según John DiStaso (Union Leader):

(...) A well-known veteran state Republican strategist has signed on as a volunteer with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's political action committee.

The Granite Status has learned that Paul Young, founder and president of Novus Public Affairs of Portsmouth, has agreed to volunteer to help build support for Barbour's "Haley's PAC" in the first-in-the-nation primary state and then for a Barbour presidential campaign should he decide to run.

(...) Young has a long history in New Hampshire politics, both state and presidential, dating back to when he served as executive director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee and, separately, was active in the campaign of the late Jack Kemp in the 1980s.

(...) Young was a strong backer of John McCain in the 2008 primary campaign as the coalitions director of McCain's New Hampshire campaign. (...)

Barbour contrata a reconocido estratega de comunicaciones

Chris Cillizza:

(...) Former Republican National Committee communications director Jim Dyke has signed on with Mississippi Gov.Haley Barbour's political action committee, a major signing in the below-the-radar fight for staff talent in advance of the 2012 GOP presidential primary fight.

Dyke will serve as a communications adviser to Haley's PAC and is expected to be intimately involved when -- and if -- Barbour decides to run for president.

(...) Dyke served as the communications director at the RNC during the 2004 re-election race of President George W. Bush then went into business for himself forming Jim Dyke & Associates in 2005.

Since that time, he's immersed himself in the creation of the outside group effort on the Republican side, serving on the board of American Crossroads and playing a senior role in Resurgent Republic, a conservative-aligned polling effort. He will remain with his company full time, serving Barbour in an advisory capacity. (...)

Barbour en Fox and Friends

Ha hablado de los ajustes para dar a los estados mayor flexibilidad en la implementación de la reforma sanitaria, y de sus ambiciones presidenciales. Tomará una decisión en abril.

¿Quién gana sin Thune? (II)

Según Chris Cillizza:

(...) So, who benefits from a Thune-less field?

The most obvious beneficiary is former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty who would have occupied similar space to Thune had the South Dakota Senator run.

Stylistically, the two men are quite similar. Both are happy warriors for the conservative cause, optimistic Midwestern/Plain states Republicans who bill themselves as fresh faces for a party badly in need of them. Both also rely heavily on their personal story; Pawlenty, the blue collar, Sam's Club Republican who was the first person in his family to go to college, Thune the small-town boy who made good.

Ideologically, the men also have a number of parallels. Both Thune and Pawlenty are social conservatives with often-underestimated support among evangelicals. But neither is the oft-caricatured fire-breathing conservative candidate, a trait that supporters of each have long argued make them more electable than many in the field.

Geographically, Thune and and Pawlenty would have been headed on a collision course had they both run. Both men represented states that border Iowa -- the site of the first-in-the-nation caucuses -- and would have made a major push in the Hawkeye State to catapult themselves into national prominence.

With Thune out of the running, Pawlenty will have more room to run -- both in Iowa and elsewhere -- as the new kid on the block, not a bad place to be given the Republican electorate's demonstrated desire for new voices in the 2010 midterms.

While Pawlenty may benefit most from Thune's no-go decision, it also should open up the Iowa field slightly -- good news for any of the lesser known candidates like Govs. Mitch Daniels (Ind.) and Haley Barbour (Miss.) who need to make their names, literally, with a strong finish in Iowa. (...)

Reagan: "Quiero hablaros de un líder muy especial: Haley Barbour"

POLITICO ha rescatado un video de 1982 en el que se puede ver al Presidente Reagan pidiendo el voto para Haley Barbour -entonces candidato al Senado-. Hay frases sueltas que Barbour podría utilizar en sus anuncios de 2012.

"Me gustaría tomarme un momento para hablaros sobre el futuro de nuestro país y un líder muy especial: Haley Barbour (...) "Sé de primera mano que Haley Barbour tiene la inteligencia, coraje y experiencia." (...) "Con líderes como Haley Barbour podemos mirar al futuro con confianza y esperanza. (...)

Barbour en Des Moines, Iowa

Encuentro con la prensa después de su reunión de 15 minutos con el Gobernador Terry Branstad.

Barbour en Iowa

Des Moines Register:

(...) The two-term governor plans to meet with lawmakers at the Capitol and state Republican officials in Des Moines.

Barbour told the Register he plans to run all-out for Iowa’s leadoff presidential caucuses, if he seeks the 2012 GOP nomination. (...)

Maquinaria de Barbour a punto

The Center for Public Integrity:

(...) In a few weeks one of Washington’s political grande dames, Julie Finley, will host a fundraiser for Haley Barbour, who boasts a Midas-like rolodex of his own.

On March 2, the two-term Mississippi governor and prospective presidential candidate expects to raise big bucks for Haley’s PAC with lots of help from former K Street colleagues who have signed up to haul in $10,000 each.

“Haley has a terrific capacity to raise a lot of money, probably the broadest base of any Republican in the running,” Finley, a former ambassador, told the Center. The fundraiser will be held at Finley’s home in northwest Washington.

The event is yet another sign that Barbour is inching towards a run to secure the GOP nomination, a move that many of his old lobbyist buddies are eager to see him make. Barbour has said he won’t decide until spring.

Much of the fundraising for the bash is being spearheaded by lobbyist Kirk Blalock, who was a top aide to Barbour years ago when he ran the RNC’s successful 1994 election campaign—a campaign that put the GOP back in control of Congress.

Blalock is one of several prominent GOP lobbyists and operatives with long-standing ties to Barbour who have already begun to assist the Mississippian.

Over the last few months, a small group of Washington insiders and lobbyists have been laboring quietly to lay the groundwork for a potential Barbour campaign. They include: lobbyist Scott Reed, who ran Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign and was executive director of the RNC under Barbour; former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie; Don Fierce and Kirk Blalock of the GOP lobbying shop Fierce Isakowitz and Blalock; Ed Rogers, his former lobbying partner at Barbour Griffith & Rogers (now known as BGR Group); and pollster Ed Goeas. (...)

CPAC 2011: Haley Barbour

El Gobernador Barbour ha hecho gala de su dominio de la política y su experiencia ejecutiva. Para él los gobernadores son la referencia en la política de los Estados Unidos. Ha citado a Mitch Daniels, Bob McDonnell, Chris Christie, y al demócrata Phil Bredesen (ex Gobernador de Tennesssee) como ejemplos de buena gestión. "Los gobernadores tratan con los problemas, y los votantes han decidido que de aquí en adelante, los líderes no deben ser juzgados por sus esperanzas e intenciones; los líderes deben ser juzgados por los resultados obtenidos."

Ha criticado a Obama por encarecer el coste de la energía con sus políticas de regulaciones. Ha explicado en detalle cómo ha ahorrado millones de dólares en Medicaid convirtiendo a Mississippi en el cuarto estado de la Unión con menor índice de error en el manejo del Medicaid. Y no se ha olvidado de los asuntos sociales, presumiendo que bajo su mandato, Mississippi es el estado más seguro para los no nacidos.

Ha llamado a los republicanos a completar en 2012 la toma de poder. "Nuestra nueva mayoría solo nos da una mitad de un tercio del gobierno. No podemos poner a América en el camino correcto hasta que elijamos un Presidente republicano el año que viene."

Con permiso de Huckabee, Barbour es el más genuino de los considerados como candidatos serios. Ha combinado datos y políticas concretas con líneas divertidas y menciones a Ronald Reagan y Abraham Lincoln.

Barbour en la Herzliya Conference

Intervención del Gobernador Haley Barbour en la conferencia anual del Instituto de Política y Estrategia del Centro Interdisciplinario de Herzliya, en Israel. ha hablado sobre la relación con Israel, el programa nuclear de Irán, terrorismo, y política energética.

Fuentes cercanas a Barbour dicen que se presenta

En POLITICO:

(...) Senior Republicans are increasingly convinced that Barbour will take the plunge, and a Republican familiar with his planning said he and his aides had already begun to arrange fundraisers in New York, Washington, and Las Vegas, to discuss preliminary strategy, and to interview consultants.

"They are putting together a very serious operation," the Republican said. (...)