Haley Barbour and the rest of the hilarious GOP 2012 contenders

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/19/haley_barbour_2012/index.html

Haley Barbour and the rest of the hilarious GOP 2012 contenders
By Alex Pareene

*

Mississippi governor and Republican Governors Association head Haley Barbour is, we learned today, most important and powerful Republican in politics. He was the lucky recipient of News Corp's unprecedented million dollar donation. (It helps that, thanks to the fact that the RGA is a 527 and not a federal PAC, it can legally receive unlimited sums from individuals and corporations.) But Barbour is also a serious 2012 candidate, which is, you know, fantastic news for Democrats.

Michael Tomasky sees a path to the nomination for Barbour.

Meanwhile, forgotten loser ex-Senator Rick Santorum is acting like people are begging him to run for president. The man who will almost certainly actually win the nomination is reviled robot Mormon Mitt Romney. Sarah Palin's the next most likely candidate. Not to get too preemptively celebratory, but this must've been how the GOP felt in like 2002 when Democrats were considering Dick Gephardt, Tom Daschle, and John Kerry. Except none of those people are anywhere near as ridiculous as Haley Barbour.

I can't believe people are seriously talking up a corrupt, corpulent tobacco lobbyist's chances at winning the presidency. But we did recently elect our first anti-American Muslim president, so I guess anything's possible.

[saltpoint]

1. True, anything's possible in politics, although here's

hoping that Barbour's "path to the nomination" is thorny, significantly obstructed, and ultimately more trouble than it's worth.

"Ain't enough OLE down there to fill up a milk jug."

[Arkana]

2. Really. Barbour might win Iowa, but good luck selling that "southern charm"

in New Hampshire.

[saltpoint]

3. Yes. Haley just doesn't seem like the guy who's going

to sweep New Hampshire Yankee Republicans off their feet.

Agree.

Which leaves a big opening for the ever-charming Rick Santorum!

[Sgent]

4. He'll ignore it

and worry about South Carolina... remember Bush lost NH as well.