Haley Barbour: Every Democrat’s Wet Dream Candidate for the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination

Haley Barbour, currently serving his second term as the governor of Mississippi, is undoubtably a shrewd politician and talented fundraiser. Barbour’s popularity in his home state seven years into his tenure remains strong with a 70% approval rating, not shabby considering the congresses’ numbers are still mired in the low teens and the president’s numbers striking stubbornly below half. In addition to working with every president from Gerald Ford to Bush the senior, Barbour also ran the Republican National Committee from 93 to 97, the golden years for conservative legislators. With the republican nomination for 2012 wide open and the party’s chances at snatching the presidency more than probable, Haley appears a sound choice.

…Until one considers that the candidate in question has made more questionable racial comments than any presidential hopeful this side of Stromm Thurmond. Generally black people don’t like old southern men associating them with watermelon, nor hearing that the politician in question had the privilege of getting to see Martin Luther King speak in person but later openly admitting he was more interested in hitting on girls at the rally instead. And it isn’t just black Americans or bleeding heart liberals who aren’t fond of measures like blocking a state tax on tobacco that would have lowered the price of groceries for Mississippians.

But the biggest obstacle to the potential presidential ambitions of Haley Barbour may come from within his own party. Barbour helped found and continued to work for one of the most powerful lobby groups in the country, a firm that has advocated on behalf of a variety of causes many across the political spectrum may deem unsavory. While republicans of yore have rarely objected to lobbyists as politicians, the vitally important tea party of today is another story. Founders of gigantic entreated lobby firms in D.C are exactly the sort of republics that have been in the crosshairs (literally, it would seem) of Palin and Co. since their idealogical ascent several years ago. More importantly this rancor towards the political establishment, whether democrat or republican, clearly translated into results in the most recent mid-terms.

So attention, liberals of all stripes: Haley’s our man. With the south, bastion of traditional conservatism (and home to many of the nation’s African Americans) turning simultaneously more tea-party and less reliable for the republicans, what better time to bring in a racist, old establishment, washington insider from Mississippi to compete against Mr. Obama? Here’s to the dream of a Barbour-Palin ticket in 2012.