Gov. Haley Barbour laying groundwork for 2012 run

According to many media sources, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour appears to be laying serious groundwork with regard to a potential 2012 Presidential run. He has been criss-crossing the country meeting with potential GOP donors and delivering several platform-style speeches.

Report from the LA Times:

The two-term Republican governor of Mississippi is another one of those potential GOP presidential candidates who’s flying around the country these days talking to local politicians and party members, feeling out possible donors and testing stump speeches.

None of the Republican heavyweights has stepped out yet. They’re waiting to see how much….

…more vulnerable Obama is by summer. And why become a political target three months before it’s necessary? So, as they test the waters, we’ll be taking a look at them from time to time, as we did here last month when ex-Gov. Tim Pawlenty hit the road.

Barbour, for instance, says he won’t decide until after his state Legislature finishes work next month. It’s true, so complicated and all-consuming is the legal, political, personnel and personal lead-up to a decision, that any serious potential candidate must prepare as if he/she is running right up to the go/no-go decision point.

The 63-year-old Barbour has said he views the process as basically a 10-year commitment of time — two years running and potentially eight in office.

Barbour has some deep credentials and many notable accomplishments to draw from should he decide to launch an exploratory committee.

Here’s what we know about Barbour’s likely run: He was political director for President Reagan; so that gives him White House experience. He was an effective chairman of the Republican National Committee (e.g. uniter and fundraiser) during four very successful years in the 1990s, including the GOP takeover of Congress after 40 years in the minority wilderness.

He was a successful Washington lobbyist. And to erase some of that Washington association that tarnishes many candidates in American eyes, Barbour is in his eighth year as a governor, a job that has produced four of the last six presidents. Not surprisingly, most of the serious GOP possibles are or have been governors: Romney, Palin, Pawlenty, Huckabee, Daniels.

Barbour gained high marks as a no-nonsense fiscally conservative chief executive, especially during the challenging post-Hurricane Katrina days that didn’t do much for the executive reputations of others.

The list goes on and on. Check out the full article for even more details.