“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,” he said.Barbour doesn't have the "fire in the belly" to get into a campaign that would be sure to turn on race relations at some point. The press wouldn't be able to resist the story line of a white Southerner who waxes philosophically on the Ku Klux Klan and its ilk versus an African American incumbent. Perhaps this is a good sign to know that Barbour didn't have the stomach for it ... perhaps it means that America won't tolerate it from other GOP candidates either.
“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.”
It is nice to see Haley Barbour is no longer going to be part of the national political debate. Who's next?
