In September, Brad and Noam profiled the shady dealings of lobbyist–governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi. For some reason, Barbour's name is being bandied about quite a bit as a potential running mate for John McCain. Josh Barro, who's been keeping close tabs on some of the crazier entries in the McCain veepstakes, points out a few of the many reasons why Barbour would be a disastrous choice. Josh unearths a choice passage from a 1982 New York Times story on Barbour's failed U.S. Senate campaign that year:
The racial sensitivity at Barbour headquarters was suggested by an exchange between the candidate and an aide who complained that there would be 'coons' at a campaign stop at the state fair. Embarrassed that a reporter heard this, Mr. Barbour warned that if the aide persisted in racist remarks, he would be reincarnated as a watermelon and placed at the mercy of blacks.
Stay classy, Haley.
--Josh Patashnik
