Last Spring, when word first leaked that Haley Barbour was mulling a presidential run, I replied with astonishment, "There are people who think that the solution to the GOP's image problem is to nominate a sleazy, corpulent, cigar-chomping lobbyist from the Deep South? Is Boss Hogg unavailable?"
POLITICO has learned that Barbour is weighing the prospect of a 2012 White House bid, and convened a private meeting last Thursday with a group of some of his oldest and closest advisers, some of whom flew in from the East Coast to Jackson. The gathering stretched for six hours, during which time the topic of a presidential run was discussed.
I won't believe this until it happens. And even then I still won't believe it.