Political journalism, Post-style...

The Washington Post ran a commentary about possible GOP candidate for 2012 Haley Barbour... and it is a damn telling piece.

Acerbic, to say the least. The author focuses on Barbour's rather lengthy past in politics, and why that past is his biggest handicap in the possible run for the White House in 2012. It would seem that Barbour's greatest handicap is his rather extensive network of conservative supporters across the country. That is what a forty year career brings to the table, people... a big network of supporters.

The article labels him "an insider's insider"... which I take to mean the author thinks he'll work tirelessly to maintain the "machine" of contemporary politics. Yes, he worked for years as a political lawyer and lobbyist, going all the way back to the Ford Administration. Yes, he represented "Tobacco" and "Big Oil". Yes, he has a Southern accent. Yes, he has said things that raised eyebrows in regards to current national sensitivity surrounding race issues. Yes, he grew up in the Mississippi Delta region during a time when segregation and racial tensions were the norm, not the exception.

The author makes repeated reference to the "new age" of politics that confronts both America in general, and the GOP in particular... which I take to mean the "Age of Obama". A time when all racial barriers are down and forgotten, unless you are a white male from the South; when representatives of special interest groups focused on under-privileged populations are called "community organizers" rather than lobbyists; when being a political lawyer is only "acceptable" when your intended focus is on the failings of the national government, and not on its successes; when it is wrong for a white Southerner to wear a gold Rolex watch but it is alright for a black First Lady to spend $87,000 in taxpayer money on clothing while on vacation in France.

The author seems convinced that Barbour represents all that is wrong with American politics, while Obama and the liberal/progressive movement of the DNC holds up all that is right. There is far more that is different between Obama and Barbour than simply the color of their skin or their political party affiliations... one has had a long and very successful career leading large segments of this nations population (the majority of which were African American, I might add) for the better part of a decade, while the other has shown a rather brief but spectacular ability to promise things that cannot be delivered. Both are lawyers, both have represented the special interests of very specific groups of people against the interests of the majority, and both have held the reigns of high executive office under the spotlight of national attention... but only one has delivered time and time again on his promises and goals.

Looking at only the same year-to-year time frame from the moment Barack Obama came into elected office and the national spotlight, Haley Barbour has accomplished more for the people he represented and the nation as a whole than Obama has even attempted. The author of this article can mock the people of the good State of Mississippi as much or as often as she likes... labeling them as "ranked at or near the bottom in pretty much every measure of its residents’ well-being" and blame this solely and squarely on Barbour... but it doesn't CHANGE THE FACT that the very same people elected Barbour by a vast majority not once, but twice, and he carried the "black vote" too. Revenues in MS have gone UP, taxes have stayed LOW, services have improved, infrastructure has expanded, education scores have gone through the roof, college enrollments are higher than ever (no matter what color the student's skin)... that isn't only HOPE and CHANGE from the old status quo... but it is also results on promises made.

Where does the current Administration put the details of their results? I'd love to look them over before the election cycle begins.