Politics

Strategists speculate on where Barbour supporters will land

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
Font Size:

Most of the speculation of who benefits from Haley Barbour’s announcement that he won’t run for president has centered on Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Barbour’s close friend, who is set to decide in the next few weeks whether or not he will enter the race. Within minutes of Barbour’s announcement, Twitter buzzed with Daniels’ name. But strategists say Daniels is not the only one who will benefit from Barbour’s decision.

“If it lures anyone into the race, I would think it would be more Huckabee than Daniels,” said Republican strategist Mike Murphy.

“The one regional southern candidate that was in got out, so potentially the other one will get in,” he explained.

But mostly, he said, it’s too early to tell, a sentiment echoed by other strategists.

“I don’t know who benefits,” said a source familiar with the Barbour campaign. “I think it’s a toss up.”

“Probably from a long term standpoint, Romney,” the source continued, “because the greatest, the most serious challenge to Romney is someone who can sort of establish themselves as the anti-Romney, and that’s what Governor Barbour would have done.”

It puts an interesting wrinkle in the race, said Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, who worked for Mitt Romney in 2008. “I think this is the first time that I can remember that we really haven’t had a southerner now running for president in the Republican pantheon,” he said, pointing out the field of candidates, with the exception of Romney, were clustered in the Midwest.

He is skeptical that Huckabee would enter the race and leave his lucrative TV gig.

Political consultant Phillip Stutts said the focus on Daniels was due to a combination of media hype and his tough budget cutting credentials. “The media is focusing on the speculation of Daniels, rather than Daniels,” he said.

This has been compounded with the fact that “the grassroots that is actually paying attention right now gets excited about Daniels because he’s a budget hawk,” he continued. A less-often mentioned governor, on the other hand, could be the quiet beneficiary of Barbour’s drop out: Tim Pawlenty, former Governor of Minnesota.

Pawlenty is still somewhat unknown, but Stutts said that this was part of the strategy. “Put your head down, raise your money, and don’t be the flavor of the month this far out…if you have the money and you’re going to be there end.”

Pawlenty served as vice president of the Republican Governor’s Association when Barbour was President, and has former RGA executive director Nick Ayers on his campaign. Pawlenty’s campaign issued a statement Monday after Barbour announced he would not run lauding the Mississippi governor and his accomplishments.

“I think different camps will have different reactions,” said the source familiar with Barbour’s almost campaign. “I’ve heard that the Pawlenty people say that all of the Barbour donors are going to them.”

But the source is skeptical that Barbour’s decision not to run will give the former Minnesota governor much help.

“I know that Nick feels confident in his impact, but I’m not sure that Nick has much of an impact on people that were supporting Haley, and that because Nick’s with Pawlenty, they’ll go with Pawlenty. I just don’t see that as a factor.”

Castellanos had a similar take.

“I’m sure some of those relationships will benefit Pawlenty,” he said. “But if you’re a Haley Barbour RGA contributor, that relationship is probably more important to you than your relationship with staff…it is Haley Barbour’s lifelong network that we’re talking about – not Nick Ayers’, not the political establishment.”

Nonetheless, he suggested that “having exposure to the networks and making the contacts” could certainly help Pawlenty.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel