Gov. Haley Barbour is staying with us. He will not run for the American presidency in 2008. Instead, he nobly chose to continue his work in Mississippi.
Barbour should be commended because running for president would have been easy for him. During his strong leadership in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he received positive attention from the media nationwide. People thought he should give the presidency a shot. There were even Web sites dedicated to Barbour running for president.
Yet he ignored the buzz and decided to finish what he started: helping the Coast recover from incredible damage. It wouldn’t have been appropriate for Barbour to run for president because the campaign would have distracted him from his present duties. The Coast victims would have been overlooked in favor of more prestige.
It takes character not to take opportunity, especially when it’s a high position like the American presidency. Barbour swallowed his pride for the good of the state.
Critics may say he’s using this noble choice to win re-election, but Barbour has been a popular governor. He was going to be a top candidate either way.
Despite his flaws, Barbour has helped the Coast tremendously. Currently, he has kept his promise about not raising taxes by not signing the cigarette tax. He even went against his word for the expansion of Mississippi’s casinos. In this case, it was a good decision to go against his word. Barbour changed his position because the time changed.
Although we want him to focus more on issues like education and the budget, he hit a political and personal homerun by sticking with Mississippi.
The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Jed Pressgrove, news editor Sara McAdory, assistant news editor Wade Patterson, sports editor Ross Dellenger, entertainment editor Tyler Stewart, managing editor Dustin Barnes and editor in chief Elizabeth Crisp.