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4A – Daily News – Tuesday, April 26, 2011 Barbour out, GOP ponders as 2012 field takes shape JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Republican Gov. Haley Barbour bowed out of presidential contention Monday with a surprise announcement just as the 2012 campaign was get- ting under way in earnest, 18 months before Election Day. The Mississippi gov- ernor said he lacked the necessary “absolute fire in the belly” to run. Barbour’s declaration, unexpected because he had been laying the groundwork for a cam- paign for months, thins a Republican cluster of no less than a dozen potential candidates to take on Democratic President Barack Obama. With the GOP cam- paign’s first debate sched- uled for next week, the muddy Republican field will become clearer very soon as more potential contenders announce whether they’ll run or sit out. The next, facing a self-imposed deadline of this weekend, is Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Barbour friend and a fis- cal conservative who has shined a spotlight on ris- ing budget deficits and national debt. ‘‘All eyes will be on Daniels. ... It’s a clear path for him if he wants to run,’’ said Doug Gross, an Iowa Republican who dined with Barbour last month and left question- what he says will be a tough campaign. This week alone, he will raise money in New York and return to his hometown of Chicago — also the site of his cam- paign headquarters — to tape an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” He then will head to Florida, a pivotal swing state, to deliver a commencement address at Miami Dade College and attend the launch of Endeavour, NASA’s next-to-last space shuttle flight. Barbour ing whether the governor had the hunger to get in the race. It turns out he didn’t. “I will not be a candi- date for president next year,” the two-term gover- nor said a statement, adding that he wasn’t ready for a “10-year com- mitment to an all-consum- ing effort.” As the GOP race comes into sharper focus, Obama is working to both prevent an erosion of his support while under Republican attack and to raise enough money to overwhelm his eventual foe. He’s been packing his schedule with fundraisers and visits to battleground states as he gears up for Potentially vulnerable, Obama has middling poll ratings and is seeking a second term in a country reeling over high unem- ployment, rising gas prices and the remnants of recession. Yet, the GOP faces plenty of its own troubles. Its field lacks a front- runner. Most of the candi- dates are largely unknown to Republicans. The most recent Associated Press- GfK poll indicated that only half of all Republi- cans were satisfied by their choices and a third were dissatisfied. Unlike four years ago, GOP presidential hope- fuls have been hesitant to rush into the race. Many have been mindful of the long slog and huge costs of a campaign. Several also have been waiting to see what the first half of the year would bring, when the focus would be on the new House GOP majority and its tangles with the Democratic • VITAMINS • MINERALS • HERBS Kelp Herb Shop Available Open: Tuesday-Friday 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Suite #E, Red Bluff, CA 96080 (530) 528-2930 THE Locally owned & operated Keep the 5A>6 air out & the WARM air in with ENERGY EFFICIENT WINDOWS Better Built Windows REMEMBER US FOR ALL YOUR DOOR & MOLDING NEEDS. We’re not just for contractors 1040 B Monroe St., Red Bluff (530) 527-7962 LIC#659256 • AUTO • HOME • HEALTH • LIFE • COMMERCIAL • FOREMOST RENTERS • BOATS • MOTORCYCLES• BONDS (530) 529-2369 805 Walnut St. Red Bluff • CA Lic.#0C05427 Linda M. Fourby, LUTCF Your Red Bluff Agent 333 So. Main St. administration. But now, the clock is ticking, and candidates are under pressure to commit to participating in multi-candidate events. Neither a forum in New Hampshire on Fri- day nor a debate in Greenville, S.C., next week — the first of the campaign — is expected to draw a full slate of can- didates. No such slate exists yet. So far, former Massa- chusetts Gov. Mitt Rom- ney, who lost the nomina- tion in 2008, and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Paw- lenty, who was on John McCain’s vice presiden- tial short list, have set up presidential exploratory committees allowing them raise money for full- fledged campaigns. For- mer House Speaker Newt Gingrich is expected to make his campaign offi- cial as early as next week. A cluster of lesser- knowns also have inched toward the race, including former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Many Republicans had expected Barbour would be the next one in, given his recent activity. He had visited several states with early presiden- tial contests, including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He also had lined up a large network of political advis- ers. And he had tested an economy-focused cam- paign speech in Chicago last month. The governor had even lost some weight as advisers had suggested, and they had been plotting an “announcement tour” Auto Recycling Inc. *WILL PAY CASH FOR JUNK CARS* Quality Used Parts for Less 824-2880 10 ACRES OF INVENTORY Highway 99W & Capay Road (Halfway between Corning & Orland) 22521 Capay Road, Corning CA. 96021 Mon-Fri 8am-5pm • Sat. 9am-2pm All Star • DOMESTIC • FOREIGN • PICK-UPS in which he would declare himself a candidate. But several allies said Barbour, known as one of the smartest political operatives in the GOP, ultimately decided he did- n’t have what it takes to win. He could have been a formidable contender had he entered the race. He has a knack for raising money, a resume dating to Ronald Reagan’s White House and brand of folksy Southern charisma. His hurdles would have been high, too. He’s a former lobbyist and former Republican National Committee chairman who would have tried to woo a primary electorate under- whelmed by Washington insiders. Among his other vulnerabilities: what crit- ics have called tone deaf- ness about Mississippi’s divisive racial history. Barbour delivered the news Monday in a phone call with some 50 people who were advising him, and then his office sent out a statement. “A candidate for presi- dent today is embracing a 10-year commitment to an all-consuming effort, to the virtual exclusion of all else,” Barbour said in the statement. “His (or her) supporters expect and deserve no less than absolute fire in the belly from their candidate. I cannot offer that with cer- tainty, and total certainty is required.” Former Iowa Republi- can Party Chairman Richard Schwarm, who was with Barbour and Gross last month, said that Barbour mentioned dur- ing dinner that he had encouraged Daniels to run. It’s unclear whether Daniels will heed that advice. A onetime senior exec- utive at Eli Lilly & Co. and a former budget direc- tor under George W. Bush, Daniels has said he would wait until his state legislature adjourns at the end of the week before considering his next plans. He says he’s done little to prepare for a cam- paign beyond think about it and discuss it with his family, including his wife who was cool to a White Crafter’s Boutique Mon.-Fri. 11-5 • Sat 11-3 COME & SHOP 50 CRAFTERS IN 1 SHOP! gibbsautobodydsl@chiconet.com 780 EAST AVE. (behind Food Maxx) Since 1950 530-527-2649 WE ACCEPT ALL INSURANCE COMPANIES Voted BEST in Tehama County ‘06, ‘07, ‘08, ‘09 & ‘10 We understand you have a choice, thank you for choosing us! 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He’s been barred from engaging in politics as an ambassador, but advisers have spent the past few months building a shadow campaign operation so that he will be ready to run if he chooses. Two others weighing bids and drawing consid- erable attention, Minneso- ta Rep. Michele Bach- mann and New York real estate mogul Donald Trump, have said they would decide whether to run before the summer. It may be some time before two of the biggest question marks of the 2012 GOP nomination fight are answered: Will Sarah Palin or Mike Huckabee get in the race? Both are leaving the door wide open to candi- dacies, but neither seems in a rush to make any plans public. In recent months, they haven’t done much beyond give a hand- ful of speeches and appear on Fox News, where they both have contracts. Both will headline high-profile events over the next two weeks: Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee and former Alaska gover- nor, is addressing a ‘‘Heroes Among Us’’ fundraiser in Bethesda, Md., on Saturday and is headlining a tribute to the troops at Colorado Christ- ian University in Denver early next week. Huck- abee, the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses and a former Arkansas gover- nor, will speak to the National Rifle Associa- tion in Pittsburgh on Sat- urday. Either one would fur- ther shake up an already unpredictable race. 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