Haley Barbour, gov of Mississippi thinking of throwing his hat in the ring for 2012 prez run

There will be many hats flying in the ring for the GOP nomination. Don’t count out Haley Barbour, gov of Mississippi. This man knows how to lead.

Politico reports that Haley Barbour says “I’m thinking very seriously about it,” Barbour said in a brief interview after his CPAC speech, adding that he is “doing some things to test the waters."

That includes recent travels to South Carolina and privately urging GOP donors and strategists to not make any commitments before he makes a decision this April.

But the best evidence yet that the Mississippian is a man with his eye on winning the hearts of Republican voters may have come during his address here.

While Barbour offered the predictable shots at the Obama administration that are a staple of this cattle call, he also spent considerable time explaining how he had governed as a conservative and not just given lip-service to small-government principles.

"Mississippi had a $720 million budget shortfall, about 20 percent of our total general fund," the two-term governor recalled. "It took us two years, but we eliminated that deficit without raising anybody’s taxes."

More details here