Barbour: Huckabee a Formidable Candidate

After fragments of Mississippi governor and RGA head Haley Barbour's comments about Huckabee came out earlier this week, The Fix has fuller remarks. Barbour, another 2012 hopeful, has been described by many as the de facto leader of the GOP:

While Barbour was tight-lipped about his own White House prospects, he spoke at length about another possible contender, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R).

"Mike's got a following," Barbour said on Wednesday. "He was 10 years governor of Arkansas and was very much in the middle of things in 2008. He's got a popular TV show. If he chose to run again, I think he's got a starting place. But I think that's all anybody's got, is a starting place."

Barbour added that he expects the 2012 primary to be "a very, very wide-open nomination contest, but if Mike ran, I think he would be a formidable candidate."

Asked whether he thinks former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) may run, Barbour was less effusive. "I have no idea," he said.

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