When you want a bigot, pick a likable one

Jonathan Chait has more on why Southern Republicans are so enthused about running MS guv Haley Barbour for president:

In addition to his likability, he may be able to get as much establishment money as Romney and Pawlenty. That said, the reader thinks Barbour has no shot in the general election, something I agree with.

His failure in the general election also seems inevitable in light of what another reader reminds us of: Barbour's connection with the Council of Conservative Citizens, a reincarnation of the White Citizens' Council movement. After attending one of their fundraisers, the group posted a picture of Barbour on their website. While he later called some of their views "indefensible," he refused to ask them to remove the picture. The reader recommends "In Search Of Another Country: Mississippi And The Conservative Counterrevolution," which explores how the right-wing opposition to civil rights in the South morphed into the Republican establishment.

I'm sure a Barbour presidential run would prompt more of this. He's a conservative Mississippian who has been involved in politics since the 1960s.