Giuliani-Barbour Ticket?

America's mayor could do a lot worse when it comes to picking running mates. Of course, he has to win the nomination first--an important hurdle.

Jim Geraghty reports:

Suppose Rudy Giuliani were to win the Republican nomination, and pick Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour as his running mate - shoring up the South, social conservatives, and spotlighting, "the governor who rose to the occasion during Hurricane Katrina", etc. (Remember the theory that the running mate ought to reinforce the nominee's strongest qualities - in Rudy's case, the argument would be that he and Barbour are cool heads and firm hands in a crisis.)

I must admit that I like the pairing.

The theory that strengths should support strengths is good, but so is the strengths off-setting weaknesses as well. In this regard, Barbour works in one way but not in another. Barbour, until he left to run for Mississippi Governor, was the ultimate Washington insider--kind of like Dick Cheney without all the sinister overtones. That can compliment Giuliani's lack of inside the Beltway experience. But Barbour was also a pretty high powered lobbyist and that may not sit well with some people, remember Giuliani's getting swiped by the "Lobbyist" brush.