Interesting Visit from the Miss Gov to Iowa

Barbour to speak in Iowa

PEARL, Miss. - Can an outside politician go to Iowa these days and not be seen as a presidential wannabe?

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said months ago that he won't run for president in 2008, but he might stir up talk of a possible candidacy by speaking in Des Moines on Aug. 16.

Asked if he's eyeing a run for the White House, Barbour shook his head.

"You can rest assured. I'm on hurricane duty," he told The Associated Press.

He responded to questions on Friday during a visit to the new Mississippi Emergency Management Agency headquarters in the Jackson suburb of Pearl.

Barbour, now 58, was Republican National Committee chairman from 1993 to 1997 and is still well connected in national GOP circles. He has helped raise money for Republican candidates in Missouri, Georgia and other states.

Barbour said he's going to Iowa at the request of the Republican State Leadership Council, a group that helped him unseat Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove in 2003.

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Well Jim Nussle's getting some help.