By Michael D. Shear - New York Times
Haley Barbours decision to forgo a run for the presidency in 2012 puts him in the company of a half-dozen top Republicans who have considered and rejected a challenge to President Obama next year.
The question is: why?
In a statement that surprised much of official Washington Mr. Barbour indicated that he does not have absolute fire in the belly" to mount a campaign that if he wins could consume the next 10 years of his life.
I cannot offer that with certainty and total certainty is required" he said.
Others have offered different reasons. Senator John Thune Republican of South Dakota said he considered himself best positioned to fight for Americas future here in the trenches of the United States Senate." Representative Mike Pence of Indiana hinted that he might run for governor instead saying that he and his family choose Indiana."
Among those who have turned down the chance to run in 2012: Chris Christie the governor of New Jersey; Jeb Bush the former governor of Florida; and Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee. Mr. Christie said that he could win but that Ive got to believe Im ready to be president and I dont."
An additional half-dozen potential 2012 hopefuls remain on the fence about whether to run leaving just a handful of major candidates who appear certain to take the plunge.
But the publicly stated reasons often mask other considerations as politicians consider whether to run for president. Here are five reasons why some of the Republican Partys brightest stars might be opting for the sidelines this year.
1. Biden. If Mr. Obama wins re-election there is almost zero chance that Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. would run for the presidency in 2016 when he would turn 74 years old. That puts him in the same place where Vice President Dick Cheney was in 2008. That means that Republicans who can afford to wait until 2016 can assure themselves not only that they will not face an incumbent Democratic president but also that they wont face a sitting vice president.
2. The economy. Mr. Obamas approval ratings have dipped below 50 percent but he remains personally popular and by many calculations the economy appears to be improving if slowly. Even Mitt Romney the former governor of Massachusetts and one of the handful of very likely candidates said last September that Mr. Obama would be difficult to beat" if the economy continued improving which he predicted it would. (He later changed his tune and said Republicans should focus on the economy if they wanted to win.)
3. Money. Mr. Obama is expected in some quarters to raise $1 billion for his re-election campaign and he has no serious primary opposition which means he will be free to aim that firepower at his Republican adversaries. For a potential challenger that raises the stakes for fund-raising at a time when more outside groups are competing for the same dollars many of which even on the Republican side would go to congressional races.
4. The Tea Party. The emergence of the Tea Party movement as a force inside the Republican Party requires potential presidential candidates to pick sides in an intraparty philosophical struggle. The risks are clear for some Republicans who may have to alter or modify earlier positions to get through a contentious primary. Less clear are the benefits of having that support during a general election especially if it means alienating independents in the process. Some of the most high-profile Tea Party candidates in 2010 did not fare so well in the general election.
5. The media glare. Candidates for president have always had to contend with scrutiny from the press. But the intense Internet-driven political environment in 2011 when everyone has a camera phone and every offhand comment can be recorded is enough to scare away even the most hearty of politicians. Mr. Barbours family apparently hated the idea of his running for president (though reports suggest that they had made peace with the idea were he to have run). Candidates who have been on the fence about making a run often consider the consequences to their privacy if they do.
