Barbour's Efforts to Revive GOP May Also Boost Himself

And to his long résumé as a Washington insider, he adds two terms as a governor and praise for his handling of Katrina's aftermath. Other Republicans look to him for advice, guidance and leadership.

"If you're trying to demonstrate the importance of something on the Republican side, having Haley's name in the mix goes a long way," said Ed Gillespie, a former party chairman and Barbour's friend.

In an age of instant analysis, Barbour takes the long view concerning his party. Nothing is ever as bad or good as it appears in politics, he likes to say. He urges Republicans and their critics to take that advice as they evaluate the state of the GOP.

He acknowledges that Republicans have done little to help themselves in the six months Obama has been in office. But he believes, as do others in the party, that Obama's ambitious policies are providing an opening for the GOP to come back.

In recent weeks, Republicans have become more aggressive in seeking to portray Obama as an advocate of economic, health-care and energy policies that will give government too much power, explode the deficit and hurt business. Barbour articulates the case with an especially sharp edge, and said Obama is "far to the left of anybody else who's been elected president [or] who's ever run for president on a major-party ticket." He said Obama's policies are running up spending "that a year ago was just unthinkable."

White House senior adviser David Axelrod called Barbour's comments hyperbole, manufactured for Republican consumption. "Sounds like a guy who's running for the Republican nomination for president," Axelrod said.

For Barbour, thoughts of 2012 are on hold. But the RGA chairmanship affords him the opportunity to travel the country and gauge firsthand whether he should run. Four years ago, he assembled a kitchen cabinet of advisers to help keep his options open for a possible 2008 run, but Katrina swept away any thought of presidential politics. Will 2012 be different?

"At the end of 2010, I'll have a reasonable assessment of the mood of the country, of what ought to be and what ought not to be done," he said. "Any Republican who's not focused on [2009 and 2010] doesn't have his eye on the ball. I've given thousands of people that advice, and I've taken my own advice."

Barbour has long been one of the GOP's shrewdest strategists. "He knows when to strike, how to strike," said Don Fierce, who was part of Barbour's RNC team in the early 1990s. "With all the turmoil going on with others, he's been solid."

Barbour said he is "not Pollyannaish" about a quick comeback, noting that Obama is a formidable opponent. "He has all the charm that [Bill] Clinton does, plus he has the advantage of being an African American," Barbour said.

Elaborating, he said: "I think that most Americans are proud of the fact that America elected an African American president, that out of our past was slavery and the civil rights movement, and this makes a very positive statement about America."

He said he also has high regard for Obama's political team. "They're tough as nails," he said. "This the first White House since [Richard] Nixon that K Street is afraid of."