Will Haley Barbour's race strategy work?

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, whose rather selective memories of racial turmoil in the South during the Civil Rights Movement have drawn unflattering attention to his possible presidential bid, has settled on a defense strategy:

Barbour said the controversies over race overlook his support, starting several years ago, for a civil rights museum in Mississippi and the upcoming events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders. But he recognizes that he might carry an extra burden if he runs.

"I have reconciled myself to the fact that some people on the left who don't like me or don't like conservative Christian Republicans from the Deep South are going to criticize anything I do," he said.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/

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flip back for the general election. That's why the phony support for the museum and Freedom Riders.

The right way to handle race for someone with his background is to say "I wasn't involved then. There was injustice going one and I just didn't get it. But now, the challenges of today are..." and then move forward. He's not smart enough to play it like that. Instead he wants to imply he was on the right side of the issue. The only ways to be white in the south and on the right side of the desegregation issue was to sit on a bus and get beaten or sit at a lunch counter and get milkshake dumped all over your head.

If you weren't there for that, don't try and fake it now. The effort ends up making him look Palinesque.