Conversations; 524; Governor elect Haley Barbour & Wife, Marsha

Hello I'm Jeanne Everard's And tonight on our special edition of our conversations program we welcome our newly elected Governor Haley Barbour and first lady Marsha Barbour for an intimate look at the national political life that brought them back to Mississippi lead the state into this brand new century. That's just a few days or weeks old hours old and you're just a few days as we were taping this away from the official inauguration but the first time this will be seen will be after the inauguration. I'm sure you're right and you'll be really tired you're already tired. You have a rest. It's hard to rest up from what we did. My favorite image I think of the election night is the shot of you with your head spins shoulder. How many times did you see that picture. That her picture on the cheek was kind of the two favorites which Jane is a little like get a brick wall on her forehead. It's funny in the campaign there's a sense of urgency and it's very hectic. But the transition there's actually less time and there's

lots of stuff to do but it's harder to get up the sense of urgency so we're we're working hard at it and by the time people see this we'll be in and I hope they will approve of what we've done and what you've had to say and had a good time. You must feel that. Well let let me ask you about something I heard on election night former governor Fordyce was with us for a few minutes on our radio broadcast and I asked him about your campaign and how it all came to be and he took credit for it. He said that he's the one who talked you into running or talk to you and I'll make it OK. I don't know if it's 100 percent true or not. But what was it that convinced you that it would be the right thing for the two of you to do. Because I have the feeling that you were the harder sell. I'm still waiting a little.

It's. I just you know I really felt like Haley wanted to do this. But I personally have had you know it's very difficult thing it's a big change for us especially for me because I've lived in the city you know in Mississippi and just go up to Washington on different occasions when Haley wanted me to come or special event. You never moved there never made her life stayed here. The kids were in school right. You had your friends see her titties. Right. So I mean that France or some of the things I miss the most about the game. I've met a lot of people that I really didn't miss. So how was it just the love that convinced you was just Hailes. You know I've always let him do what he thought he wanted to do and felt like he had a real purpose. Felt like God was in control and I just have to play a lot and try and be a good sport. Did you feel that you had to be a certain kind of a first lady or do you

feel that you have to be a certain kind of a first lady. I'm just going to be myself. That's all I can be. You know Jane that's why she is such a powerful asset in her campaign. She just herself and people can see that. And people can see when you're when you're putting on or being a phony and Marsha is just normal and natural You can tell this doesn't come exactly natural. And if she doesn't get up every morning saying golly I want to get to campaign today. But it was one of the things that people liked people. People like Jeanne when people like to look at you and say I may or may not agree with that guy but at least he's telling me what he thinks and they see more. So we should not put on any errors. I want that what was it for you. Me I was in a I was in Washington earlier this week driving around looking at things. That's quite the place. Guys in limousines and chauffeurs and you could feel the power and you had more power probably than anybody other than the president in that town. I mean you could get in to see anybody. Well you have the job.

There comes a time in your life when you look back is mentioned we've always lived in a city I commuted to wash and we never leave there. I'd go up there on Sunday or Monday and come back on Thursday or Friday and I'd do that 35 40 weeks out of the year because when we did live in Kansas City when our boys as you said get to grow up Muse's graduate high school musicians. We did that even though it might have been more convenient to move and there gets to be a point where you had two careers like I have one in government in politics and one in business. And I'm proud of both my career I have a point. No and I could leave that it would be fair to my partners. They would be able to go forward and keep the business successful and the state. I felt like I really needed a change. I felt like somebody had to come up to step up to the plate. I never thought about running for governor one second in 1999 cause I thought the state was doing great in 1999 and this was not some ambition I've

had but I felt like this last year two years ago when we were making this decision that the state we had to have something different in that it was incumbent on me to be willing to do my share. So that's what we did. And as you know money is not everything and everything. Now there comes a time when you step up and try to do things right. Does it occur to you that you might have less power as the governor of Mississippi. You didn't wash your no about but you know as chairman of the Republican National Committee when the Republicans were out of government that is a very powerful position in terms of influencing public opinion in public policy. If political director of the White House for Ronald Reagan and to actually hear the stuff for both music sitting. But it's also a position to influence public policy and to influence what's going on. So yeah it's in some ways things that I've done in the past have more power to affect things nationally. But there's no place I can try to

do something good for my state and my neighbors. That compares with being governor Mississippi and it's you know it's a huge honor for people to elect me and I'm grateful for that. But the bigger thing is a great opportunity and work with people in our state Democrats and Republicans legislatures everybody to try to really do something that matters. And that's that's where we came to that conclusion. And Marcia God bless her. Let me do you can tell she was just dying from this. I tell people I said she was lacing them up. I remember saying she said how do you feel about a 90 percent pay cut. And the first one yes but what no. I took that as encourage. That's good. Tell me how the campaign changed you. Being out there on the road tell me the girl you met you know started out the campaign after foot surgery. I had a little hurdle to get over with that and had to wait.

She still can't wear cute she's never did work. She is how to be weight. She's fat. So that was a little hurdle to get over and just it was hot this summer in Mississippi it's always hot in Mississippi but when you have to try and look nice and you know say the right thing you get at my age you get even hotter. But the tomato festival of all the festivals we way to the cellar county fair. I'll tell you it was hot hot hot hot and uncomfortable. And but the people were great. And I guess we got to campaign in small towns that was kind of what made it worthwhile. Yes. Where are you. Tell me about those people that you met. How were they. How were they different than what you thought they might be. Does that make sense. They were different from what I thought they would be but it was just so many more but they were very warm. They were very cordial. They always had.

And it just you know after running back and forth and doing things with Haley Washington and traveling you just forget how nice people really are. But they always wanted to take me to show me someone else or come on back and say this had some front porch visits that were just wonderful and enterprise in Clark County. That just reminded me of growing up. And I hope that never changes. And in Mississippi and the people the warmth and the encouragement that they gave us and that they gave everybody. What message do they want to get to you to get through to him. All the several different things someone in the job wanted to make sure that if hey I met several ladies that had husbands that go into Iraq and wanted to be sure that he would greet them and also say goodbye to them you know that it had meant a lot to them that go to most would see them off and would he do the same. You know

some things like that had a real nice experience with the lady and right into the Mississippi. She came in where I was getting some bottled water. It just happened I was one of the man that owned the place. Who is this guy Haley Barbour. Who am I supposed to vote for for governor. And he said well that's his wife why don't you ask her. And she said Oh I've just heard so much about him on TV. You know I just don't know about him and I said I'll tell you what we're having a fist fight all tonight. Why don't you go. And she said I can't really afford to come. And I said you just tell them that March isn't it. And if you have any trouble you told me and she came in she didn't want to leave. She just said she was afraid she would lose something she just wanted to meeting and just wanted to say what it was like something you know things like that are heart warming and and that she really came at first I thought she should have given them money.

And then I thought no I can't be doing that. That's not supposed to go the other way. The money to buy the ticket and then I thought well she might not spend it on that. I was thrilled that. I'd like to say that I hope how we get there. You just did. How did it change you being out there in the state because you are you are the ultimate political guy. I mean you know what everybody is supposed to do and how they're supposed to do it. But you're supposed to make when you're supposed to make it. But I'll bet you you got surprised out there. Sure you do. You know one more thing Jean. I think Marcia's alluded to but all be said plainly. People who are against you are nice. I mean I can't tell you how many times we were out or I was out I would say somebody who clearly won for me someone would tell me they weren't for me but they were nice. And this a great place. You know I used to say TV spot was special about massive Mississippians and it is just so much the case.

I wasn't surprised so much as read re-affirming things that I thought but didn't know that it's a big state. People forget there's a huge difference between Bay St. Louis and Belmont Biggers veel up in Appalachia. Right. You know it's a it's a big study. I mean I've talked about it in terms of policy in the campaign that is we can have one economic development strategy for the whole state what's good economic vision for the delta is not right for the coast and what's good for southwest Mississippi not good for northeast Mississippi. You can go on and on. But it also is a big commentary on the rich diversity of our state. It's a big state but there are some things about Mississippi that there are that are common to almost everywhere. There really is a warm sense of community. I've worked in in projects all over the stage really through a lot of the world a lot of parts of our country don't have a sense of place that we hire. And that of that sense of place comes a sense of community and community spirit.

One of the things that really matters for our state going forward. But for me more of the things were the reaffirmation of things I wanted to think were true about Mississippi that turned out to be true. So the campaign didn't change gears at all. Did you change the lifestyle lifestyle. You know I commuted back and forth change strategies kept the same focus all the way through. You know it's interesting if you go back and look at the fourth quarter of 2000 two we sort of wrote a campaign plan. And my nephew Henry who had run greens campaign in 2002 ran my campaign after Chip was re-elected in early November of 0 2. Henry Nimes some other people. I lay down an outline of a campaign campaign plan. Henry polished it up and we started presenting it to our supporters in January we had a series of what Marshall 11 or 12 meetings around state mandated

drownd state where 2000 people came to one another those meetings. Let me as we laid out the plan this is what we thought we need to do. We hardly ever deviated from that. I was convinced that Parker had lost four years ago because the turnout was violent and I look back in Mississippi's recent history and every time there's a big turnout in Mississippi it's good for conservatives and Republicans when there's a small turnout Missippi it's good for Democrats. And you could look at Fordyce's re-election which was the largest turnout for governor in history until this time. We're the largest time in the history of our state in a governor's election and CNN said and I can't vouch for this but I think it's pretty accurate that over 80 percent of the people who voted in 2003 that hadn't voted in 1999 vote for me. And that was one of the things we believe that a big turnout helped and the other thing we believe that produces a big turnout is grassroots volunteers and I I

got elected governor because thousands of people out in the counties in precincts volunteered to work and help our volunteers not two hundred and thirty thousand doors of homes between Friday night before the election and Monday. I get that about twice as many votes as that. So our volunteers theoretically knocked on the door of about 75 or 80 percent of the people who voted for me. I promise you that is very unusual in American politics today where it's all about money and television all that. We're talking about election night ahead. Political scientists say that she believe that from the very beginning it was your election to lose. Do you think that's fair. I think that's fair and for the this is no discredit to Ronnie. People felt like we had been going back and it certainly not all his fault. And I have said that the issue is not whose fault it is issue is what we're going to do about it. But people

saw that we had had job losses. People saw it recognize it family income in our state was down. They might not have known that as a specific fact but they certainly sensed it. We'd lost manufacturing jobs at a higher rate than any other state in the country. There were just a lot of stuff that they didn't like the failure of discipline in our schools is something very much on the mind of voters white voters black voters urban rural. There were just a lot of things worry people we've had an explosion of drug crime in our state. And again I don't blame it on Governor must grow. I don't think people do it. People just are not there are too many things here I don't like from the budget to the drugs. So I'm looking for a change in Barber guy looks like he's OK. I'm I'm game for a change. That's why the whole campaign that the other side ran was trying to make me unacceptable. It was a very Marshall was talking about the lady in Ryans who said I've just

seen all this on TV. She went on to say and Mattie had to say it was because. Stevie it's Attachmate. When did you have the sense or I got the sense that at one point in the campaign what was perceived to be a negative the fact that you were a Washington lobbyist you know in a way became a positive deed because people knew that you had lobbied in part for tobacco but they also knew that you had lobbied for farm groups and other people who might bring jobs in. And when did it become a Ponzi. I had thought that from the beginning that people wanted somebody who could get things done. And when they looked at my background experience as a lobbyist and other things I've done they say well gee that guy is more likely to be able to get things done because of that than less likely. But the other side of that coin is that my opponents could attack my clients and that's what they mostly did. They attacked me for who I represented and what those clients perceived interest

was. But I always thought for the person who had made up his mind that at the end of the day people would they would say we need a change we need to make things better. I think that lobbying stuff probably makes us get more of his connections in Washington probably making more able to get some. His experience makes it more. The polling indicated it early that that would end that that would be the case. But there were some banged up days there in September and October. Governor Haley Barbour and Marsha Barbour are with us here on our conversations tonight. When I was a kid growing up we had a dog that chased every car that went by and we always wondered what happens if that dog catches the car. You sir have now caught the car. What do you do now. You know it isn't in a sense is like that know this image to your ear that the transition it's coming at you go get a drink or a fire had it

it's hard to have the urgency. We've tried to lay out a reasonable way to go for. One of the things is crucial about being governor Missippi came to see our Constitution makes a weak executive the cooperation and participation of the legislature is crucial. Working together with any probs we can't song that the government can do by itself. So one thing we've really focused on for the first two and a half months is try to help develop a strong working relationship with the legislature and other state officials and the ways we've tried to do that included we've had in the transition we have legislators Democrat legislators. I think we have black Democrat legislators who serve on every one of our transition committees and we're laying out for them here's what we're thinking about doing here's what we think matters. So they don't know you know we're not trying to wring a surprise. But the other thing is we want your council water input we want it to be part of being tickled by the response. I've been tickled by the people who I know worked for me who have said well you know no governor ever asked me before what I

thought and here's what I think. And so we're trying to get that done. We're trying to through the job creation summit in December try to make plain thereby that we are set Prague that the most urgent immediate need for Mississippi is to create more and better paying jobs and attachable will be my first priority because that's the people's first Brog. Again that's something that working together with the legislature that we can do. Know how do you get them to help you do that. I mean they want to obviously do that too that we're in a time where we just don't have a lot of money to spend on those things. One of the purposes of the job summit and one of the purposes of the transition which is about 80 percent about policy not who's going get what job but about what's the right policy and how to get it adopted and implemented is we've tried to put out here the things that matter most for job creation. We can't raise taxes because we already have some of the high state local taxes and sign a bill that will come in and create jobs. If we raise we're already very high taxes that tort reform is a real job creation. Both from the health care point of view.

People not don't come here and create jobs if they don't know if their families and workers can get quality health care. Plus the last two weeks has driven the cost of doing business up in our state to make us less a bit improving our workforce development system is something I'm really focused on hard about how to do better given our working people the skills that they need so they can get better and higher paying jobs. And so employers will expand here or come here because as a workforce to do it protecting our military bases protecting our farm products and furniture industries from illegal and unfair foreign trade practices. It's not I haven't tried to just say hey let's make more jobs. I've tried to say here are the things I think we need to do to create more jobs. Tell me what you think you've got a better idea about how to do this. Well you'd have a better idea than do this. I want to hear what I found most of the legislate doors. There are some exceptions and there are some issues that are going to be more difficult. But by and by people know we can prove workforce to help you see a lot of people who worked for me talking about

when I raise taxes we can't we can't create jobs if we raise taxes. So if you believe in participatory democracy give people a chance to participate. We are a better state from the bottom up than from the governor trying to dictate from the top. Tell me what you would like to see him do in the next four years. Lose 30 pounds and not gain it. The loser is not. Are you. Now the campaigns. And tell me how your four years how you'd like your four years to go. Well Jane I have to live one day at a time. And I don't know exactly what it's going to be like when I get in here but I'll be the same person I am right now. With God's help out there's nothing that will make a difference in the lives of Mississippians. Some first ladies have come in with the special needs of their own project their own arts or education or reading or all of them.

Any project you're able. Right. I've always said the only agenda I had in this race was to help Haley get elected and now he's gotten elected. I have to come up with an allergen. Well one thing that I hope that Marsha has been smart about is to say during the campaign and during transition I'm not going to say now I'm going to take on this project because she's she realizes the next six months she'll have a chance to see all the worthwhile things that are going on. Knowing that you can't do everything. I mean you can you can be in favor of all good things but you can't really dedicate focus to very many things that hurt her decision. She wanted to wait a few months and after she really had a chance to see to see all the opportunities to then start trying to focus in on one or two or whatever things because that's what we don't know.

I mean just like that there's a lot of things that you don't want to. I've tried to surround myself in this office with people like Charlie Williams and others who have been really successful in state government because I didn't know what I don't know. That was your number one strategy wasn't to get get the right people. I have been blessed all my life with being surrounded by good people started right here. And I couldn't have stopped I have dream to doing what I've done in my life that Marsha. At the same time you can't you can't do any job by yourself. I've always tried whether it was a business or to White House at the Republican Party to surround myself with good people. Given the direction we're going in do their jobs and this is this is absolutely no different. And I really I'm proud actually of the quality of people that have come in to this administration. And I think from the response I've gotten not only kind of insiders in state government but the average person out there sees this as

something new. You know it's not the same old same old. They're really trying to get quality leadership quality management. And there's no question in my mind that that's an indispensable to improving answers. So the fact that you've not spent your life in politics as a politician you think won't make much difference or in some ways it's help. I mean there may be people that think that if one of my disadvantages I'm too political that even though I haven't been an elected official I have been around politics all my life for all my adult life. I've made my living around it. But there are some benefits from being on the edge looking in instead of being you know have been senator or governor and as if you have a little purer view of mistakes I've been able to watch your friends watch others. When I was chairman Republican National Committee the most powerful and influential and most popular people in our party were our governors. We had 32 Republican governors. And I watched them and as I

learned from them. But one thing is universal bam just like it was about Reagan. And by the way this President Bush is the same way. They surround themselves with the best people they could find and they let them do their jobs. That to me is real management. We're delighted to have you here. Thank you. We wish you luck. Need any help hanging the curtains or anything just let us know since folks are looking I'll tell Island they've gotten some to say that it's kind of fun. It's different. Thank you. Thank you Jack. Congratulations. Thanks. I hope we'll talk again over the next few years. Finally we will look forward to it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. See you next time.