Barnes in 2004?
Columnist Godfrey Sperling says here that Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes might be an attractive candidate for the Democrat Party's presidential nomination in 2004. He makes his argument based on the fact that senators rarely get elected to the White House and the Democrat field is crowded with senators, while the last two times the Dems won the White House the nominee was a southern governor.

Sperling says Barnes gets high marks from Hamilton Jordan, who was Jimmy Carter's "brilliant campaign strategist." He quotes Jordan saying "Jimmy Carter gives Barnes high marks for governorship." Which, given the four-year debacle known as the Carter presidency, is a bit like saying "Stalin gives Saddam high marks for non-violence."

Sperling totally ignores one of Barnes' strengths. According to the recent Cato Institute study ranking the fiscal performance of the nation's governors, Barnes gets high marks for a consistent tax-cutting strategy that has yeiled good results for the state's budget, for taxpayers and for the Georgia economy.

Says Cato: Roy Barnes of Georgia may be the pre-eminent tax-cutting Democrat on the national scene. In his first year in office he pushed a Taxpayer Bill of Rights that has saved Georgia homeowners $350 million so far. He has also cut the unemployment insurance tax in Georgia, resulting in tax relief of over $1 billion to businesses and workers. He now wants to cut the state capital gains tax. When the recession hit, Mr. Barnes imposed a freeze on state hiring and made across-the-board cuts of 2.5% in the 2002 budget and 5% in the 2003 budget. No wonder Gov. Barnes is considered a potential presidential contender.