Weigel

The governor of Mississippi got grilled by Jeffrey Goldberg at the Washington Ideas Forum, and deftly handled some (gently) leading questions about whether the GOP was nominating extreme candidates. Could he back Sharron Angle after her "second amendment remedy" comments? Could he back Rand Paul?

"The answer is, I'm gonna be for everyone who wins a primary." said Barbour.

"What does it mean to you that the NRSC has less influence in the primary process than the former governor of Alaska?" asked Goldberg.

"It means to me the NRSC ought not to be endorsing people in primaries," said Barbour.

That's exactly the RedState/FreedomWorks/Tea Party position, and it's coming from the consummate Washington fixer.