Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour will headline a Republican Party of Iowa fundraiser in late June, fueling speculation the wildly-popular two-term governor may indeed have ambitions for higher officer.

Barbour, 61, will be ineligible to seek another term as governor in 2012, but refuses to speak to his political future, saying only that “You can look for me not to run for re-election.”

He will undoubtedly dismiss the candidate-type activity as inconsequential, as spreading the Republican Gospel, but no politician finds themselves in Iowa — the launch pad of every dark horse candidacy — by pure coincidence.

Considered a highly effective organizer and strategist, Barbour was a key architect of the 1994 Republican revolution as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

In the wake of two consecutive Republican losses, GOP power broker Fred Malek hopes Barbour may yet have some ideas how to recapture the Contract with American spirit. “Extremely sound on policies, clear thinking and the best political strategist” the GOP can boast, Malek wrote on his blog, ranking the governor as the third most likely individual to secure the party nod.

A Barbour candidacy isn’t without its challenges, of course.

A typical party insider, Barbour worked for Presidents Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush and ran for the US Senate in 1982. In a field of recycled 2008 candidates, voters may look for a fresh, young face – and Barbour, suffice it to say, will be neither young nor fresh in four years.

In 1991, Barbour co-founded Barbour & Rogers, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm. 10 years and millions of dollars earned later, Fortune magazine named Barbour Giffith & Rogers the most powerful lobbying firm in American.

Though his commitment to limiting the influence of lobbyists in policy making has been questioned after assuming office, President Obama’s campaign opposition to the Beltway’s entrenched interests – namely, lobbyists – took voters by storm.

Barbour’s successful lobbying career will no doubt serve as the perfect backdrop to Democratic operatives’ feigned outrage and monochromatic grainy commercials vilifying lobbyists. Channeling DNC spokesmen, his nomination would be emblematic of the Republican Party’s indifference on issues of ethics and good governance.

In terms of shallow campaign optics, Barbour’s southern pedigree may do more harm than good, and stands to reinforce the notion of the GOP as the party of old Southern whites at a time when many political insiders are looking to find a new voice outside the Republican stronghold.

It isn’t all bad for the governor and former party chief, however.

An elder statesman and talented party spokesman, Barbour has emerged as a fierce critic of the president. His popularity rising in proportion to the intensity and frequency of his attacks, he bluntly characterized Obama’s policies as “very far left.”

Like other 2012 hopefuls Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford, Barbour subscribes to the conservative orthodoxy but unlike Palin and Sanford, stakes the reemergence of the Republican Party as a viable political force on the shoulders of inclusive, big tent policies. A distinction that will serve him well with independent swing voters, were he ever to make it to the general election.

Cross-posted at Skepticians.com.