Is Barbour going to surge?

Tomasky makes the case for Haley Barbour as the next GOP nominee:

I think he has a real chance of becoming the GOP nominee. The corporate conservatives will love the guy, and on the Kulturkampf front, which is really where the GOP's collective heart beats these days, there's no one who makes such a stark contrast with the incumbent. He may be a harder sell in Iowa than someone like Tim Pawlenty, but if the contest drags out and the schedule groups several southern states together, lookout. I think this would be great as it is inconceivable to me that America could elect this man its president, but then again, a fair number of previously inconceivable things have already happened.

This is certainly a possibility, and he's probably the only one who could beat Romney with money and endorsements. But Barbour would have the same sorts of flaws as Huckabee--a specific appeal to coregionists and coreligionists and not much of anyone else--without Huck's advantages, or anything resembling charisma. I don't think Romney stands much of a chance of becoming president, as he'd be pretty easy to define as a typical politician and would have many of McCain's issues with his base if he got the nomination. Palin can't win because she's already been defined and hasn't done much to make people take a second look. Barbour would not have those base issues (probably) but I don't see how someone who can normatively be described as a lobbyist can actually become president. The definition practically makes itself. But you can never really know, I guess...