Jackson Free Press

"This is a lady mayor who asked for $127 million of hazard mitigation money from the governor ... when the state was receiving in its entirety only $300 million."

—Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, on CNN attacking Hoboken, N.J., Mayor Dawn Zimmer for what he characterized as requesting too much federal assistance in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Why it stinks: Haley Barbour sure does put the "goober" in gubernatorial. While gender (or race or class) certainly has a place in some political and policy discussions, whether Zimmer is a lady or a man has absolutely nothing to do with the controversies surrounding the administration of Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. As shrewd an operator as Barbour is, we wonder if the erstwhile governor's faux pas was actually intended as a dog whistle to the anti-Hillary Clinton portion of the electorate who may have to choose between the former secretary of state and Christie in the 2016 presidential contest. To boot, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and other times, Barbour has leaned on his political connections to Washington to bring massive federal assistance to Mississippi.