The adventures of Barbour

OXFORD, Miss. -- The news that John McCain was en route to Mississippi vindicated a Nostradamus-like performance by the state’s governor, Haley Barbour, who yesterday called a news conference to declare that "I expect there to be a debate."

Walking the Ole Miss campus minutes after McCain left Washington, Barbour -- who said he had been counting on the debate to draw media attention to economic-development successes in his state -- claimed that he had not been at all worried that McCain would follow through on his boycott.

"I saw it on TV. I didn't have any inside information," Barbour said. "Like I've been saying, this was what I expected would happen and what I think everyone expected."