(CBS) Political Players is a weekly conversation with the leaders, consultants, and activists who shape American politics. This week, as John McCain launched his "Service to America" tour in Mississippi, CBS News' Brian Goldsmith talked with that state's governor, and the former Republican National Committee Chairman, Haley Barbour about the campaign ahead.

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CBSNews.com: As a former national Republican chairman, you raised hundreds of millions of dollars for your party. How concerned are you about the huge fundraising gap between McCain and the Democrats?

Gov. Haley Barbour: Not particularly. The Democrats have a very exciting and competitive race for their nomination. So, they're raising a lot of money and spending a lot of money. Senator McCain now has the opportunity to replenish. And I think he'll be successful enough, and I also think that he doesn't have to raise as much money as Obama or Clinton. He just has to raise enough to get the job done.

CBSNews.com: What do you make of all the large Bush fundraisers-the so-called Pioneers and Rangers-who haven't signed on yet?

Gov. Haley Barbour: We got plenty of time. And I believe most of them will.

CBSNews.com: Many leading Republicans have expressed concerns about the way McCain is decentralizing his general election campaign. There will be regional managers across the country running the operation, which is a pretty big departure from the Bush model. What’s your view??

Gov. Haley Barbour: When I was chairman of the party, in the '94 election, that's exactly what we did. We didn't have a top-down structure. Because we're stronger as a bottom-up party.

CBSNews.com: So, you think that's the right approach?

Gov. Haley Barbour: Well, the devil's in the details. But I don't think there's anything wrong with decentralization. In fact, it can be a big advantage.

CBSNews.com: By some counts, McCain has more lobbyists working for him than in any previous campaign. Before you were governor, you were a very successful lobbyist in Washington. What do you say to those who worry that means he’ll be less likely to stand up to special interests?

Gov. Haley Barbour: Well, my opponent spent millions of dollars in 2003 running advertising telling the voters I was a lobbyist. And I beat him by seven points. Four years later, my challenger spent millions of dollars telling people I was a lobbyist. And I beat him by 16 points. Voters understand having a strong advocate for their views as governor is a big advantage. And I don't think they will think any differently about the presidential race.

CBSNews.com: In our new CBS poll, 81 percent of the country thinks we're on the wrong track-the highest in the poll’s history. What kind of change do you think Senator McCain offers after President Bush?

Gov. Haley Barbour: Well, start with style, a lot of issues, different background and experience. We're going to have change after this election regardless of which of the three candidates get elected.

CBSNews.com: The question is, what kind of change?

Gov. Haley Barbour: That's right. Do the American people want the most liberal senator in the United States Senate to bring his policies to the White House? That’s what they would have with Senator Obama, whose voting record is to the left of the socialist member of the United States Senate. The senator from Vermont has a more conservative voting record as a socialist than Senator Obama.

Senator Clinton is virtually as liberal as Senator Obama. So, the candidate will either be a lurch to the far left or will be a moderately conservative, independent-minded known quantity in John McCain.

CBSNews.com: Do you think Obama or Clinton would be better for the Republicans to run against?

Gov. Haley Barbour: My experience is that you always want to run against the person who lost the other party's primary.

CBSNews.com: And how do you assess the story about Reverend Wright? Does that damage Obama in the general election?

Gov. Haley Barbour: It got people's attention.

CBSNews.com: And how did it strike you personally?

Gov. Haley Barbour: I noticed that it caught people's attention.

CBSNews.com: And how about the story about Hillary Clinton’s landing in Bosnia?

Gov. Haley Barbour: That caught people's attention too. It's interesting that you bring these two things up because it illustrates an important point about the Democratic nomination contest. There is virtually no difference on public policy between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. They are both to the left of Teddy Kennedy.

So, when they are competing for the Democratic nomination, they differentiate from each other on their personal characteristics. Because there's no room between them on issues and policy. So, the whole campaign is about personal qualities.

And I think that is to the ultimate Democratic nominee's detriment, that his Democratic opponent will have been attacking him or her on these personal characteristics: credibility, trustworthiness, maturity, what does he or she really believe in.

Whereas the campaign with Senator McCain will be very much about large differences in public policy where you will have, for the Democrats, the most liberal candidate ever nominated by a major party for president of the United States.

CBSNews.com: Let me ask you about Iraq. Obviously, there have been some security gains since the surge. But as Basra has reminded us, the security gains might be fragile-and the Iraqi government may not be as capable as we thought. Do you worry that the voters are going to demand a change in course in Iraq, and that Senator McCain doesn't represent that to them?

Gov. Haley Barbour: Americans don't like long wars. What Americans want is success that will make America and our communities more secure. And many of them realize by making Iraq safer and more secure, they're taking a major step toward making America more secure. The choice for people will be pull out of Iraq, as Clinton or Obama want-and will that make America a more secure and a safer place? Because Americans care about Americans being safe and secure. And they got sense enough to know it's better to battle the radical Islamic terrorists in Baghdad than Boston. Better in Basra than Biloxi.

CBSNews.com: What do you say to those who argue that the focus on Iraq has taken our eye off the real threat which is al-Qaeda in Afghanistan?

Gov. Haley Barbour: I think the comments are from people who want to take the public's eye off the real threat. The real threat is greater radical Islamic terrorism. It is not unique to Afghanistan. The same crowd in Afghanistan is heavily represented in Iraq and other countries. To try to say there is only one place is misleading to the public.

CBSNews.com: And finally, let me ask you about economic policy. That's obviously first and foremost for most voters, particularly right now. Senator McCain said that it's a subject he's got to learn more about. Do you worry that voters are not going to be confident enough in his ability when even he admits that's not his specialty?

Gov. Haley Barbour: No. I don't worry about that. And I hope the Democrats talk about it a lot.

By Brian Goldsmith
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