Haley Barbour is a force.

One year ago when discussing the importance of winning the New Jersey/Virginia gubernatorial races I said the following:

[Winning] will inspire the RNC and State Parties nationwide to push harder and faster for quality congressional candidates and the money necessary to win those states.

Well, an example of this prognostication came in an article from yesterday's Politico:

The Republican Governors Association announced it raked in a record-shattering $13.5 million in pledges in conjunction with its annual gala in Washington Monday.

“Republicans saw the difference the RGA made in Virginia and New Jersey last year and are ready to replicate those efforts nationwide this year,” said RGA Gala chairman and Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Va.) in a statement.

At the end of 2009, the RGA already had $25 million in the bank - a full 30% more than their Democrat rivals at the DGA.

And now we learn about another record-breaking haul.

One thing is clear - RGA Chairman and MS Gov. Haley Barbour is a beast.

By dominating the money race he is putting GOP candidates in a fantastic position to dominate gubernatorial races in the Fall. If that happens, the political capital Barbour will wield will be hard to contain.

In other words, he's running away with the MVP award.

That's not a bad position to be in for someone who is considering running for President.