Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour addressed the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.
The two-term governor called President Obama's policies a threat to economic recovery.
Barbour boasted of his own record of economic growth after Hurricane Katrina devastated his state. He said the nation's economic recovery is flat and taking too long.
"In my view, it's a failure of government policy," said Barbour. "In fairness, the Obama administration arrived in office facing some of the worst economic conditions in decades. But for more than two years, this administration and its Congress had pursued policy after policy that create economic uncertainty or directly hurt the economy."
Barbour is expected to announce his candidacy for the GOP nomination this spring.
He will travel to Iowa on Tuesday.
