SOMETIMES, LATE AT NIGHT, when Bob Dole was plunging off podiums, labor was blacklisting Republican candidates, and his onetime loyal allies were talking about impaling him, Haley Barbour reached into the bottom of his office closet and pulled out a bottle of Maker’s Mark whiskey. There, surrounded by the spoils of his 1994 triumph — framed newspaper clippings and a congratulatory note from Ronald Reagan — the Republican party’s national chairman would tilt his head back, take a liberal swig, and tune out the unceasing criticism that he had held his ace too long.

The Mississippian with the musical accent and oversized hat of hair survived perhaps the biggest strategic gamble of the season. In the age of rapid-response politics, he lay low, keeping a perfect poker face while conserving the bulk of his money until the final weeks of the campaign. In the process, he risked not just the GOP Congress and presidential candidate, but his reputation as one of the most successful party chairmen ever. Now, with the election finally over and Republicans safely ensconced on the Hill, a relieved Barbour smiles and guzzles a lite beer.