ATLANTA, Ga., June 22, 2008
Will Bob Barr Be The Ralph Nader Of '08?
GOP Worries Former Republican Running On Libertarian Line Will Be Spoiler For McCain
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A fiery former Republican congressman who gained national prominence for doggedly pursuing impeachment of President Bill Clinton has some Republicans worried he will play spoiler in a tight presidential contest.
Bob Barr's Libertarian Party bid for the White House is the longest of long shots, but political experts say he may be able to exploit the unease some die-hard conservatives still feel about Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting. Combined with the surge in turnout among Democrats during the primaries and a difficult political climate for Republicans, they see what could be a recipe for trouble for the Republicans.
"Bob could be the Ralph Nader of 2008," said Dan Schnur, a Republican consultant in California who worked on McCain's 2000 campaign but is not involved in this year's contest. Consumer advocate Nader is the third-party candidate many Democrats blame for helping George W. Bush narrowly win over Al Gore in 2000.
Rep. John Linder, a Republican who defeated Barr in 2002 after Georgia's Democratic-controlled Legislature redrew congressional boundaries to put the two lawmakers in the same district, said he did not think Barr would top 4 percent of the vote.
"But in some states that may be enough," Linder said.
Democrats seem gleeful at the prospect. Tad Devine, a Washington-based Democratic strategist, said Republicans "are crazy if they aren't worried about Barr."
"Undoubtedly any votes he gets come out of McCain's votes," Devine said. "He hurts them."
Barr, a former federal prosecutor, was swept into Congress with more than 70 other House Republican freshmen in 1994. An articulate, sometimes outspoken orator, he gained attention as the first lawmaker to call for Clinton's resignation over the scandal involving White House intern Monica Lewinsky and was one of the House prosecutors who pressed the impeachment case in the Senate.
Barr also was known during his four terms in the House for his opposition to softening drug laws, including the medical use of marijuana, and his support for gun rights. He tried unsuccessfully to bar military bases from according witchcraft adherents the same accommodations as other religious worshippers.
Even after Clinton left office, Barr continued to pursue him. He asked congressional investigators to study the extent of White House damage done by departing Clinton staffers and tried to build a "Counter Clinton Library" in Little Rock, Arkansas. He filed a $30 million lawsuit against Clinton, adviser James Carville and Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt for causing him "emotional distress" in retaliation for the impeachment proceedings.
Some Republicans are not worried about Barr's candidacy. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said voting for Barr is the same as voting for Democrat Barack Obama, and said he is confident most Republican voters will understand that.
"No reasonable conservative is going to vote for anyone except McCain," Gingrich said.
Even so, Barr campaign manager Russell Verney said he expects Republicans to mount challenges to keep Barr off the ballot in a number of states, much like Democrats did to Nader in 2004.
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Verney was campaign manager for H. Ross Perot, who rocked the political establishment with his 1992 independent presidential bid that drew 19 percent of the vote.If Senator McCain is not successful, it will be because his message and his vision did not resonate with a plurality of the voters.
Bob BarrThe Libertarian Party has not cracked 1 percent of the national popular vote in a presidential race. But it bills itself as the third-largest political party and is already on the ballot in 30 states, with petition drives this summer aiming at 20 others.
The toughest obstacles are likely to be in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Illinois and Washington, D.C., where ballot access rules are prohibitive, said Libertarian Party political director Sean Haugh.
Democrats also have had success knocking third-party candidates off the ballot in Pennsylvania, considered a swing state.
But Barr may have the most impact in his home state of Georgia, where he is still well-known.
In recent years, Barr has earned a reputation as an iconoclast. A National Rifle Association board member, Barr has joined with the liberal American Civil Liberties Union against the Bush administration-backed Patriot Act and reversed himself on medical marijuana use, now lobbying in favor of it.
He said it is the unchecked growth of government that led him to abandon the Republican Party two years ago.
In the coming weeks, Barr plans to open a campaign headquarters in Atlanta.
"I think John McCain is going to have to battle for Georgia, a state that was a gimme for George Bush," said Matt Towery, a former Republican state lawmaker in Georgia who runs a political media company.
Georgia and its 15 electoral votes have been expected to go Republican on election night, and McCain spokesman Jeffrey Sadosky said he remained confident they still would.
Still, the enthusiasm Obama has generated among Georgia's large black population continues to worry McCain strategists. Far from writing off Georgia, Obama has a campaign team registering voters and is airing a TV ad in the state.
Barr scoffs at talk that he will play spoiler, saying he is in the race to win it and it won't be his fault if McCain loses.
"If Senator McCain is not successful, it will be because his message and his vision did not resonate with a plurality of the voters," Barr said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Barr also hopes to tap into the zealous grass-roots network of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who recently dropped his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and pledged to support "Libertarian-leaning Republicans." Paul, a Texas Republican who ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988, drew hefty campaign contributions online, but did not win any primaries.
Paul supporters said they are giving Barr a look. Some are skeptical.
"We're waiting to see if he's deliberately moving toward Ron Paul's principles to be politically popular," said Marlane O'Neill, a Paul supporter in Atlanta.
For more information visit Barr's campaign Web site at www.bobbarr2008.com.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Add a Comment See all 64 Comments
- Bob Barf is a major scuzz. Anyone who votes for him is totally stupid. Not to worry --- there will be more than enough Hillary voters who will vote for McCain and Bob Barf will not be an issue at all. You''ll see. Just let the dirt come out about what he did to his former wife. He has shown no loyalty to anyone but his dirty self. He''s a major scuzz.
- Reply to this comment
- The Neocon Zionist Party of Criminals and Corporate Scumbags is what''s become of the Republican Party.
Nothing but Swindlers, Chislers, Hucksters, Liars, Snake-Oil Salesmen and Toe-Tapping Airport Mensroom Wide-Stancers, that''d sell Granny for a No-Bid, War-Profiteering Contract Kick-Back...... - Reply to this comment
- At long last, a TRUE Conservative! McCain will be in deep doo-doo come November. Flip-Flop McCain never has been conservative enough, go Barr, Go!
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- Barr got a couple of things right:
The Republican party has been taken over by fascists who care not at all about liberty and freedom from government oppression.
The U.S. Fascist party has totally abandoned the previous Republican position of fiscal conservatism, and has turned into the give-away party of no-bid contracts and corruption.
So what else does the previous Republican party have left--being the pro-war, pro-racism party? - Reply to this comment
- "This is why we must still vote for Hillary in November. No matter what anyone tries to tell us. "--Posted by TruUSA
Is your other name "RowdyWicca"? If so, did you take my advice about getting a new screen name, as your cover as a Hillary supporter was blown and you stand revealed as a Neocon Bushit shill? - Reply to this comment
- Posted by TruUSA
It is funny that the answers are so obvious to so many Americans, but you don''t have any. - Reply to this comment
- "the people of the united states have spoken, and obama will NEVER be president." Posted by fenner
Oh? I must have missed the general election then... - Reply to this comment
At this rate, it looks like Exxon-Mobil will win the election again...oh...and of course, Israeli extremism.- Reply to this comment
Uhhhh....isn''t Ralph Nader the "The Ralph Nader Of ''08"?
www.votenader.org/issues- Reply to this comment
- "Beware Libertarians, the nuts are coming." Posted by kansas1946
Agreed, it is a sad reality that any party will accept immigrants from the other parties to try to increase their numbers, and hence their influence.
In this case, those migrating from the Republican party will be the progeny of the "Dixiecrats", those sociopathic racists who felt no longer welcome, and so ran from the Democrats and joined the Republicans in the ''60s, turning the GOP into a haven for neoNazis, and other ultra radical misanthropes.
If the Libertarians are smart, they will either reject the neonazi view outright, or better still, take their money, but still marginalize them. - Reply to this comment
- "No reasonable conservative is going to vote for anyone except McCain," Gingrich said."
"Reasonable conservative", That species has been extinct for a long time now. - Reply to this comment
- this is funny. you can almost hear the fear in the media as they realize this is not going to be much of a contest--Obama is going to pull out to a clear and insurmountable lead and there will not be any news to cover.
They keep trying to throw this stuff out there... like maybe they can make the race newsworthy SOMEhow. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by TruUSA at 12:36 AM
Oh look, the ******* little racist is spamming here too. - Reply to this comment
- . Come time for the debates, they will be open to the small-government pitch of the Libs. [libertarians]
--Posted by guyshomenet
There is no such thing as small government unless you are talking about the oligarchs of the old world that only required taxes on citizens be spent building one powerful militia to protect the king from the people.
Government is a the human condition. Someone will take charge and slaughter the sheep who buy into that libertarian line of craziness. That''s how the neo cons did what they did. They spouted crazy libertarian rhetoric that can be amazingly deceptive. - Reply to this comment
- A fiery former Republican congressman who gained national prominence for doggedly pursuing impeachment of President Bill Clinton has some Republicans worried he will play spoiler in a tight presidential contest.
Ha, tight presidential contest? McCain is the McSame of four more years of republicon neo con deconstruction of the founding principles of the american revolution. Bush''s approval ratings are extremely low for blatant reasons. - Reply to this comment
- guyshomenet: Nice try at spin. I remember watching the GOP debate. Ron Paul was talking rationally about limited government, and McCain and Huckabee just looked at each other and smiled, as if Paul was just released from a mental hospital. Bob Barr, like Ron Paul, will take McCain to task for the huge gov''t and spending growth, deficit spending, an interventionist war, things that diametrically opposite to the limited gov''t that GOP is supposed to be about.
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- Give it up guyshomenet,
Nobody is buying that convoluted and unsubstantiated BS you are so lamely and obviously trying to spread. Just go ahead and continue to play on people''s worst instincts instead of actually discussing facts and data.
Congratulations, you are a posterchild for all of the right-wing lemmings who are blindly and ignorantly trying to continue the failed and destructive policies of the last 8 years of this failed Presidential administration. Good job moron... - Reply to this comment
- The real danger in the Barr/Root campaign is not to the Republicans, but to the Democrats, and the reason is the "blue" Democrats -- the Blue Dogs and the Blue Collars. Current polling (Wall Street Journal) shows 12% of Democrats cannot stomach Obama, and these are primarily the Blues. They likely will not switch to McCain, but in what will be a contentious election, they won''t sit it out either. Come time for the debates, they will be open to the small-government pitch of the Libs. The 8% of Republicans who can''t stomach McCain may do the same. That''s a 4% spread, and enough to influence an election.
But it gets worse for the Democrats. Few Republicans can take the pure-freedom policies of the Libertarians (borders, abortions, drugs, ***, etc) and will not switch. However, these are hot-button issues for Democrats, and ones on which Obama will equivocate as he tries to appeal to the political center. Singe-issue Democrats will defect where as single-issue Republicans won''t. Pair this draining of votes with the Nader factor, and it all starts piling up against Obama.
And it gets worse.
For all his charisma, Obama breaks when discussing the details of policy in a confrontational mode. He will wither during the debates when pitted against well-honed warriors like Barr, McCain and Nader. Obama will finish the job the Libs have started.
Enjoy your moment my Democrat friends ... it will be short lived. - Reply to this comment
- Bob Barr is about as far from a Libertarian as you can get, but maybe all of these right-wing whackos can get out of the Repubublican party and go over and ruin the Libertarian party. Beware Libertarians, the nuts are coming.
- Reply to this comment
- As a Democrat, I believe Bob Barr will make a great Libertarian president.
Posted by incog-nito at 08:12 PM : Jun 22, 2008
I agree. As a lifelong Democrat I strongly encourage Barr to run. - Reply to this comment
