Bob Barr for President? Viva la r3VOLution!

By David Hinz


Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr has been making the Talk Radio circuit today, hinting, but not announcing, that he will seek the nomination of the Libertarian Party, for the office of President of the United States. He told both Frank Beckmann of WJR in Detroit, and nationally syndicated host Sean Hannity, that he was "thinking about it" and that he would be announcing his decision next week.

Fox News has stated that an anonymous source has told them that the announcement will take place Saturday, at the Heartland Libertarian Conference, where he is scheduled to be the keynote speaker.

Barr, a Congressman from 1995 until 2003, was defeated for reelection in 2002 bu fellow Republican congressman John Linder, when the Democrat controlled Georgia legislature restructured their districts. Barr left the Republican Party in 2004, accepting a leadership position within the Libertarian Party. He has, since 2002 worked as a consultant for the ACLU, working on privacy issues.

In seeking the Libertarian nomination, Barr hopes to continue the momentum toward a third party candidacy that Ron Paul has ignited through his run for the Republican Party nomination. Barr told Anti-War Radio;

“Ron Paul tapped into a great deal of that dissatisfaction and that awareness. Unfortunately, working through the Republican party structure, it became impossible for him to really move forward with his movement. But we have to have ….a rallying point out there to harness that energy, that freedom in this election cycle."

As a Congressman, Barr supported both the Patriot Act and the Iraqi War. Now, as a Libertarian he has become much more critical of the Bush administration, and American Foreign Policy.

“What we’ve fallen into in recent years — not just since 9/11, but particularly since 9/11 — is this notion that, in order to protect ourselves, we have to preemptively go into and — in the case of Iraq — occupy another sovereign nation,” Barr said. “Simply saying, ‘Gee, it’s better to fight over in this other nation and destroy another nation, so we’re not potentially attacked here, is the height of arrogance.”

Barr has become extremely critical of the American two party system, claiming now the the opportune time for a third party to emerge. He told Beckmann, this morning, that John McCain receiving the Republican nomination had a large part in his decision-making process. He pointed out that McCain is closer to both Obama and Clinton on many issues than the conservative wing of his own party. Barr believes that he might, as a Libertarian, provide an alternative for those conservatives.

Upon questioning from Hannity, Barr admitted that he would be very unlikely to win the presidency, but adamantly insisted that he would not play a Ross Perot-type spoiler role. According to James Kirchik at The New Republic, it is unclear which party a Barr candidacy would hurt or help.

Rumors have been circulating over the past week that former House Manager and Georgia Congressman Bob Barr may run for president on the Libertarian Party ticket. A well-informed source tells me today that he will run...as an Independent. Barr has been extremely critical of the Bush administration from a libertarian perspective, however, stressing issues like coercive interrogation practices, warrantless wiretapping and the Iraq War (he doesn't differ much from Ralph Nader much on this issue). So it's unclear which nominee -- Republican or Democrat -- Barr's bid might hurt come the general.

Once a supporter of the War on Drugs, he today told Sean Hannity that he supports state's rights to legalize marijuana, although he said complete legalization of all drugs would have to be studied. For those of you who thought the Republican Party might finally be shed of the RonPaul™ r3VOLution, think again, the Party might just be getting started.