Topic: Bob Barr
Ron Paul supporter Bob Barr to declare for President "You see where Ron Paul stands on an issue, and you know that's the right place to be." - Bob Barrby George Dance
(libertarian)
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Former U.S. attorney and 4-term Congressman Bob Barr is expected to announce his candidacy for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination this Saturday, Apr. 5.
A U.S. attorney appointed by Ronald Reagan, Bob Barr won his Georgia seat in the 1994 "Contract with America" campaign, unseating a 6-term Democrat. He first came to national attention as a manager in the 1998 impeachment of Bill Clinton. (Barr was the first Republican to move Clinton's impeachment, in Nov. 1997.)
Says Wikipedia: "Barr was one of the most conservative members of the House. However, he displayed a slight libertarian streak, and was considered one of the strongest supporters of civil liberties among House Republicans. He only voted for the Patriot Act after his amendments adding "sunset clauses" were added to the final bill. Barr had played a similar role in the debate Clinton's Comprehensive Aniterrorism Act of 1995, crafting pro-civil liberties amendments to the original text."
Since losing his House seat after his district was gerrymandered in 2002, Barr has become a vocal opponent of the Patriot Act and other civil-liberties abuses of the Bush administration. In Mar. 2007 Barr co-founded the American Freedom Agenda (AFA), "a coalition established to restore checks and balances and civil liberties protections under assault by the executive branch." (Ron Paul was the first presidential candidate to sign the AFA pledge, and later that year introduced its agenda to Congress as H.R. 3835, the "American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007".)
Although a strident Drug Warrior in Congress, Barr has reversed his position, and has lobbied for the Marijuana Policy Project. He is also a member of the American Conservative Union, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the National Rifle Association.
Bob Barr became a life member of the Libertarian Party in 2006. In Dec. of that year, he became a regional representative on the Libertarian National Committee (LNC) for the Southeast region. He is the author of the Dec. 2007 LNC resolution inviting Ron Paul to seek the LP nomination should he lose the Republican race. (Paul politely declined.)
In Feb. 2008, Barr introduced Paul at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC, telling the cheering delegates: "If there was ever, ever any doubt in my mind ... about how to vote on a particular bill, the answer was easy ... you see where Ron Paul stands on an issue, and you know that's the right place to be."
In a Mar. 26 interview on Anti-War Radio, Barr told host Scott Horton that he is "looking very seriously at" his own run for the presidency:
"There's been a tremendous amount of interest expressed both to me directly, and indirectly on the Internet. I take that support very seriously, and I think it also reflects a great deal of dissatisfaction with the current candidates and the current two-party system. So it is something, to be honest with you, that I'm looking very seriously at.
"There is a tremendous amount at stake in this upcoming election. It may very well be that if we don't get a handle on the fundamental liberties that are at stake in this election, we will not be able to again. The growth of government, the limitations on our individual liberty and freedom, are accelerating so rapidly that this may be our last opportunity to do so. .
"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"
On Apr. 1, Barr told FOX News that he would come to a decision within a few days. If he does publicly announce his decision, he added, it "would not be in either Washington or Atlanta."
The views expressed in this
article are those of George Dance only and do not represent
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A third party candidate. Interesting. I just wonder if Faux News and the other corporate owned/controlled media will give Mr. Barr airtime to say what he wants to do? Would Mr. Barr have an opportunity to debate McCain, who is obviously terrified to debate Ron Paul and the media protects him from having to do so. I seriously doubt that the media will mention much about Mr. Barr, if the treatment of Ron Paul is any indication. We no longer have a free press - except on the internet.
Good question, Gooby. The only way I can see breaking through that is through poll numbers. If he and Nader can both top 5%, for instance, they could both start demanding time in the debate.
Notice how the MSM took care of that problem wrt Dr. Paul? They simply stopped polling the Republican nomination race after Mar. 4. But they can't do that for the general election.
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