Bob Barr Weighing Presidential Run
File: Former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr was an impeachment manager against President Bill Clinton in 1998. (AP video still)
Former Republican Georgia Rep. Bob Barr is considering a run for president on the Libertarian Party ticket.
Barr told FOX News on Tuesday that he should know in the next few days whether he is going to go for it.
If he does decide to make an announcement in the next few days, Barr said it “would not be in either Washington or Atlanta.“
Another source todl FOX News that the announcement should happen this weekend, probably on April 5. That is the day Barr is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Heartland Libertarian Conference in Kansas City, Mo.
Barr, who joined the Libertarian Party after leaving Congress in 2003, is looking to attract conservatives who are unhappy with the choice of John McCain as the expected Republican presidential nominee. McCain and Barr are at odds primarily over the role of U.S troops in Iraq, although both agree that tough interrogation methods should not be permitted.
FITNews, who was first to report the possible presidential bid, wrote that Barr will receive the endorsement of Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul, a GOP presidential candidate who is still technically in the race but has not suggested he would throw his support to McCain. McCain and Paul, who ran on the Libertarian Party presidential ticket in 1988, also are at odds primarily over the role of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Barr, who represented Georgia’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House from 1995-2003 and served as a House manager during impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week that he identifies closely with Paul’s outlook.
“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,” he said.
Click here to read the FITNews article on Barr’s possible run for president.
FOX News’ David M. Lewkowict contributed to this report.
The most likely scenario is that he will be “urged” not to run by the bigwigs of the Republican Party and that he will end up getting something in return. The GOP knows how close the November election will be and that if any Republican splinters off to run on his own, it will mean curtains for them. The same holds true for the Democrats.
Barr/Gravel 2008. That would be interesting.
This is outright funny.
Joe from Ohio, you nailed it. Both Barr and Nader are idiots, as is anyone who would actually vote for either of them.
Anyone has the right to run! It may not be very advantageous to the main candidates, and could tilt things adversely for those candidates - but the fact remains that anyone has the right to run!
Of course Dems want someone running that will draw votes away from the Reps - thus helping them gain the White House. And the Repubs want someone running that will draw votes away from the Dems.
Actually - I think the only person that none of the main candidates want to see running is Al Gore.
Bob Barr would make an excellent president and a person for REAL conservatives to vote for. He would get my vote. A Barr-Paul ticket would be friggin sweet as well! All these people who are simply voting for McCain because he is the lesser of 3 evils can kiss my conservative rear end. The whole election process is undermined when you don’t vote for who you truly believe in. To suggest that we MUST vote with party lines because its what the “good republicans” do is sickening!
Vote your heart!
I’m with Barr and Paul til’ the end!
Bob Barr is a spineless hack. He’s the Arianna Huffington-esque turncoat of the Republican party. Who in their right mind would vote for him again??
“Go as far right as we want to after” McCain can barely turn on his right turn signal. You ain’t ever gonna get him to do anything at all “right” once you elect him.
Does anyone here realize that no matter what, McCain cannot win? No one except hardcore Bush-Republicans (which constitute maybe 30% of the electorate) will vote for him, along with a few people who you might scare into voting for him by threatening an Obama win otherwise. But there are legions of Christian Conservatives and other mainstream conservatives who will sit out election day unless they have a real choice to vote for in November. And Songbird McCain ain’t that choice.
Ol’ Songbird is about to be Swiftboated, just watch. Once the Democrats figure out who their nominee will be, the gloves will come off and the punches will be directed right at ol’ Songbird’s puffy cheeks. Middle America will never vote for the guy.
And of course it doesn’t help him that he is right now campaigning in violation of his very own McCain-Fiengold campaign funding law. Expect that to come up soon, too.
Songbird John McCain will be exposed for what he is in the coming months, and Republicans will look back at 2008 and wonder what in the world happened, how they happened to nominate this guy who sunk their party and destroyed whatever little credibility they had left after 8 years of Bush. If the Republicans were serious about winning elections, they’d (we’d) nominate a decent candidate, not this RINO Songbird McCain.
We don’t need any late-comers to the Presidential election this year. It would only take votes away from the current Republican contender and insure a very liberal President in November. With the possibility of a liberal Congress as well, it would devastate the country.
We need a conservative President and Congress in order to bring the war in Iraq to a successful conclusion and to steady our economy.
We’d be better off with Bob Barr seated at a bar with his favorite beverage until the elections are over.