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.
Devin says:
The Libertarian points of view regarding a foreign policy of noninterventionalism and personal responsibility are so simple that most everyone misses the genius of them. These points of view are not new. Our founders filled our Constitution with these ideas. It is such a shame that the Constitution is now largely ignored. Ron Paul and Bob Barr are true patriots.
Devin, you are exactly on the mark. Unfortunately, our federal government has amassed so much red tape in every aspect of life that people are unaware that things really can be THAT SIMPLE. There does not need to be a solution to FIX EVERYTHING. Our founding fathers were true Libertarians, and they created America in that view. People always discuss how great America is, and how free it is. Well, that is only because of the Libertarian base in which it was created. We are rapidly losing that.
What a joke!
Earth to jasper: George Soros is in no way affiliated wih the Libertarian Party, except in your delusional head.
Bob Barr is an egotistical has been. All his entry into the Presidential race will do is replicate Ralph Nader’s run in the Green Party. Both of them are egocentric and selfish enough to believe their own press releases. What Barr ought to do is get into the current race with McCain and help him win in such a way that he can have an effect on the reorganization of the GOP that will occur with McCain as President.
Why not? IF there was ever a prime time for a Third Party this is probably the BEST year to attempt to legitimitize a party. I agree that they, Bob Barr and Ralph Nader have NO chance to win at all, but for those of us that are fed up with the poor choices that we have had for the past 3 presidential elections this offers us an option. I used to vote not for who I really wanted to to win but it was a vote against the person I didn’t want to win! The saying running through my head was Vote for the lesser of the two evils! Well stopping to think about philosophy and you come to the conclusion Evil is still Evil lessor and otherwise! Voters need to vote FOR the person that THEY identify with. The person that shares their beliefs and their convictions. Government has become too big and the two parties are no longer the same parties that they were when they were first conceived. THe Republicans today have taken on the shape of the Democrats of the 1970’s and the Democrats have now become the Socailist Party. If you are not a member of a Special Interest Group or part of a group that hires lobbiest to go to Washington in order to buy policy, you have NO representation in Washington, and you are of NO interest to the canidates whether it be the canidate running for President or your Congress person or your member of the Senate. Tell a Canidate that you don’t want ANYTHING from Washington and they will go and look for the voter(s) that DOES WANT something so that they can make a promise to thme in order to buy thier vote. I want less government and more of my tax dollars returned to me. I want canidates that KNOW and ABIDE by the Constitution. So I say Bob Barr go for it and if you promise to uphold, to the letter the Constitution you have my vote!
Mr. Barr forget it! The American people are fed up with this whole presidential race. The Republicans might actually have a chance to win the White House. The Losertarians have no chance and neighte will you.
What would be the real purpose for entering this race? If there are scandals in your past ? If so, get them out so that we can get to the important issues facing our confused nation.
Pat Paulson for president
Wonder how much Soros will pay Bob to run?
Joe, you are right on. I just hope that Barr realizes that his entry has the chance of hurting the party he sort of represents. John McCain needs to be our next president for our sake and that of our future.