AP: Barr announces Libertarian White House bid

[Tesha]

Source: AP via the San Francisco Chronicle

Barr announces Libertarian White House bid

By BEN EVANS, Associated Press Writer
Monday, May 12, 2008

Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr launched a Libertarian Party
presidential bid Monday, saying voters are hungry for an
alternative to the status quo who would dramatically cut the
federal government.

His candidacy throws a wild card into the White House race
that many believe could peel away votes from Republican Sen.
John McCain given the candidates' similar positions on fiscal
policy.

Barr said he is not getting into the race to play spoiler
or to make a point.

"I've heard from Americans from all walks of life ... they
want a choice," he said at a news conference in Washington.
"They believe that America has more and better to offer
than what the current political situation is serving up
to us."

"We intend to succeed," he said.

<more>

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/12/politics/p062145D40.DTL

[autorank]

1. Good. k*r

[BOSSHOG]

2. A rather disgusting human being

but he did leave the grand old party because he hated that bush was trashing the constitution to fight terrorists.

[tblue37]

8. Yep, and he has been working with the ACLU since then. n/t

[Tesha]

13. That *IS* amusing, isn't it? (NT)

http://www.aclu.org/privacy/gen/15182prs20021125.html

http://www.aclu.org/images/restorehabeastoolkit/asset_upload_file804_31828.doc (A Word .doc file!)

Tesha

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

3. where do I donate?

[Tesha]

4. No kidding! The "Ross Perot Factor", 2008 model! (NT)

[WillyToad]

53. That was exactly my first thought.......2008 CON model

Hallelujah!!

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. I hope he has lots of followers with lots of $$$$$$

Are you watching over your shoulder, Mr. McCain?

Bwahahahahahahahaha.:rofl:

[Tesha]

19. What's the "reporting threshold" these days?

Is it contributions above $100 that are reported?
$250? Or some completely different number?

Tesha

[alfredo]

51. Ron Paul would be a good Veep for him, just to make him look handsome.

[Ian David]

6. He wants to spend less time with his family. n/t

[Tesha]

12. He's already tired of "the new model"??? (NT)

[ryanmuegge]

7. Supporter of the Patriot Act. What a rabid champion of civil liberties and freedom.

That's like running a candidate who voted for the Iraq War as the nominee of an anti-war pa....oh, wait.

[Tesha]

15. Don't forget DOMA; he was the author and one of the sponsors. (NT)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Barr#Same-sex_marriage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Barr

[Traction311]

30. He hates the UnPatriot Act

[ryanmuegge]

31. Votes speak for themselves.

[Traction311]

33. He talks about how anti-civil liberties it is every chance he gets now

I see him more as a paleo-conservative than a libertarian anyway.

[Tesha]

34. I think that ("paleo-conservative") is a fair assessment. (NT)

[deadmessengers]

43. Actually, he's one of the biggest detractors of the Patriot Act

Bob Barr has done a near 180 since he left office - working closely with the ACLU, for example. Although he was a total Repug scumbag when he was in Congress (he was my congressman for a while), some of the stuff he's done since is downright reasonable.

And besides - anyone that is likely to draw votes from John McCain is just fine by me. Now, if we can get Ron Paul in to run as an independent...

[tblue37]

9. He and Ron Paul should attract a fair number of

disenchanted libertarian voters who might otherwise vote Republican.

[leftchick]

10. here is his website

for those who want to contribute

:evilgrin:

http://www.bobbarr2008.com/?gclid=CJi6q__AoZMCFREGkgodt1MqrA

Meet Bob
Bob Barr

Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, serving as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services. He now runs a consulting firm, Liberty Strategies LLC, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices in the Washington, D.C. area.

Bob Barr chose to join the Libertarian Party because at this time in our nation’s history, it is essential to join and work with a party that is 100 percent committed to protecting liberty.

Bob Barr has served as Regional Representative of the Libertarian National Committee.

Bob Barr works tirelessly to help preserve our fundamental right to privacy and our other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Along with this, Bob is committed to helping elect leaders who will strive for smaller government, lower taxes and abundant individual freedom.

:whatever:

[swag]

11. Excellent!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

14. Great news for our side!

I have a feeling he will siphon off a lot of conservative votes that would otherwise go to the GOP. (Edited for clarity)

[IsItJustMe]

48. Yes he will. He is very against immigration. Most Repugs hate the brown people.

[kysrsoze]

57. Yeah, but too bad he still doesn't give a #&%( about your average American)

Considering it's Bob Barr we're talking about, that's not surprising. At least our civil liberties might be defended, if nothing or no one else.

[Pappy]

16. Ron Paul is still in the race

You know, Ron Paul is still campaigning and collecting money. He is hoping to play spoiler at the Republican Convention. We should all support him just because he has been such a hard to kill flea on the republican dogs back.

[progressoid]

17. I heard him on Hannity a few weeks ago threatening to do this

Hannity was NOT happy. He tried to play it down but knows this is bad for the GOP. :evilgrin:

[asthmaticeog]

18. Wheeeee!

:bounce:

[Stinky The Clown]

20. This is what .... his third announcement of this, this cycle?

I guess that's his campaign strategy ...... keep announcing. hey .... who can blame him? Its free media.

[Tesha]

22. No, this is the first "official" announcement.

The earlier ones were the usual "exploratory commitee" sort
of stuff

Tesha

[New Dawn]

50. And he still hasn't won their nomination yet

Apparently there is some opposition to him inside of the Libertarian Party, but he will probably win anyway.

[Lance_Boyle]

21. always clear the chamber, Bob

at least the weapon is pointed at your former party's foot this time.

[yellowcanine]

23. Was Barr the one who was notorious for his behavior in titty bars? Or was that Delay?

I keep getting the depraved Republicans mixed up.

[IsItJustMe]

49. I believe he was instramental in the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

[Stuart G]

60. Yet,I thinkt hat he resigned after his own affair was reveald..

Perhaps I am wrong,,,,,,,,,this article from Wikepedia says he never resigned till 2003........
Role in Clinton impeachment

Barr is best known for his role as one of the House managers during the Clinton impeachment trial. It was Barr who first introduced a resolution directing Judiciary Committee to inquire into impeachment proceedings<34> -- months before the Monica Lewinsky scandal came to light. Chief among the concerns Barr cited at the time was apparent obstruction of Justice Department investigations into Clinton campaign fundraising from foreign sources, chiefly China.<35>

In 1999, during the impeachment trial of President Clinton, Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt offered money to anyone who could provide evidence that a prominent Republican had engaged in an extramarital affair. According to the American Journalism Review, "Barr was one of 13 House Republicans chosen to act as prosecutors in Clinton's Senate trial. Barr, Flynt's investigators found, "was guilty of king-size hypocrisy": An outspoken foe of abortion, the Georgia lawmaker had acquiesced to his then-wife having an abortion in 1983. And he had invoked a legal privilege during his 1985 divorce proceeding so he could refuse to answer questions on whether he'd cheated on his second wife with the woman who is now his third."<36>


.............since leaving Congress in 2003, Barr has become a vocal opponent of the Patriot Act and has stated that he regrets voting for it, claiming that the Bush Administration has used it to further erode due process even in nonterrorism matters. He claims that the Clinton administration did much of the same thing.<30> In 2005--the year the Patriot Act was due for renewal he helped found an organization called Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, a bipartisan group dedicated to eliminating aspects of the Patriot Act that could potentially affect law-abiding citizens rather than terrorists, and to "restore traditional checks and balances on government power so the country can effectively fight terror without sacrificing the rights of innocent Americans, rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution."<37> Barr still serves as the group's chairman.

[not fooled]

67. yeah, I thought at first...

...that the shameless hypocrite was running for the nom of the "Libertine"-arian party :silly:

[ToughLuck]

24. Go Bob Barr, you are making my day..just not McCain's.. ha ha!

[McCamy Taylor]

25. Best news I have heard all day. Run, Bob, Run! He knows exactly what he is doing.

He is fed up with the NeoCons.

[McCamy Taylor]

26. I think with this, McCain is ready for butter and jam!

[IronLionZion]

27. The Libertarians have a pretty interesting lineup this year

even Mike Gravel is running there. I hope Ron Paul manages to do something effective at the RNC convention that helps us, but I wonder if may not be better if he joined the Libertarian race too.

I believe Bob Barr was for Kerry last time. This is very interesting.

[AZ Criminal JD]

29. Ron Paul can't run as a Libertarian.

Most states have "sore loser" election laws which prevent candidates who ran for an office in a party primary from running for that same office as a third party or independent.

[IronLionZion]

32. And I believe he said he wouldn't do it either.

But I hope he does something, even if he just urges his supporters to vote L.

[Pab Sungenis]

37. Were those created after John Anderson's 1980 run?

I ask because Anderson was on the ballot in every state.

[AZ Criminal JD]

46. Most of them were.

Not every state has them but most of the large states do. The Republicans and Democrats got together in these states to strangle independent runs.

[dbackjon]

38. Obviously, not in Connecticut...

[gtar100]

41. Side note: I take it Connecticut is not one of them.

n/t

[New Dawn]

42. The "sore loser" laws typically only apply for running as an independent.

[AZ Criminal JD]

45. They apply to third parties also.

[Vanje]

56. Connecticut coulda used such a law

Lieberman would be working as a consultant, or lobbyist, or something.

[Dogtown]

28. the only decent thing

he ever did for this country: may he split the Gross Old Perverts wide & deep.

[MrBlueSky]

35. Tesha... I'm not comfortable with this...

While, like you and the other commenters here who relish the idea of vote siphoning from McLame...

I cannot stand Barr...

Wasn't he one of the Clinton Impeachment Managers in 1998-99?

[Wetzelbill]

36. yes he was one of them nt

[Tesha]

58. I'm pretty comfortable with winning in November, and if Republicans have to...

...contend with their own "Nader effect", that doesn't
disapoint me at all.

Tesha

[New Dawn]

39. Barr was polling ahead of Ralph Nader in one poll

This will be an interesting election...

[Barrymores Ghost]

40. Licked whipped cream off a stripper's tits, and was part of the GOP's Ken Starr Brigade...

Go, Bob, go! This should be entertaining as all get-out.

[Deep13]

44. Guess the war's going to end soon after all. nt

[IsItJustMe]

47. K&R This is huge and damn good for the Dems.

[ToughLuck]

52. I wonder if by tommorow Rush and Hannity will be bashing Barr.

[TheCowsCameHome]

55. They won't even mention it.

Because they'll be too busy crapping themselves...............

:woohoo:

[Tesha]

59. The media doesn't kill a candidacy by speaking negatively about it.

They kill a candidacy by *IGNORING* it.

Ask Dennis Kucinich or John Edwards how that works.

Tesha

[JerseygirlCT]

54. Good. He's purely a whackadoodle. But he'll peel a few

votes from the other whackadoodle, McCain, and that can't but be a good thing!

[Freedom Train]

61. Good! If he becomes the Nader of '08

I will gladly forgive him for what he did to Bill in the 90s.

Off topic: He has a really untrustworthy look about him, don't you think? Can't quite put my finger on it, but it's there. Used car salesman or something...

[Tesha]

62. (It's the Republican still inside him.) (NT)

[otherlander]

63. THANK YOU!

:hi:

[Tesha]

64. You're welcome -- I thought it was good news too. (NT)

[AzDar]

65. Good! Split those fools right down the middle.

:patriot:

[trof]

66. YEEHAA!1! GO BARR!!11!!!

Suck up them McCain votes!
YEAH!
:bounce: