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05/16/08 3:05 PM
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05/16/08 3:31 PM
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05/16/08 3:38 PM
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05/16/08 3:48 PM
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05/17/08 12:23 AM
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Posts: 954
05/17/08 7:03 AM
Bob Barr rejects the label of spoiler in the 2008 presidential race, but the former Georgia congressman is likely to find that's the label that has the best chance of sticking to his nascent Libertarian bid for the White House.
The former Republican congressman from Georgia gave a spirited launch to his campaign this week in Washington and hopes to land the Libertarian Party mantle at the party's national convention in Denver next weekend.
But for Republicans in Georgia and around the country, the prospect of a Barr candidacy is being met with dread, because of what his bid could mean for the presumptive GOP nominee, and a healthy amount of derision for the sheer audacity of it.
DeKalb County Republican Party chairman Jamie Sibold is a good example of the mixed feelings Barr's campaign creates.
"I would be lying to say, 'No, he doesn't give me any pause,'" Sibold said.
But, Sibold said, he's not overly concerned. Once Barr left Congress in 2003, his media spotlight went away, Sibold said.
"He just kind of vanished from politics," Sibold said.
For Barr to get back on the national radar and make a difference in the 2008 race will take "millions of dollars, planning and some luck," said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist and presidential scholar.
"When I see the money in the bank for his campaign, then I'll believe he'll have an impact," Sabato said.
Barr has yet to have to file campaign finance forms as a candidate, but the Libertarian Party Web site reports that Barr raised $53,000 through May 5 for his exploratory committee, the first step in becoming a candidate.
The most successful third-party candidates of the past generation, Ross Perot and Ralph Nader, each spent millions in losing - but impactful - efforts. In 1992, Perot, running as an independent, spent an estimated $40 million of his own personal fortune in a campaign that many believe cost incumbent Republican President George H.W. Bush a second term, and delivering the White House to Democrat Bill Clinton.
Perot took 19 percent of the vote nationally and 13 percent in Georgia, helping Clinton to a narrow victory here.
In 2000, Nader ran as the Green Party candidate and while he raised $13.7 million, he won only 2.7 percent of the total vote. But his 97,000 votes in Florida could be seen as having made the difference as Democrat Al Gore lost that state, and the presidency, by fewer than 600 votes to Republican George W. Bush.
Barr will try and emulate another former Libertarian presidential nominee's fund-raising prowess. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who was the Libertarian nominee in 1988, is continuing his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination despite the fact that U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona has it locked up.
And while Paul made only minor electoral gains in this year's primaries and caucuses, he did prove adept at raising money, especially over the Internet. Paul has raised more than $34 million through March 31, according to the Federal Election Commission. That's more than twice the $16 million raised by Mike Huckabee, who will likely finish second to McCain in the GOP sweepstakes.
Money or not, many Republicans are not sure Barr would make a difference.
Another former Georgia congressman, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, dismissed Barr's candidacy.
"No reasonable conservative is going to vote for anybody except McCain if the alternative is Clinton or Obama," Gingrich said. "Barr is not alternative."
Tucker Eskew, a Virginia-based Republican consultant and former aide to President George W. Bush, believes McCain's reputation as an independent within the GOP ranks will insulate him from any Barr insurgency.
McCain, Eskew said, "has begun to comprehensively remind voters of his maverick tendencies, independent thought and willingness to break from the pack to get things done."
That combination of Washington experience and an outsider image limits the potential damage Barr can do, he said.
"The mood of the country suggests there'll be some 'anti' votes cast," Eskew said. "And Sen. [Barack] Obama will benefit from that. Perhaps Bob Barr can benefit from that. But I'm quite certain John McCain can and will benefit from that."
In Cobb County, which Barr represented in Congress from 1993 to 2005, Republican Sam Olens said Barr has a message that deserves to be heard. But it's McCain's message, too, the Cobb County Commission chairman said.
"The fact of the matter is Congress and the president have been spending money recklessly, and there is much need for reform," Olens said. "The limitation to Mr. Barr's argument is that Senator McCain has a real good record in many of those areas. Sen. McCain has a very solid argument that is consistent with the message Mr. Barr is presenting."
Barr disagrees. When he announced his candidacy Monday, Barr said McCain's stance against special-interest spending is "fairly a drop in the bucket."
"There are some legitimate questions that have been raised over whether Sen. McCain is simply a Johnny-come-lately to the modest tax cuts," Barr said.
Barr also made clear he's not in the race to help Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton win.
"I entered this race as a competitor from a very positive perspective," Barr said.
"Every time a candidate for one of the two major parties loses an election, they blame somebody else," Barr said. "And if there happens to have been a candidate for a third party, then that becomes the natural focus and the natural target of their whining."
Joe McCutchen, a Republican activist from Ellijay, gives McCain high marks on taxes and spending, and will cast his vote for the Arizonan because of it.
"But there are a lot of people who are disenchanted with McCain, primarily over immigration and the war," McCutchen said.
Barr's stance on immigration can safely be described as being to the right of McCain's more moderate views on what has become a defining issue for Republicans.
When asked about immigration on Monday, Barr said the country should not make life easier for illegal immigrants.
"But, you know, this notion that government owes something to people simply because they're here does not resonate with me," Barr said. "If one were running a charity called the United States of America, that would be one thing. This is not a charity. This is the people's business, running the government of the United States of America."
That view could also cost Barr, said Don Fowler, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and veteran political science instructor at the University of South Carolina.
Perot in 1992 "in his own way was a more attractive candidate," Fowler said. "Perot spoke to the real frustrations of people, and people now have a lot of the same frustrations."
Perot also "was a credible guy," Fowler said. "When he talked he was never mean and angry. He had a little bit of being pissed off and irritated, but he was funny and attractive. And Bob Barr is just mean."
And, Fowler said, Perot is a billionaire and spent millions of his own money.
Barr, should he win the Libertarian nomination, will have one advantage over Perot, Fowler said. Perot had to organize petition drives in all 50 states to gain ballot access while the Libertarian Party is already on the ballot in 28 states (including Georgia) and working to gain access to more.
05/17/08 7:16 AM
I also oppose efforts to require federal regulation of all private sales such as the transfer between a father and son or husband and wife
05/17/08 10:12 AM
05/17/08 1:00 PM
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05/17/08 8:53 PM
05/17/08 10:16 PM
05/18/08 5:32 AM
Posts: 5210
05/18/08 6:40 AM
NewsHawk
Posts: 4669
05/19/08 11:28 AM
100,000th Visitor
05/19/08 2:45 PM
Any gun control issues that come up for vote are going to be decided by Democrats, no matter who is President.
05/19/08 2:53 PM
05/19/08 2:57 PM
05/19/08 4:24 PM
05/19/08 7:53 PM
VXerick wrote: I think there could easily be a veto proof congress. I think it's entirely possible that with an Obama victory, many, many congressional seats will slide in on his coattails. We may even end up with 60 democrats in the Senate. I think conservatives are going to be hard pressed to have any issue go our way, no matter what. It's a terrible thing to contemplate.
So why help it to happen by casting a vote for a third party candidate that can not win?
Posts: 4303
05/20/08 6:33 AM
Moderator/Assoc. Editor
John Hunter wrote: The bottom line is Barr can not get elected all he can do is pull enough votes to put Osama Obama into office.
That's just it. I sure as hell don't want him running this country for the next eight years.