Libertarian Barr pesters McCain on his right flank

06/29/2008

The former Georgia congressman could be a spoiler in a few key states, but even with a Ron Paul-inspired flareup in enthusiasm, he lacks the oomph of a major campaign.


By JULIE BOSMAN,
New York Times
June 28, 2008


ATLANTA - He has been called a spoiler. A wannabe Ralph Nader. A thorn in the side of Sen. John McCain and the Republican establishment.

None of it bothers Bob Barr, the former Republican congressman from Georgia turned Libertarian Party presidential candidate, who gleefully recounted what he says a group of Republicans told him at a recent meeting in Washington: Don't run.

"'Well, gee, you might take votes from Senator McCain,'" Barr said this week, mimicking one of the complainers, as he sat sipping Coca-Cola in his plush corner office, 12 stories above Atlanta. "They all said, 'Look, we understand why you're doing this. We agree with why you're doing it. But please don't do it.'"

But with the Libertarian nomination in hand, Barr hopes to follow in the footsteps of Ross Perot and Nader, whose third-party presidential bids wreaked general-election havoc.

For one, he is hoping to hitch his wagon to the enormous grass-roots movement behind Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-minded Republican from Texas who recently abandoned his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

And with presidential elections increasingly boiling down to state-by-state battles for electoral votes, many political analysts think a Barr candidacy, no matter how marginal, could have some impact.

On the ballots in 30 states so far, Barr has the chance to be a spoiler for McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, in several states, among them Alaska, Colorado and Georgia.

The Republican Party and the McCain campaign have swatted away the Barr candidacy, but some Republicans are taking it seriously. If the early polls hold up, and Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee, pours heavy resources into Georgia, that state could be up for grabs, said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

"If Barr got 8 percent, and you've got the higher African-American turnout from Barack Obama, then you'd have a significantly close race in the state," Isakson said.

Yet Barr faces formidable obstacles. No Libertarian candidate has ever won more than 1 percent of the vote in a presidential election, and Barr is severely lacking in money, resources and name recognition. He has yet to lease a campaign headquarters, have a fundraiser, tape a television advertisement or hold a campaign event.

While libertarian philosophy generally bows to the rights of the individual -- and against government intervention -- Barr, a House member, voted for the USA Patriot Act; voted to authorize the war in Iraq in 2002; led the impeachment charge against President Bill Clinton in 1998; and introduced the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

Since joining the Libertarian Party two years ago, however, Barr has largely disavowed that record