ANALYSIS

Barr Is Still Going Strong

by Neil Munro

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008


Scoffers scoff and mockers mock, but former Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia continues to campaign as the duly nominated presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party.

He was in Minneapolis-St. Paul on Tuesday and Wednesday to meet with supporters, many of whom attended the Campaign for Liberty rally organized by Barr's fellow Libertarian and former GOP presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. On Tuesday evening, as President Bush made his televised address to the convention, Barr was greeting Republican-affiliated supporters in the walkway behind the delegates' seats.

Asked about his chances, Barr cited Zogby International polls showing him potentially reaching 11 percent of the vote in New Hampshire, 10 percent in Nevada, and 8 percent in Ohio. The poll was conducted in mid-August.

GOP attitudes toward Barr, 59, are mixed. Some Republicans support him and are glad to see him push the small-government message. Others worry that Barr will siphon votes from John McCain in battleground states and flip them to Democratic nominee Barack Obama, especially in states likely to be decided by razor-thin margins.

"Bob Barr is a friend of mine; he's a good guy," said former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican. But Hastert declined to forecast Barr's November performance, instead saying, "The Democrats have the Green Party, and the Republicans have the Libertarian Party." The comparison may be telling, however, because many Democrats argue that Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate in 2000, cost them the presidency in the close Florida vote.

A Gallup national poll of 903 respondents taken August 7-10 showed that only 1 percent of voters were planning to cast their ballots for Barr. As Election Day draws close, third-party supporters tend to compromise and vote for a major-party candidate.

The Barr campaign held a fundraising dinner on Monday night in Minneapolis, and so far has collected $800,000, according to Barr. "Traditionally, and for political campaigns generally, the fundraising picks up substantially after Labor Day," Barr said in an interview.

To a great extent, Barr's voters come from the GOP, just as Nader's voters tended to come from the Democratic Party. His pitch to Republican voters is that he, not McCain, will slash the size of government and reduce foreign entanglements. McCain would continue Bush's big-government, privacy-intruding policies, Barr said.

Barr is a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia and spent eight years in Congress, from 1995 to 2003. He was defeated in the 2002 primary. He has two degrees in international studies, and once worked as an analyst for the CIA. While in Congress, Barr was one of the leaders of the House impeachment of President Clinton.

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