A Serious Contender?
Can a conservative former congressman who helped impeach President Clinton, is a board member of the National Rifle Association and has done contract work with the ACLU dent Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid?
That’s exactly what Mr. McCain would face if Bob Barr, the former Republican who joined the Libertarian Party two years ago, wins his adopted party’s presidential nomination.
“Barr obviously is dangerous. At least he negates any possible Nader benefit,” said David Norcross, a New Jersey member of the Republican National Committee and its Rules Committee chairman, arguing Mr. Barr would hurt Republicans at least as much as Ralph Nader, who has announced his own independent presidential bid, would hurt Democrats. [...]
Seriously, if you’re having a real problem accepting McCain, Barr is worth a serious look. He has an almost perfect ACU Rating and his Positions Survey at Project Vote Smart gels a lot closer to my own opinions than McCain’s liberal Republican policies.
He’s not a confirmed candidate, yet, but is considered likely to announce his candidacy Heartland Libertarian Conference in Kansas City, Mo. That’s the kicker. He’s not a Republican and I’m not sure the Libertarian Party is a good fit for conservatives because they don’t support the WOT. Otherwise, this man is worth more than a cursory glance and he, himself, is a conservative.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Interesting, hadn’t heard that. There does seem to be a libertarian resurgence of sorts, if we consider the interest in Ron Paul. Dunno, I rather doubt Barr or
Nader will be anything but marginal….
April 4th, 2008 at 5:55 am
It’s really hard to say, BB… at least at this point. For one, the man hasn’t announced, yet, if he will at all. For another, there’s a lot of angst with McCain and if Barr is an acceptable alternative, it could spell a lot of trouble for the McCain camp, considering how complacent it is. McCain believes we have no other choice and he could care less that we have no other choice, which is why he spends little time talking about conservative issues. I believe Barr could be a lot more trouble for McCain than Nader will be for the Democrats.
It’s still early in the election cycle. If Barr goes for it, he could spell trouble for the Republican Party as a whole. They have invested heavily in McCain at the expense of their conservative base. They marginalized us. Perhaps we’ll return the favor…
April 4th, 2008 at 10:23 am
You may be right..I keep forgetting the discontent in the GOP base. Guess we will have to wait and see what Barr does and if he does, who endorses him, etc.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Only time will tell.