WASHINGTON, D.C. - Former Rep. Bob Barr announced Monday that he’s running for president as a Libertarian.
His candidacy could be a wild card in the White House race that many believe would hurt Republican Sen. John McCain.
“I will be a candidate for the presidency of the United States, and it is precisely to give the American people a voice, to give them a meaningful choice so that they do not have to once again go into the polling booth on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, hold their nose and pull a lever — or touch one of those magical touch-screens that seem to be so much in vogue now — and vote for the lesser of two evils. America deserves better,” Barr told reporters at his Washington, D.C., announcement.The former Georgia Republican congressman said that having spent several weeks roaming the U.S. and abroad and talking to people from all walks of life, he has heard the same complaints.
“They want a choice. They believe America has more to offer than what current political situation is serving to us,” he said.
Barr said “protecting the defense and defending the United States” is a first priority, and that would include not leaving open military bases abroad that serve no advantage. He added that overturning the status quo by bringing discretionary spending under control, limiting the size and scope of the federal government and reducing the deficit are also among his objectives.
“The status quo has given us the litany of problems that we’re all very familiar with — the debt, the deficit, the problems that we see in the economy, the trade imbalance and a whole host of problems, the occupation of Iraq. These are all children of the status quo,” he said.
Barr first must win the Libertarian nomination at the party’s national convention that begins May 22. Party officials consider him a front-runner thanks to the national profile he developed in Congress from 1995 to 2003.
Barr, 59, is likely most famous for serving as an impeachment manager against Bill Clinton. He served as a U.S. attorney before entering Congress.
Early last month, Barr announced he was forming a presidential exploratory committee to investigate whether he should run. He argued that he did not want to sit on the sidelines while the country faces a grave moral crisis.
Barr left the GOP in 2006 over what he called bloated spending and civil liberties intrusions by the Bush administration.
Since leaving office, he has maintained the political action committee he formed as a congressman. In the current two-year election cycle, he has raised more than $1.2 million, spending most of it on direct mail. His staff said the mailings are intended to spread his “message of liberty.”
Barr currently runs a lobbying and public affairs firm with offices in Atlanta and outside Washington. His clients have included the American Civil Liberties Union and the Marijuana Policy Project, a group pushing Congress to allow medical marijuana use and to cut spending for what it says are failed anti-drug media campaigns aimed at young people.
Barr also holds the 21st Century Liberties Chair for Freedom and Privacy at the American Conservative Union Foundation and is a board member of the National Rifle Association.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
