Pat Dollard | Young Americans

It’s called: “How do I keep myself famous and earning money from that?” With a little old fashioned ego thrown in.

WASHINGTON (AP)—Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr launched a Libertarian Party presidential bid Monday, saying voters are hungry for an alternative to the status quo who would dramatically cut the federal government.

His candidacy throws a wild card into the White House race that many believe could peel away votes from Republican Sen. John McCain given the candidates’ similar positions on fiscal policy.

Barr said he is not getting into the race to play spoiler or to make a point.

“I’ve heard from Americans from all walks of life … they want a choice,” he said at a news conference. “They believe that America has more and better to offer than what the current political situation is serving up to us.”

“We intend to succeed,” 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 as a Georgia congressman from 1995 to 2003.

If he wins the White House, he said he would immediately freeze discretionary spending. He also would begin withdrawing troops from Iraq and consider slashing spending at federal agencies such as the departments of education and commerce—as well as at overseas military bases.

Barr, 59, quit the Republican Party two years ago, saying he had grown disillusioned with its failure to shrink government and its willingness to scale back civil liberties in fighting terrorism.

The Swamp:

by Frank James

Bob Barr, the former Republican congressman made it official today. He’s running for the White House, aiming for the Liberterian Party’s nomination.

Barr, a former federal prosecutor, is probably best remembered as one of the leaders of the Republican House’s impeachment efforts against the President Bill Clinton for committing perjury during a grand jury investigation of the president’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

The former Georgia congressman has written off his old party, however. He’s been a critic of the Bush Administration over what he has seen as violations of constitutionally protected civil liberties as it pursues the war of terror.

As a believer in small-government, he has rebuked the present administration for the growth of the government on its watch, as well as the expanding deficit-spending and borrowing from abroad to finance the government’s expenditures.

What’s more, he has been very upset by Bush’s Iraq invasion which he views as an example of the dangers that can result from an overly large, aggressive federal government.

At his Washington press conference this morning, he offered his candidacy because he won’t be the “status quo” candidate or the “lesser of two evils.” He senses Americans want someone “who will stand up to the forces here in Washington, somebody who is not a part of that fraternity that has given us the crop of current candidates. Somebody who will stand up as precious few presidents have to the powers in Washington who want more, more, more and say no.”

So why does Barr matter? It matters because some Republicans believe Barr could siphon votes away from Sen. John McCain and have the same effect on him in a close election that Ralph Nader had on former Vice President AL Gore in 2000.

Barr said some Republicans have approached him, asking him not to run, saying “that would upset the applecart.”

“That;s exactly the point… If Sen. McCain at the end of the day… does not succeed in winning the presidency, it will be not because of Bob Barr not because of Sen. Obama, it will be because Sen. McCain did not present and his party did not present a vision, an agenda, a platform and a series of programs that actually resonanted with the American people. And it also be because their candidate didn’t resonate positively with the American people.”