Bob Barr - Too Busy For Voters?

"A senator's attention span is probably less than an average juror's, so we'll need to simplify, simplify, simplify." -A statement made by Barr in regards to the Senate preparation for the Clinton impeachment trial.

May 12, 2008

Bob Barr to Run for President

Former Rep. Bob Barr, famous in part for having played a key role in former President Bill Clinton's impeachment, has officially announced his plans to run for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination.

Barr left the Republican Party in 2006.  In an interview last year, he said he'd made that decision in part because of his differences with the Bush administration on civil liberties.  The Libertarian Party, Barr said, "is the only [party] that is true to my core philosophy of working to minimize government power and maximize individual liberty."

Barr isn't guaranteed the nomination, which will be voted on at a party convention later this month. According to the convention Web site, 14 other candidates -- including former Sen. Mike Gravel, who has also been running for the Democratic nomination -- will be vying for the nod.

The party says it has ballot access in 28 states already, and Barr would obviously bring a little more name recognition to it.  Most observers have seen a potential Barr run as bad news for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.   In 2004, the Libertarian candidate finished fourth, with less than 1 percent of the vote.

In other Libertarian-related news, supporters of Rep. Ron Paul's presidential campaign are still at it.  The Los Angeles Times' Top of the Ticket blog reports that "largely under the radar of most people, the forces of Rep. Ron Paul have been organizing across the country to stage an embarrassing public revolt against Sen. John McCain when Republicans gather for their national convention in Minnesota at the beginning of September."

Barr - too busy for voters?

Excerts from a news story by Mark Sherman and Rebecca Carr, Cox News Service

While Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) was working to rid Washington of Bill Clinton, 2,000 jobs
were slipping out of his district in Marietta.

Lockheed Martin Corp.'s recent announcements of job cuts at its giant Marietta facility point to the potential peril for elected officials when bad economic news hits home....

......Some of the conservative Republican's critics, mainly Democrats, predicted the reductions would hurt Barr in next year's election.

The congressman's constituents would have been better served, Barr's critics argue, had he worked harder on an issue of utmost importance to his district, such as Lockheed, and focused less intently on Clinton's impeachment, opposition to gun control, keeping witches off military bases and other national issues.

"When something goes awry in his back yard, people say, 'Why in the world is he spending his time on this impeachment when we're losing our jobs?' " said Tom O'Donnell, a Democratic consultant and former political director of House Democrats' campaign committee. "They say, 'This guy is not looking out for us.' " ..........

...........Barr is well aware of the political stakes over his responsiveness to constituents. 

Soon after the House Armed Services Committee voted last month for four C-130J cargo planes, two more than the Senate supported and good news for Lockheed, Barr sent out a press release heralding his work on the deal, though he's not on the panel.

And when news of the layoffs hit, Barr quickly issued a statement blaming the Clinton administration, saying its "lack of concern" for the transport plane program had resulted in "a production slowdown and a work force reduction."  (even though it was the Republican congress who voted NOT to buy the planes) ...............

...............As for the contention that he spends too much time working against gun control,  gay marriage and the president, Barr said, "These are issues that I hear about from my constituents all the time."

Republican political consultant Tom Perdue agreed that in Georgia's 7th District, Barr's outspoken stands "would only help him." ...........

.............Moreover, Barr said, his constituents and the machinists' union that represents the workers in Marietta are aware of his role in trying to wangle more money for the C-130J program.

But Larry Gable, vice president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, has a different view of the incumbent's effectiveness.

"He hasn't done anything, nowhere near what Congressman (Buddy) Darden did when he was in office," Gable said, referring to Barr's Democratic predecessor.

Gable's comments encapsulate the potential case against Barr.

Elected officials who are perceived as being out of touch with their districts face tough fights to stay in office, particularly when such basic pocketbook issues are in play.

Newt Gingrich barely escaped the wrath of striking Eastern Airlines employees in 1990, winning re-election in his old district south and west of Atlanta by fewer than 1,000 votes.

Gingrich's refusal to call for federal mediation in that strike was an issue Democratic opponent David Worley used in trying to make the case that Gingrich's hunger for national attention came at the expense of his constituents.

A relieved Gingrich pledged to come home more often after that election, but he never ran in that district again, moving in 1992 into a newly drawn district north of Atlanta.

Worley, now chairman of the state Democratic Party, said he sees similarities between his race and the situation facing Barr.

"Barr has been off working on other things, and he has shown throughout his career that he doesn't really care about Lockheed," Worley said.