Former Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Barr’s record on individual liberties raises hackles among some Libertarians, but his celebrity status and embrace of some party positions could win him the party’s presidential nomination.
Barr, a Georgian who was knee-deep in the fight to impeach Bill Clinton, is among 14 candidates vying for the Libertarian presidential nomination in Denver this weekend.
In 1996, Barr wrote the Defense of Marriage Act, which said states didn’t have to recognize gay marriages performed elsewhere. He has supported the war on drugs, a battle that Libertarians believe is an assault on personal freedom.
But Barr opposes the Patriot Act, which among other things expanded government’s ability to search telephone and other records, and the war in Iraq. He shares other positions held by Libertarians, as well.
“I think he is moving in a Libertarian direction, and when he gets there he should give us a call,” said Jim Peron, who runs Laissez Faire Books, a Libertarian-oriented bookseller.
In spite of the objections of some Libertarians, Barr has a strong chance to win when the almost 1,000 delegates vote Sunday at the Sheraton Denver Hotel.
Since Republican Ron Paul ran as a Libertarian in 1988, the party has offered little-known “milquetoast” candidates strong on theory but unable to excite voters, said Jeffrey Dimit, a delegate from Goose Creek, S.C.
“I like the fact that (Barr) has elected experience in government. He is philosophically a Libertarian. He is a more credible candidate than any we have been able to get since Ron Paul,” Dimit said.
Barr’s celebrity could win over voters who would otherwise ignore a Libertarian ticket, he said.
As much as Dimit likes Barr, he is voting for Wayne Allyn Root, a Las Vegas oddsmaker who heads Root International, a motivational speaking firm, and who wrote the self-help book “The Joy of Failure.”
Root outpolled both Barr and Mike Gravel, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Alaska, at the Libertarians’ Heartland Conference, which brought together members from five states last month.
Mary Ruwart, a Libertarian activist with a Ph.D in biophysics, also has a large number of supporters, said Scott Lieberman, a radiologist and member of the Libertarian National Committee.
Ruwart is a right-to-die advocate whose sister, Martie, enlisted Jack Kevorkian, dubbed Dr. Death, to assist in her suicide.
Ruwart, who has been a Libertarian since the 1980s, said the strongest candidates are herself, Barr, Gravel and Root. She is the only one of them who isn’t a Johnny-come-lately, she said.
“They are kind of like the newly converted wanting to go preach from the pulpit,” she said.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
