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Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr, who has some Republicans worried that he might take votes from their nominee, on Sunday accused the GOP and its standard-bearer Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) of saying one thing and doing another. “What’s wrong with John McCain is symptomatic of what’s wrong with the Republican Party in these first years of the 21st century,” said Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia. “They talk one thing but do something different, and that’s become very obvious to the American people.” When asked about his potential role as spoiler, Barr said on Fox News Sunday that, “if [Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)] wins on November 4th and Sen. McCain and I lose, it will be because he presented a vision and a platform and a candidacy to the American people that resonated with a plurality of the voters.” Despite his former party affiliation, the Libertarian candidate also said that he did not necessarily view McCain as preferable over Obama. “This is very much a mixed bag. For example, on some of the civil liberties and privacy issues with which I and the Libertarian Party are very concerned, Sen. Obama clearly is much better,” he said. “On other issues, those relating to the cost of government and government spending, while neither candidate is good, Sen. Obama clearly would favor a more expansive federal spending policy.” Barr especially took issue with the GOP’s position on government surveillance of Americans. “This is a fundamental issue that goes to the very nature and power of our government, but nobody’s really talking about it,” he said. In the interview, the former lawmaker was pushed on his own record, with host Chris Wallace pointing out that Barr had supported the Patriot Act and backed the Iraq war. “I was wrong with regard to the Patriot Act, entrusting the administration with its assurances that the act would not be used and abused,” he said. “And I certainly was wrong, along with a lot of others in the Congress, who now realize that their vote in support of military operations in Iraq was not what the administration intended. They intended to occupy the country even though they didn’t tell us or the American people that at the time.” Barr also had to answer questions about wanting to run a national campaign on a shoestring budget. However, the candidate said that his campaign is just beginning, adding that his staff includes Ross Perot’s former campaign manager, deputy campaign manager and finance director. In addition, Barr said, the Libertarian Party has “an Internet team that worked for Ron Paul,” the Texas Republican who had shocked the establishment with his online fundraising prowess in the GOP primary. |
