Former Pro-Life Republican Congressman Bob Barr Will Seek Libertarian Prez Bid 
Email this article
Printer friendly page
RSS Newsfeed
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 4, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A former pro-life Republican Congressman, Bob Barr of Georgia, will pursue the nomination of the Libertarian Party. Barr plans to announce his bid over the weekend at a regional convention of the third party and his candidacy could take away votes from GOP nominee John McCain and allow an abortion advocate to win the White House.
"I am planning to address the delegates and I will say I am not planning on wasting their time. I am planning to have something fairly significant to say," Barr told CNN.
Republican activists have already said they fear a Barr candidacy will make it easier for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to win in November.
"Sure, it will hurt [McCain]. We’ll just have to see how much," South Carolina GOP Chair Katon Dawson told the Washington Times.
Michigan GOP Chair Saul Anuzis said he thinks Barr will cost McCain votes in heavily Republican states where voters don’t worry about giving the state to one of the abortion advocates.
"But how he will do in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, the five key swing states — that’s the question," he told the newspaper.
Barr faces competition for the nomination from another party-switcher — former Alaska senator and 2008 Democratic Party presidential candidate Mike Gravel.
In a message emailed to supporters, Gravel wrote: "By and large, I have been repeatedly marginalized in both national debates and in media exposure by the Democratic leadership, which works in tandem with the corporate interests that control what we read and hear in the media."
"I look forward to advancing my presidential candidacy within the Libertarian Party, which is considerably closer to my values, my foreign policy views and my domestic views," the pro-abortion candidate said.
