DEL.ICIO.USLongshot Bob Barr finds receptive audience at Tech
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Bob Barr knows he won’t be the next president.
Still, the former Republican Cobb County congressman says it’s his duty to run for the White House “because if you believe in something you can never go wrong.”
Chandler Brown /CMBrown@ajc.com
Libertarian Presidential Candidate Bob Barr greets Jordan Wiener Thursday at Georgia Tech.
McCain vs. Obama:
• Full coverage: News, blogs, photosStaying informed:
• FAQ: Early votIng guide
The issues:
• McCain-Obama: Compare | Your stances: Interactive | Priorities: Rank 'em | Impact on taxes: Video
PLUS:
• Political Vent | Mike Luckovich
• Georgia Politics
• Window on Washington
Voting guide
Enter your address to create a sample ballot that compares candidates and issues.
The Libertarian presidential candidate made the comment just before taking the stage Thursday in a theater at the Georgia Tech student center. About 175 students and teachers listened intently to his 40-minute speech, which touched on themes common on the Republican and Democrat campaign trails — the Wall Street meltdown and Washington’s bailout, the real estate crisis, Social Security, gun control.
“The one responsibility that resides in the office of the presidency is to pursue, protect and expand our liberty … not expand government power,” Barr said. “It is that lack of understanding … that is a great danger to liberty in our country.”
Barr hopes to break a Libertarian Party record by getting “more than just 1 percent” in the Nov. 4 presidential election. And while some political experts say he could shake things up in battleground states like Michigan and Ohio, where he campaigned Wednesday, his event Thursday was in stark contrast to the huge rallies thrown by his more mainstream competitors, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain.
There were no metal detectors and no visible police officers. Barr arrived by chauffeured Lincoln town car with no police escort (although Georgia Tech didn’t charge him to park in the visitor’s lot).
“We’re not exactly dripping in Secret Service,” joked Steve Sinton, one of Barr’s press handlers.
In an interview before the speech, Barr said he was running to “raise the level of interest [in the Libertarian Party] and illustrate to Americans that there is a better way.”
In his speech, which drew wide applause, he addressed a variety of issues.
On McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sara Palin, calling herself a soccer mom: “I’m a soccer dad. That doesn’t make me any more qualified to be president than it does her.”
On mainstream media: “They don’t ask the right questions. And they’re not demanding answers. They don’t hold anyone accountable.”
On Wall Street: “We have a group of people who’d like us to forget that they are responsible for this mess by poor public policy. Where’s the leadership there? It’s AWOL.”
On the growing federal deficit: “You are the ones who are going to be absolutely shafted.”
Students seemed to like what they heard.
“He brought up some good points,” said Sam West, 20, a Tech junior. “He didn’t skirt around the issues.”
Said Faraz Kamili, a 19-year-old sophomore: “He’s not like other politicians who give answers that just try to make them look good. He’s a straight talker.”
Services »
