http://www.ajc.com/r/content/news/st...ians_0526.html
Candidate from Georgia says he's not trying to be GOP 'spoiler'
Denver — Georgia's Bob Barr won a long and tense battle Sunday for the 2008 Libertarian Party's presidential nomination and now faces the daunting task of doing what no third-party candidate has done: Win in November.
It took six ballots and nearly five hours of voting at the Libertarian National Convention before the former four-term congressman defeated Texas business consultant Mary Ruwart for the party's bid.
Barr, who until 2006 was a Republican, took 54 percent of the vote after Las Vegas odds-maker Wayne Allyn Root dropped out following the fifth ballot and endorsed Barr. Delegates subsequently selected Root to be Barr's running mate.
"Y'all party today," Barr told the more than 600 delegates at the Sheraton Hotel. "I hope we celebrate, because I'm sure we'll all leave here with the strongest ticket in the history of the Libertarian Party."
Barr emphasized that only 163 days remain until the Nov. 4 general election.
"Do not waste one single day," Barr said.
In a news conference following the nominating vote, Barr's campaign manager, Russell Verney, said the candidate's headquarters would be Atlanta and that the campaign hopes to raise $30 million to battle Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain and whichever Democrat emerges with that party's nomination.
Barr, 59, said the Libertarian Party anticipates being on the ballot in at least 48 states, but work remains to be done in 20 of those to ensure access. Oklahoma and West Virginia remain obstacles, he said.
Neither Barr nor Verney would say which states they believe they can be most competitive in, but Barr said his home state should be considered in play.
"If by 'in play' you mean winning Georgia, yes, we will certainly work toward that end," Barr said. "There are already some areas in some states we are looking at prioritizing our efforts."
Both men agreed that the first steps of the campaign will be to establish the Atlanta campaign headquarters, fill out the campaign team and begin working with the national party to secure ballot access in as many states as possible.
Barr said he anticipates qualifying for the national presidential debates this fall.
Barr had to overcome the objections of many Libertarians who viewed him as an interloper and who questioned his commitment to Libertarian ideals.
Ruwart said Barr had not embraced fully the Libertarian message on key party issues, such as the legalization of all drugs or the ending of all federal taxation.
Georgia had 35 delegates at the convention, and 33 voted for Barr on all six ballots. Two went for Root.
Georgia delegate James Bell, who supported Barr, said the outcome was never certain.
"I don't take anything for granted in the Libertarian Party convention, because there's no preconceived notion of what could happen, unlike the Democrats and Republicans. It's a genuine process," Bell said.
In the end, enough delegates saw a chance with Barr to take the party to new heights.
Having someone with Barr's relatively high profile "means great things for the Libertarian Party," national party spokesman Andrew Davis said. "It means the best year the Libertarian Party has ever had in its 35-year history."
A former federal prosecutor, Barr represented the northwest suburbs of Atlanta for four terms in Congress after his election in 1994. He gained national attention for his role in President Clinton's impeachment proceedings.
In 2002, Barr left his district, moving to the district of a popular Republican colleague, Rep. John Linder. Barr challenged Linder in that year's primary and lost.
Barr announced his candidacy for the Libertarian presidential nomination just three weeks ago. On Sunday, he reiterated that he would campaign to win, not just to affect the outcome by siphoning votes from the other parties' nominees.
"I am a competitor, and I am in this to win," Barr said. "I do not view the role of the Libertarian Party as spoiler, and I have no intention of being a spoiler."
Several pollsters included Barr in recent surveys about November's general election.
Barr got 7 percent against Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, according to a poll Barr's exploratory committee commissioned from Pulse Opinion Strategies in early April. A poll by Rasmussen Reports from earlier this month showed Barr getting 6 percent nationally.
No Libertarian candidate for president has ever done that well. In 1980, Libertarian Edward Clark won 1.06 percent of the vote, and his 921,128 votes were the most ever for a Libertarian.
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