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AAI in the News

Barr is Still Open

Newsday
Posted on Thursday September 2, 2004

Former Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, a staunch conservative Republican, suggested yesterday that his concern over civil liberties issues raised in the Patriot Act might lead him to vote for a candidate other than President George W. Bush in November.

“To me it’s the most important issue on which I will be basing my vote in this election,” Barr said at a forum about the controversial anti-terrorism law. The forum was sponsored jointly by the Arab American Institute and the American Conservative Union.

When pressed, Barr would not say he was voting for Democrat John Kerry, but said he’d been following Kerry’s positions on the law and found the Democrat’s expression of reservations about it to be positive. “I would consider voting for any of the candidates based on this issue alone,” Barr said.

Along with Bush and Kerry, Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik is also a candidate for president on Georgia’s ballot.

Barr said that besides his concern about the law itself, he is upset at the Bush administration’s refusal to agree to a review or revisions.

“The administration will not tolerate or consider any limitation whatsoever to the Patriot Act,” he complained.

Barr, who has libertarian leanings, has been crusading against the law – often teaming with the liberal ACLU. He first gained national attention as a key congressional figure in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.