Bob Barr's letter to Libertarians about his potential run for US PRESIDENT

Dear friend,

I want your opinion and guidance.

What progress can a president make in four years? How about eight? Will the change be lasting?

Those are some of the questions that I wrestled with when developing my issue stances as part of my presidential exploratory committee.

I asked similar questions of myself while in Congress, especially when faced with a tough vote.

Sheer principle drives me to always take the path of liberty but it also drives me to be honest with myself to realize that sticking to principle means making lemonade when given a handful of lemons.

I'll give you a good example, which was my vote for the USA PATRIOT Act. As much it pained me, I cast an "aye" vote for the very piece of legislation that I oppose today. I could have easily voted against it and, believe me, I wanted to.

At the time of the vote, a few weeks after the attacks of September 11th, it was clear that law enforcement had a need to quickly identify and confront additional terrorists threats. There was also a need to protect our liberties in the future, long after an immediate threat had passed.

Rather than casting a no vote, I used the influence that I had with my fellow members of Congress and negotiated a sunset provision for some of the most intrusive aspects of the USA PATRIOT Act. This led to a requirement to reauthorize those provisions, which put those issues back on the table and up for debate long after I left Congress.

In a recent Newsweek article about Bob Barr, George Will wrote of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law: "If libertarian voters cost McCain the presidency, that will be condign punishment."

Since Bob formed his presidential exploratory committee, the news has been on CNN, Hannity and Colmes, C-SPAN and a variety of other programs. Please visit his website to catch up on how the mainstream media is reacting to Bob's threat to status quo politics in Washington, DC.

The same situation applies to the Defense of Marriage Act, which I authored in order to short circuit the Republican Party's powerful move to ban gay marriage on the Constitutional level. My plan worked. States maintain their rights in relation to same-sex marriage and civil unions.

In a perfect nation, the government would have no role at all in marriage. It is a private, personal contract between two consenting adults to be recognized by the church and society. . . not the state.

In a perfect nation, there would also be no personal taxes and everyone would agree to play nice and respect the privacy, property and life of another.

The pressing reality is that the perfect nation and the perfect government do not exist. It is something that lovers of liberty must fight for, step-by-step and day-by-day.

As a libertarian, I believe in maximum liberty. You should be free to live your life as you choose. You should be free to make decisions, right or wrong, in the way that you see is best for yourself and your family. That freedom should be sustained as long as you do not use force or fraud against another.

Libertarianism is a simple philosophy that balances peace and responsibility. I do believe that one day we can live under such a society. However, we have a long and rocky road ahead to get there.

That is why it is important that we always choose the path of liberty. We will be faced with blocks and hurdles but even if inching forward, we must make progress down a road to freedom.

That is why I have formed the Barr 2008 Presidential Exploratory Committee. The choices offered by the two major parties are steps away from freedom, not toward freedom.

We need a better choice for America.

In my opinion, a strong libertarian candidate is that better choice.

I ask that you help me decide on entering this race by showing your strong support for a potential presidential run.

I passionately feel that the time for real change is now and I am confident that a strong Libertarian presidential campaign will have a lasting impact for liberty in our nation.

It is up to you to show me if that is possible.

Please send me a message so that I can send them in a message of liberty in 2008.

Visit BobBarr2008.com to let your voice be heard and to make a generous donation today. Also please take advantage of the features of my web site to tell your friends and family about this effort.

I deeply appreciate your time and your support.

In Liberty,

Bob

Paid for by Barr 2008 Presidential Exploratory Committee.

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