Bob Barr Presidential Campaign, 2008 - Early Stages

Early Stages

On March 19, 2008, Barr confirmed his interest in running for president. This coincided with the media acknowledging a movement on Facebook encouraging the former Congressman to begin a campaign. Barr talked about a widespread "dissatisfaction with the candidates for the two major parties" but complimented presidential candidate and Republican Congressman Ron Paul for "advocat libertarian and true conservative principles". Pollster John Zogby commented that a possible Barr candidacy would be potentially upsetting for Republicans, and described his possible supporters as individuals who saw him "as a consistent libertarian who opposed the PATRIOT Act, budget deficits and gun control." Later in the month, Barr stated that he was "looking very seriously at" a presidential run.

Barr launched an exploratory committee and created a campaign website on April 5, 2008. Within two days, the committee reported that $25,000 had been contributed. Russ Verney, who had served as an adviser to Ross Perot in the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections, joined the campaign as a volunteer adviser and worked with Barr's consulting firm, Liberty Strategies LLC, to form a campaign team and build an organization. Verney became the campaign manager after Barr officially announced his candidacy. A poll in late April by Barr's exploratory committee showed that Barr had the support of 7% of the electorate before he had officially declared his candidacy. Leading up to Barr's announcement, columnist George Will wrote an article in Newsweek chronicling the Libertarian Party and the potential candidate's run. Will stated that Barr could have an effect on the election similar to Ralph Nader's in 2000. He described the potential effect as a "condign punishment" for presumptive Republican Party nominee John McCain for his co-sponsorship of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, which Barr opposed.