July 16, 2007 4:11 PM

Katy, Barr the door

It's too late now, but there were kind words on Monday for the first man to drop out of the Republican presidential contest, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.

"Jim Gilmore had a very solid grasp of how to make sure that we protect our civil liberties in conducting actions against terrorists."

Those kind words came from a well-known, former Republican whose name we spotted in the fine print of long-shot Rep. Ron Paul's campaign contributor lists on Monday.

So, who is it?

That depends what the definition of the word "is" is.

It's Bob Barr!

He's a member of the Libertarian National Committee now. But apparently, there's still one Republican that he likes.

And what about Bob?

He made his name as one of the best-known, rhetorical bomb-throwers of the late 20th Century -- former President Bill Clinton's loudest heckler during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

If you want the quieter version, Barr put it in writing.

But in recent years, the former congressman has been concerned about the definition of the term "Republican," too.

"I was very proud to serve in four consecutive Congress' as a Republican. I worked for many years conscientiously for the Republican Party of Georgia. The problem is, the Republican Party I felt that I represented, and that represented me as a Republican, is no longer that same party. The Republican Party I see now is not a party that believes in maximizing individual liberty and minimizing government power."

And so, Barr became a Libertarian.

He now serves as a member of the Libertarian National Committee and is the lead promoter of the cause in the southeastern United States. His political action committee, the Bob Barr Leadership Fund, has reported giving money recently to the Libertarian Parties of seven southern states.

Meanwhile, it gave $1,000 to Paul -- adding to the surprising, quarterly totals that put him ahead of the one-time GOP front-runner Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

"I always thought very highly of the consistency of his vote," Barr said of Paul in a telephone interview on Monday. He said he supported Paul for "both the consistency of his public actions as well as the very principled philosophical foundation for his public actions."

So the maverick Paul is "building currency" -- figuratively and literally, as THIS NEW STORY points out.

Barr said he knows Paul faces long odds to win the Republican contest. So, would he like to see Paul bolt the Republican ranks and run for president as a Libertarian again, just as Paul did in 1988? Barr said he can't speak for the party, but he did add:

"I'd love to see that. He's clearly the one candidate above all the others who truly believes in what I consider the core Libertarian philosophy of maximizing individual liberty an minimizing government power."

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Photo by M.E. Sprengelmeyer

POST SCRIPT: We would be remiss if we didn't give a special shout-out to former Virginia Gov. Gilmore, who was one of the first Republican presidential contenders who sat down with us for an extended interview, and later agreed to take Rocky Mountain News readers' live questions during an online chat at Rocky Talk Live with Mark Wolf.

Say what you want about Gilmore's politics, but after his live, online candidacy announcement, he became one of the more blog-friendly candidates out there. When he figures out what he's doing next, we hope he'll post the news in the COMMENTS section on this site.

Somebody on YouTube bids you farewell...

Posted by M.E. Sprengelmeyer at 4:11 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack