Liberty Maven

Here is an excellent interview with Bob Barr in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review dated May 17th, 2008. I naturally include the portion of the interview where Barr is asked about Ron Paul below.

Q: Ron Paul’s run as a libertarian Republican earned his ideas a lot of free media time. He attracted a surprisingly strong Internet following, especially by the young, and he raised lots of money. Did Congressman Paul’s relative success encourage you in any way?

A: It certainly encourages us. It indicates that there is a significant reservoir of both participatory and financial support for a libertarian message. I think Ron Paul provides a road map — not the only one — as how to successfully tap into those resources out there. The young people, particularly, the use of the Internet to organize and raise money I think provide very valuable lessons that we intend to use.

Q: Ron Paul’s initial success came because his stand against the war on Iraq in the early debates attracted a lot of attention to him. Nobody knew who he was, and then all of a sudden Ron Paul became a hero. Then people seemed to like his message of limited government and weaker government and lower taxes. Does that make sense to you?

A: It does. Even though the Iraq issue was one that caught people’s attention, it simply caused them to take a harder look at Ron and recognize that there actually are a number of issues that he is very adept at and very knowledgeable about, even though it was Iraq that caught their attention. His notion of the artificiality of the current economic situation; his focus, occasionally, on the massive trade deficits that we run, and the investment and borrowing from foreign nations that’s mortgaging our future and reducing our influence abroad — these are very complex, very substantive issues that Ron would talk about.I think it caused people to realize that there really was some substance and real ideas there that need to be addressed far and above just Iraq.

Q: Ron Paul is a former Libertarian Party presidential candidate (1988) and still a favorite son of the LP, I think. Is there any major difference between you and him that libertarians will find unfavorable?

A: I’m not really sure. I’m sure there are differences, but I’ll leave that up to other folks to make the comparison. Ron is a good friend of mine. I knew him very well while in Congress together and I consider him a friend and a mentor.

Read the full interview at the Pittsburgh Tribune.