Press Releases: Bob Barr Warns: John McCain is No Reformer and He Still Tops the Republican Ticket

Atlanta, GA - “The selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has caused Republicans to claim to be the reform party, but John McCain will still head the ticket, and he has never been anything but a representative of the politics of Washington,” observes Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee.

“Governor Palin is an attractive candidate, but her record as a reformer is far from clear,” notes Barr. “She was for the infamous bridge-to-nowhere before she was against it. She raised taxes in her small town of Wasilla, and the operating budget that she signed last year was the biggest in Alaska’s history.”

Barr says that even if Palin is genuinely committed to reform, "Sen. John McCain is not." Barr explains, "Sen. McCain has gained a reputation as a reformer by voting with Democrats to expand government and restrict liberty. Maybe that makes him a party maverick. It certainly doesn’t set him apart from most everyone else who lives and works in Washington, D.C."

“For instance, it is conventional wisdom in Washington that the people shouldn’t criticize their legislators," Barr says. "So Sen. McCain led the effort to restrict issues ads in elections."

"This is reform?" Barr asks.

“It is certainly conventional wisdom in Washington that taxes are too low," Barr says. "Surprise, surprise, Sen. McCain opposed the Bush administration tax cuts when it mattered. Now he says he is for them, but he adds that ‘everything’ would be on the table in any negotiations over Social Security, which, in Washington-speak means higher taxes. This certainly isn’t a change from politics as usual."

“In fact, it is hard to find an issue where Sen. McCain doesn’t want bigger government," Barr observes. "He supports more military spending and more military intervention abroad. He supports more environmental regulation and the draconian ‘cap and trade’ system to limit energy use. He attacks ‘speculators’ for supposedly running up oil prices. How do any of these positions differ from what many other Republicans as well as Democrats want to do?” asks Barr.

“When it comes to promoting change, there’s no contest,” argues Barr. “The Libertarian Party ticket of Bob Barr and Wayne Root easily beats Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin—and the Democratic pair, Barack Obama and Joseph Biden, as well. If the American people want better government, they need to vote against the two parties which have created the mess that we’re in and choose Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party."

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.