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Barr, 53, who led the impeachment charge against Clinton in 1998, also uses the word “squandered” to describe the former president’s legacy: “A man who was obviously very, very smart … had a tremendous potential to really do some positive things for this country, and that was all squandered.”
In a race that has their fellow Georgia GOP colleagues running for cover, Linder and Barr — philosophical twins in the arena of Republican conservatism, but polar opposites in personality — are vying for Georgia’s newly drawn 7th Congressional District. It’s a district that encompasses 35 percent of Linder’s old district, but Barr is hoping his national prominence will propel him into a victory over the media-shy Linder.
Whit Ayers, a Georgia-based GOP analyst, says Linder’s campaign aides have been spreading the word that Democratic voters will cross party lines to vote against Barr. “That’s supposed to be John Linder’s ace in the hole,” said Ayers. “That’s a mirage. That is not going to happen.”
A poll by Public Opinion Strategies has Linder ahead by 19 points, but it’s a poll that Barr calls “bogus.” Barr has outraised Linder 3-1. The primary, which has no Democratic contest, is Aug. 20.
“I was afraid you were going to ask me about this,” said Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), when asked whom he supported. “Everyone’s trying to stay hands off. We have to be very cautious.”
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) is also adamant about not choosing sides between Barr and Linder.
“No, hell no,” said Kingston, when asked if he is supporting either man. “They’re both our friends. It’s just better to be silent.”
Nevertheless, Linder insisted last week that at least two Georgia GOP lawmakers are in his corner. “More than one of them is helping me,” said Linder. “Quietly. Just take it for what it’s worth. More than one of them is helping me in a variety of ways.”
Rarely cracking a smile and so soft-spoken that one has to lean forward to hear him, Linder — tall and lanky with long facial features — says he has no real reason to worry because “I am winning.” He predicts that for “Bob to turn this race around, he’s going to go very negative.”
B.J. Van Gundy, a Georgia lobbyist in the Linder camp, insists that Barr is already running a negative campaign, but offers no evidence backing up his assertion.
“You’d swear that Hillary Clinton had dropped her Senate seat and had come out here to run against Bob Barr,” he said. “He’s running a campaign that is dishonest — that’s about as nice as I can be about it. He’s someone who needs an enemy to go after.”
But Kelly Campbell, a volunteer for the Barr campaign, believes Barr’s aggressive personality is sorely needed. “There are lots of people who are weary of people who are the quiet type,” she said, referring to Linder. “At least with Barr, you know where he stands.”
Linder says the Barr camp recently tried to spread a rumor that he had been married three times. “You know, I’m 60 years old here and you’d think I’d remember one of those other marriages,” said Linder, who has been married to the same woman for 39 years.
Barr, who in 1996 introduced the Defense of Marriage Act, which denounces same-sex marriages and defines marriage for federal benefits as the union between a man and a woman, is in his third marriage.
He says he never started the rumor.
Perhaps nothing defines the contrast between Linder and Barr as much as their attitude towards the media.
Linder, who admits he works best behind the scenes as a member of the Steering Committee and the Rules Committee, once threw one of Geraldo Rivera’s TV cameramen out of his office.
As chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) from 1996 to 1998, when he raised about $40 million for the GOP, he says he did press only because it was expected of him.
But he was ousted from his NRCC post and replaced by Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) after the Republicans lost five House seats in 1998. “I took some of the blame in that race,” said Linder. “Yeah, it was a disappointment, sure it was.”
Barr is louder, unabashed about speaking his mind, and very much at ease with the 24-hour cable talk show circuit.
“I suspect some people think we try to go out and manufacture appearances on the shows,” he said. “The fact of the matter is I do enjoy debating these issues. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t.”
He also may not be as conservative as people think, says his mother, Beatrice Barr of Manassas, Va., who wishes her son would “smile more” on TV. “He and I argue a lot because I’m more conservative than he is,” she said. “I consider him very liberal if you can imagine that.”
Sitting in the House Radio and TV Gallery, Barr — who, at 5 feet, 3 inches, is shorter than Linder — discusses his personal life with the same degree of emotion that he would use to describe his stance on global warming.
Even though Barr has been described by the Almanac of American Politics as “humorless, pessimistic and sarcastic,” he considers himself a people person.
“I enjoy people very much,” says Barr, who never smiles even through his squinty eyes once during the entire interview.
The fourth-term lawmaker says he has had to develop a thick skin over the years and no longer worries “about the fairness” of being unfairly stigmatized.
“It doesn’t faze me at all,” he says.
Barr says he was hurt when Democrats accused him of being a racist after he spoke to the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group bearing a white supremacy philosophy. He has since disassociated himself from the group.
“Being attacked in that way I would have to say was one of the more distasteful aspects of my career in public service,” he said.
Bill Schipp, a Georgia journalist and political analyst, says his “gut feeling” is that Barr will win.
“Barr is a much more appealing figure if you can imagine Barr being more appealing than someone,” said Schipp. “Barr is more appealing because he’s more sharply defined than Linder and that is a very, very, very conservative district.” |
