Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr officially announced his campaign for President of the United States today. Barr is a former Representative from the 7th district of Georgia who is running as a candidate for the Libertarian party.

Speaking today at a press conference in Washington Barr said:

“I’ve heard from Americans from all walks of life… they want a choice. They believe that America has more and better to offer than what the current political situation is serving up to us.

The status quo has given us the litany of problems that we’re all very familiar with. The debt, the deficit, the problems we see in the economy, the trade imbalance, and the occupation of Iraq. These are all children of the status quo.

I will be a candidate precisely to give the American people a voice and give them a meaningful choice so that they do not have to vote for the lesser of two evils.

American voters deserve better.“

While his campaign, much like Ralph Nader’s, may not make much of a splash in the political water, this could produce some problems for John McCain. McCain is clearly left of his party and the majority of the hardcore GOP base, so Barr would likely appeal to those voters who really are not interested in supporting McCain.

There is a piece in The Washington Times today that talks about the GOP being worried with a Barr candidacy.

But Republicans, both publicly and behind the scenes, are saying that a Barr run could hurt him financially and sink Mr. McCain’s Republican candidacy in the general election, likely against Sen. Barack Obama.

This goes back to my original point, which is that Barr can take away money and support from McCain, because Barr in all reality parallels more of the GOP base that currently don’t like the idea of supporting McCain.

GOP presidential campaign pollster John McLaughlin told The Washington Times in March that if Mr. Barr runs, the Democrats will benefit because he “takes more points from us than Nader takes from them.”

On another note, I am also interested to see if Bob Barr can somehow wrestle some of the support away from Ron Paul.

Either way, Bob Barr is likely to gain enough support and money to keep him in the race and possibly siphon that 3-4% away from McCain, which is exactly what the GOP is fearing right about now.

I may just have to send Bob Barr a few dollars.