In GA., One of Clinton's Staunchest Critics Hailed as a Hero
As written in the Philadelphia Inquirer
ROME, Ga. — The hands were coming faster than the congressman could shake them—everybody from the barrel-chested man eating a baked potato to the starry-eyed waitress working the booths by the window.
"What you're doing, I think it's great," said Theresa Milam, one of the managers of the Western Sizzlin' restaurant, repeating what appeared to be the prevailing sentiment in the dining room. "Keep on with it. Keep on with it."
"Thank you," Bob Barr said, with a trace of a smile. "Thank you very much."
Barr—who turns 50 next week, two days after he is expected to win a third congressional term—has been much in the spotlight recently, as perhaps the most outspoken critic of President Clinton during the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment debate. In Washington, he has been criticized as intractable and overzealous. Even other Republicans say he may be going too far in his attempt to remove a man whom he described on the House floor as "a cancer on the presidency."
But here, in the Winn Dixies and Western Sizzlin's of northwestern Georgia's conservative Seventh Congressional District, he has begun to acquire almost heroic status -- a stocky, bespectacled defender of the right wing, willing to stand up to the Washington liberals -- and even stare down the President himself.
"I think most Americans really believe in honesty and fairness," he said after picking his way through the Western Sizzlin' crowd. "And it really irritates them when they see people having one standard applied to a high public official and another standard applied to another. And it bothers people when they see the President getting off scot-free for what... other people have been prosecuted for.
"I don't think you say it enough times that what we're talking about here is basically the rule of law in America."
His detractors point to Barr's demand for an impeachment inquiry of both Clinton and Vice President Gore last year, before the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, as a sign of political pettiness. Others accuse the media-savvy former prosecutor of grandstanding on the House floor, using the scandal to raise his own political stock. Barr denies such allegations, but there is little doubt that because of the scandal, one of the most visible and vocal members of the Republican right has become even more so.
"Of all the Republicans here in Georgia, Newt is the most powerful, but I think Barr... is sort of the point man for getting the conservative message out there," said Mike Binford, an expert in Southern politics at Georgia State University. "He's very good at picking issues that are popular in the media... This is just kind of a perfect issue for him."
And familiar, to boot.
Ten years ago, while serving as U.S. Attorney, Barr led the successful prosecution of Republican Rep. Pat Swindall, who lied to a federal grand jury about his role in a money-laundering scheme.
Barr and his supporters are fond of citing that case as a sign that he is as unbiased as he is determined.
"If anyone says this man bends his principles, there's Exhibit A right there," said David Guldenschuh, chairman of the Floyd County Republican Party. "He's been doing this a long time."
And doing it in a determinedly nonpartisan fashion, Barr insists: "I still hear from some Republicans, 'How could you do something like that, to go against a Republican member of Congress?' Well, it's simple, if you stand for the rule of law. It shouldn't have anything to do with whether you're Republican or Democrat."
Opponents say that party politics plays a big role in Barr's career.
"He's trying to talk legalese and say he's pursuing the President on constitutional grounds, but this is his own personal agenda," said Steve Anthony, executive director of the Georgia Democratic Party, who has known Barr since they chaired their respective parties in Cobb County 15 years ago.
Anthony called Barr a "hypocrite" for endorsing family values while having been through two divorces, and for claiming to look out for the best interests of his district in Congress when, Anthony said, he is actually pushing his own.
"He is in Washington for one reason: to promote the radical, right-wing agenda," he said. "I think another part of it is his own grandstanding and to promote himself."
Barr insists that his positions reflect "the way [constituents] would vote if they were up there." Supporters such as Western Sizzlin' manager Milam agree.
"We've got to have someone that's going to say these are the morals, these are the standards, this is the stand I'm going to take, this is how life is going to be, this is how God made life to be," she said.
Since taking office in 1994, Barr has established one of the most conservative voting records in the House. He opposed legislation that would have prevented those with convictions for domestic violence from owning guns, and he introduced the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents federal recognition of lesbian and gay marriages. He opposed increasing the minimum wage, endorsed declaring English the nation's official language, and voted to repeal the ban on sales of semiautomatic assault weapons.
A father of four, the Iowa-born Barr lives in the Atlanta suburb of Smyrna with his wife, Jeri. Before serving as U.S. attorney in Atlanta, the Georgetown-educated lawyer worked as an analyst with the CIA.
His father was a civil engineer, and Barr grew up living in such places as Panama, Iran and Iraq, an experience that he said continues to influence him as he tries to "hold this President accountable."
"I grew up in cultures, governmental systems where you don't have the freedoms that we have in this country," he said. "So I suppose I learned early on from living in countries where you don't have freedom and accountability and the rule of law how precious it is."
That was the message Barr brought to the monthly meeting of the Floyd County Republican Party at the Western Sizzlin', where, as he knew, he was preaching to the choir. He is expected to roll over little-known Democratic challenger Jim Williams on Tuesday. As the meeting ended, Guldenschuh, the party chairman, took the podium.
"Hey, I have the solution to the problem with the President," he said in an airy tone that set the stage for whatever joke was to follow. But before he could deliver the punchline, an anonymous voice called out: "Hang 'im!"
Laughter erupted, along with applause and a few whistles. Everyone was tickled, except the guest of honor, the diminutive, bespectacled man who might help send Bill Clinton to the political gallows.
Bob Barr didn't crack a smile.
