Former Republican Senator Bob Barr once whole-heartedly supported the Defense of Marriage Act. Now that he's running for President on the Libertarian ticket, however, he's had a change of heart.

In a recent interview, Barr, who served in Congress from 1995-2003, delineated between two sections of DOMA: a full faith and credit clause that protects the rights of each state to implement its own definition of marriage, and a section that defines marriage as only between one man and one woman under federal law.

“This [second part] was intended to apply to federal programs, such as survivor benefits, Social Security [and others],” he said.

Barr said it is the second part of DOMA he would work to repeal if elected president.

“Over the years and over the last year since I’ve been more active in the Libertarian Party, I’ve talked with a number of individuals, including members of Outright Libertarians [a gay Libertarian group], and have come to view the second part as having been used as a club, or the tail wagging the dog,” Barr said. “It has become in effect a national definition of marriage. This is not what I intended.”

That's what he wants us to believe, of course. Some more cynical citizens claim the Outright Libertarians twisted his arm toward a more inclusive policy. Barr's running mate, Wayne Allyn Root, insisted to us that wasn't the case.

The gays simply adore Barack Obama!

That's what a new Harris Poll indicates, at least, with a vast majority of the lavender set throwing their weight behind the Democratic presidential hopeful:

Among LGBT adults, 60 percent favor Obama while 14 percent favor McCain.

Three percent of LGBT adults favor [Libertarian Bob] Barr, while 1 percent choose Nader. Six percent choose "other," while 17 percent of all LGBT voters are not yet sure which candidate to support — comparable to the general population.

The survey also shows that Obama has a a slight lead on McCain among the general population: 44-to-35.

Wayne Allyn Root isn't your typical politician.

In fact, Root would probably reject to being called a politician, unless it's - to use two of his own terms - as "the anti-politician" or "a citizen politician." While that may be true, as the Libertarian Party's vice-presidential nominee, Root and his running mate Bob Barr are hoping to make a political splash.

The duo, both of whom were once Republicans, most likely won't win the White House, but most observers agree that their ticket threatens John McCain's candidacy, becoming this year's Ralph Nader. Root bristles at such talk, insisting he's in it to win it - and to set the dominant parties straight.

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Bob Barr obviously believes in selective memory.

The Libertarian presidential nominee told voters last week that he opposes the Defense of Marriage Act, a piece of legislation he wrote while the Republican Governor of Georgia. The turnaround garnered him some praise and gave Libertarian voters hope that their candidate would fight for their free-wheeling, states rights values. Too bad Barr doesn't really buy what he's selling.

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The Libertarian Party wrapped up their largely ignored nomination process this weekend with former Republican Bob Barr taking the top spot. Barr beat out another party freshman, ex-Democrat Mike Gravel.

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Mike Gravel may have some competition! The presidential candidate, who yesterday ditched the Democrats for the Libertarian party, will now have to face off against former Congressman Bob Barr.

Georgian-based Barr told voters that he's "very seriously considering" throwing his name into the ring:

There’s been a tremendous expressed to me both directly and indirectly on the Internet. I take that support very seriously, and I think it also reflects a great deal of dissatisfaction with the current candidates and the current two-party system. So it is something, to be honest with you, that I’m looking very seriously at.

The move's a bit of a queer decision for former Republican Barr…

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Staunch republican and former Congressman Bob Barr penned a letter in today's Wall Street Journal calling for our government to repeal everyone's favorite discriminatory policy, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".

In addition to highlighting the policy's money wasting, talent trashing aspects, Georgia-born Barr - who admits he's not the biggest gay activist this side of the political divide - takes some time to dig into his political peers, particularly the presidential candidates:

Last week's forum of 10 Republican presidential hopefuls offered the country some troubling insight into the thinking of leading GOP candidates. In particular, the five who responded to questions about the Clinton-era "don't ask, don't tell" policy governing military service by gays and lesbians showed a disturbing move away from conservative principles, in favor of what smells strongly of political expediency or timidity.
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Republican presidential candidates left me — and I suspect many others — questioning whether those candidates really even understood the issue, or were simply pandering to the perceived "conservative base." The fact is, equal treatment of gay and lesbian service members is about as conservative a position as one cares to articulate.

Barr goes on to explain what good conservatives know - Don't Ask, Don't Tell's a disgusting invasion of privacy. If the GOP wants to keep the government out of people's personal lives, they should abandon the policy all together.

Don't you hate when conservatives make sense?