MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS Aug. 20 — Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., the firebrand conservative who was one of the leaders of the effort to impeach President Bill Clinton, lost his seat in Congress on Tuesday, falling to a lower-profile colleague in a primary pitting fellow Republican incumbents. Meanwhile, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, who suggested that President Bush knew about the Sept. 11 attacks in advance, fell to her challenger in a Democratic primary. BARR, A FIXTURE on television news who was seeking reelection to a fifth term, was best known for being the first House member to call for Clinton’s impeachment in 1998. But this time, he was matched against six-term Republican Rep. John Linder, an influential member of the Rules Committee who is a favorite of the party’s leadership. Linder won easily, taking 66 percent to Barr’s 34 percent, with 91 percent of precincts reporting. He is expected to be re-elected easily in November in the heavily Republican district, which arches through several suburban counties north of Atlanta. Although the race turned nasty near the end, Barr was gracious Tuesday night, going across the street to Linder’s headquarters to concede.

“We’re just here this evening to congratulate John Linder for having run a very good race,” he said. “We go into the fall race very much a united party.” The battle of incumbents for the same House seat came about when Georgia’s Democratic-controlled legislature redrew the state’s political map to incorporate additional seats. The race presented a stark contrast: Both men backed tax cuts, gun rights and a ban on abortion, but they could not be more different in style. Linder, 59, has eschewed the bright lights favored by Barr, 53, focusing on issues like replacing the income tax with a national sales tax and helping plot Republican strategy. Linder, a former dentist and businessman who once served as adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, was considered more palatable to the bluebloods in the redrawn district. ‘WE UNITED THIS DISTRICT’

In the state’s other high-profile primary, McKinney faced former state judge Denise Majette, a political novice who attacked McKinney for accepting contributions from donors who had been questioned by the FBI about possible links to terrorist groups. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Majette beat McKinney handily, 58 percent to 42 percent. “We united this district,” Majette said. “My opponent had divided it for 10 long years.” Even before she won, Majette was dancing at campaign headquarters. Standing on a platform so she could see over the podium, the diminutive candidate told cheering supporters: “I may only be 5-foot-1, but tonight I am 10 feet tall.” McKinney offered only tepid support for Majette in the general election, saying she “will need our prayers to face the coming storm.” She also blamed her loss on “massive Republican crossover” voting, which is allowed under Georgia’s open primary system. “It looks like the Republicans wanted to beat me more than the Democrats wanted to keep me,” said McKinney, who was seeking a sixth term.

McKinney, 47, drew most of her campaign funds from out of state, including money from pro-Arab groups. Among those endorsing her were the Rev. Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. Jewish groups, meanwhile, helped fund the campaign of Majette, 46, which drew support from thousands of Republicans who jumped ship to vote in the Democratic primary. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that voters in McKinney’s district had received recorded anonymous telephone calls urging Republicans not to vote in the Democratic primary, implying falsely that to do so would be illegal. The newspaper said the Georgia secretary of state’s office opened an inquiry to determine who placed the calls. The secretary of state and the U.S. Justice Department sent observers to monitor voting in the McKinney-Majette contest. The race echoed the Alabama primary earlier this year that cost Democratic Rep. Earl Hilliard his job. Hilliard drew support from Arab groups after supporting a Palestinian state, while his opponent, Artur Davis, had the backing of pro-Israel groups. In an interview with a Berkeley, Calif., radio station earlier this year, McKinney said: “What did this administration know, and when did it know it, about the events of September 11th? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? ... What do they have to hide

McKinney also said she would have accepted a Saudi prince’s $10 million check for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. New York officials rejected the check after the prince suggested that U.S. policies toward the Middle East were partly to blame for the attacks.

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2002

Answers

I'm glad they're both out. I've always said that Clinton was very lucky with respect to the brains of some of his opponents, and Bob Barr is a case in point.

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2002