THE TALK

Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, said the GOP has failed to present a "new program, new leadership or vision."

"What's wrong with John McCain is symptomatic of what's wrong with the Republican Party in these first years of the 21st century," Barr said on "Fox News Sunday." "They talk one thing but do something different, and that's become very obvious to the American people."

Barr said he tends to agree with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on issues of civil liberties and with McCain, a senator from Arizona, on issues of government spending and taxation.

"Neither of these candidates is talking about the deep cuts in government spending and returning power to the people that we are," Barr said.

Asked whether he might cost McCain votes in the fall, Barr responded that the presumptive Republican nominee has lost his way. In particular, Barr cited McCain's support of the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program, which Barr said "would provide the authority for the federal government to surveil American citizens in their own country."

"This is a fundamental issue that goes to the very nature and power of our government, but nobody's really talking about it," he said.

Barr was asked about his positions as a congressman, when he voted for many of the measures and policies he now seems to oppose.

He said he regrets voting for the USA Patriot Act, and he saw his vote in favor of an act codifying marriage as between man and a woman as a proper exercise in returning the question to states.

"That's a very conservative principle reflecting the fundamental notion of states' rights in our country," he said.

-- Zachary A. Goldfarb