WASHINGTON -- Describing himself as a "proud life member" of the Libertarian party, former Republican Rep. Bob Barr announced Monday that he is running for president as a Libertarian.

Polls | CandidatesVideo | | Newsletter

"I've heard from Americans from all walks of life ... they want a choice," he said at a news conference in Washington. "They believe that America has more and better to offer than what the current political situation is serving up to us."

"We intend to succeed," he said.

In a Washington, D.C., speech on Monday, Barr took sharp aim at the Bush administration, the current crop of presidential candidates, and lawmakers in the nation's capital for ignoring what he called the principles and culture of the United States on matters of national defense, centralized power and fiscal policy.

Barr said he favored a drastic reduction in the size and scope of the federal government and promised a moritorium on all federal spending programs were he to be elected president.

He promised a return to a national defense with an emphasis on "defense," critisizing what he called an invasion of Iraq based on "perceived threats" and "speculative intelligence."

His candidacy would be a wild card in the White House race that some believe would hurt Republican Sen. John McCain.

He first must win the Libertarian nomination at the party's national convention that begins May 22. Party officials consider him a front-runner thanks to the national profile he developed as a Georgia congressman from 1995 to 2003.

Barr, 59, helped lead Bill Clinton's impeachment. He quit the Republican Party two years ago, saying he had grown disillusioned with its failure to shrink government and its willingness to scale back civil liberties in fighting terrorism.