Bob Barr is new piece in electoral puzzle

Source: Christian Science Monitor

Bob Barr is new piece in electoral puzzle

The Libertarian nominee could spell trouble for McCain if Ron Paul backers defect from the GOP.
By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor


Washington - Newly minted presidential nominee Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party may not be a household name, but the former Republican congressman from Georgia has caught the attention of the GOP's most passionate wing: supporters of libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul (R) of Texas.

Though Mr. Paul is still running for president as a Republican, and scoring a fair share of votes in the late primaries – he won 16 percent in Pennsylvania – Sen. John McCain of Arizona has locked up the Republican nomination. But in the fall, Senator McCain will need all the votes he can get. And if a significant number of Paul supporters coalesce around Mr. Barr, that could spell trouble for McCain.

But that's a big "if." At the party convention in Denver last weekend, Barr won the Libertarian nomination on the sixth ballot, amid deep divisions over the direction of the party. Libertarianism centers on a belief in small, unintrusive government and puts a premium on individual liberty. As a member of Congress, Barr was known for three things: helping manage the impeachment of President Clinton, the war on drugs, and opposition to gay rights.

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Enter Ron Paul, and his vocal, generous supporters. Though national polls show only a small percentage of Republicans backing his candidacy, his fundraising has been prodigious, at more than $30 million. He maintains that he will take his nomination effort all the way to the Republican convention in Minneapolis-Saint Paul in September, but analysts believe the best he can get is a spot on the speakers' list – and, if he declines to help Barr in any way, perhaps even a prime-time speech.

So far, Paul has not spoken publicly about Barr's Libertarian nomination. And Paul's supporters are considering their options. "My heart will always be with Ron Paul, and I'll be fighting for him all the way to the National Convention," writes Frank Koch, a computer programmer from Columbus, Ohio, in an e-mail. As for his vote in November, he adds: "I'm personally leaning toward the Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin, but a large percentage of Ron Paul supporters are currently looking at Bob Barr. Voting for McCain, Hillary , or Obama is completely out of the question for all Constitution-loving activists."

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Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0529/p02s01-uspo.html

They evidently could not be bothered to check out some of his other bizarre views. I have a friend who bleeds Republican who will not vote for McCain, but just may vote for Barr.

they infested almost every message board i lurk on, even the nonpolitical ones with their carefully crafted talking points and responses...

Yee-ha!

as if the LP has been at the forefront of the anti-iraq war effort since the beginning...

And I never thought there could be a seemingly harmless-sounding Orwellian phrase worse than "peace-loving" in this day and age
-- Now "constitution-loving" takes the cake!:scared:

As much as I'd like to think that Barr will take massive numbers of votes away from McCain, it's not going to happen. The one things that the RW loonies are smart about is understanding that voting for a candidate like that causes theirs to lose. Perot in 1992 and Nader in 2000 was not lost on them.

hope our "not unless it's *MY* candidate"s are paying attention.

The measure is "a decisive number of votes," note "a massive number of votes."

Ohio and Florida, in particular, but also it could help in places like Georgia (Barr's homestate) or Missouri (a swing state, sometimes).

;-)

I would love to see Barr take as many votes as he can from Johnny.

"may not be a household name" in reference Bob Barr makes you do a double-take.

How could he NOT be one of the biggest household names around? We have such short memories as a people.

Remember when he was at some big NRA party and was handling some antique gun and accidentally fired the fucker? HAHAHAHA.