Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr appeared on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report last night.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution highlighted this exchange:
“What’s the difference between you and Ralph Nader other than you apparently own a comb?” Colbert asked, referencing the perennial third-party candidate who is running again as an independent.
“And the mustache,” the whiskered Barr offered right back.
“Were you afraid the government might make you register that thing?” Colbert asked. “‘Cause it’s a lady-killer.”
Robert Stacy McCain — who worked for Barr’s nomination in Denver — offered his take on Barr’s Colbert appearance in the American Spectator, highlighting the following passage:
Libertarians “are a big swing vote this time because Americans are finally realizing, at long last, that the current two-party system, the Democrats and the Republicans, have failed and failed miserably, and will simply give them more of the same,” Barr said.
“A lot of people, particularly a lot of younger people, are completely fed up with the system, they’ve seen the corruption of the system that has given us bigger government no matter which party’s in charge, they see the future as fairly bleak under the current system, and they’re ready to vote Libertarian for the first time,” said Barr, the four-term Georgia congressman who left the Republicans for the Libertarian Party in 2006.
Dave Weigel of Reason had the following observation:
I was struck by how much he returned to the theme of “third parties,” generally, relative to how much he talked about Libertarianism. There’s a clear reason for this. There is, indeed, a high-information slice of the electorate that simply hates the parties. Some of them voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 and 2004. Some of them voted for Ron Paul this year. Some of them were praying for Michael Bloomberg to jump into this race. They care about the issues, kind of, sort of. But they think the two-party system is at fault for so many problems that it needs to be ended before said problems can be solved.
For those who missed it, last night’s Colbert Report re-airs tonight at 8:30, Eastern.
Really, I don’t think it was that big of a deal. He was just kind of making political small talk with Colbert.
One doesnt need a 20-year long memory, just a knowledge of basic facts about the party you’re representing. If a reported asked Bush who was the nominee in 1976 and he didnt answer,he’d get creamed.
The quote here insinuates that he thinks he’s the ONLY good LP presidential candidate yet. Not the best, the ONLY GOOD ONE. I see alot of Browne and Paul followers being pissed.
I don’t see this as a slam on Paul. Nobody has a 20-year long political memory in these sad days, not even me, who watched the Bush-Dukakis debates on TV at the age of 4
GE,
Im going to try to find a transcript or video.
http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?episodeId=170987
bam
I missed the show, Trent. Is that a direct quote? If so, that’s HORRIBLE.
Spoken like a true Republican.
I thought Barr’s most interesting statement was when Colbert asked “why havent they voted Libertarian before?” and Barr answered, “There hasnt been a good candidate”.
Meanwhile, Barr is aiming to collect the Paul-vote, and just insulted 1988 Libertarian Presidential candidate—Ron Paul.
I think it’s pretty weak for a candidate for the presidency not to have this issue sorted out yet.
I just came across this in a press release by the Barr Campaign dated 6/5/08:
Thirty years ago this week California voters passed Proposition 13, “inspiring an entire generation of advocates of individual liberty and limited government,” notes Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president. It was a true people’s revolt against the entire political establishment—politicians, lobbyists, interest groups, and unions.
“We need a similar popular revolt today,” says Barr. Tax Freedom Day wasn’t until April 23 this year, meaning that on average Americans spent almost four months just to pay their taxes. That isn’t the end of the burden: “it also took six billion hours to comply with Uncle Sam’s dictates,” notes Barr.
“We must both reduce and simplify taxes,” he adds. That could mean replacing the income tax with a consumption tax. It could mean a low, flat income tax. But, he emphasizes, “the bottom line is that taxes are too high and too complex. It’s time for Americans to say that they are mad and aren’t going to take it anymore, just like they did in California three decades ago.”
This underscores that Barr has not yet decided exactly how he wants to approach our tax system; however, it also seems that he’s open to a number of different ideas. I remember reading that he was not entirely sold on the flat tax but this makes that crystal clear now.
I found it very disappointing. ONCE AGAIN, Barr refuses a golden opportunity to say he was wrong, his antilibertarian votes (patriot
act, DOMA, flag burning amendment) were wrong, and he’s seen the light. Instead, he talks about how libertarian-leaning republicans and
good conservatives have been left by the Republican Party and how the *awful* things he supported have ‘been taken too far; particularly
after 9/11’. They were TOO FAR *well before* 9/11.
Barr is still campaigning as a ‘libertarian-leaning Republican’ and a ‘true conservative’, which I find extremely disappointing. He blew a
golden opportunity to connect with actual libertarians.
Oh, yes, and the icing on the cake is that he basically said that Libertarians don’t vote Libertarian because they’ve never had him to
vote for in the past. Yes, we were all breathlessly awaiting the coming of the ‘libertarian-leaning’ Bob Barr to vote Libertarian. As if!
He’s come very close to losing any chance of getting my vote. I do always vote for Libertarians, and I am not convinced Barr *is* one.