Comments on: World’s most widely read libertarian Web site condemns Barr, Libertarian Party

By: JimDavidson

JimDavidson — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:50:18 +0000

Richard Winger continues to be ballot access for LP and hard cheese for anyone else. Charles Jay is going to be a registered write-in in many states, and DC as well. And if the DC people don’t count our votes, we’re prepared to take action, too. But probably not with Ballot Access News on our side, huh?

By: Peter Orvetti

Peter Orvetti — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:27:48 +0000

I am predicting right now that Bob Barr will not get 1%, nor 1,000,000 votes (about 0.8% of the likely turnout). When the election gets closer, I’ll predict vote totals for all the bigger names we discuss here, but as of today I’d peg Barr at about 600,000, if that.

The Barr campaign should not be compared to past LP campaigns. What it most resembles is the Buchanan 2000 Reform Party campaign. It started off strong, got a lot of attention, but then divided the party. The strategy was to reach 15% in polls and get into debates, where the candidate expected to be able to outshine the major party nominees. Instead, the poll numbers got worse and worse, media interest dried up, and the ticket got 448,895 votes, or 0.43%.

By: Peter Orvetti

Peter Orvetti — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:16:51 +0000

While Patrick Mara, who defeated Carol Schwartz in the D.C. GOP city council primary, is in many ways a traditional pro-biz Republican, he is also a homeschooling parent. I will be happy to vote for him. But he’ll probably lose.

By: Doob

Doob — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 06:22:18 +0000

mscrib, are you a Republican mole just trying to incite even more anger here?

You’re an idiot.

By: mscrib

mscrib — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:29:51 +0000

By the way, is it just me or is Campaign for Liberty starting to seem like a bigger, better funded Downsize D.C.-like scam/money pit/amateur hour?

Man, libertarians can be a bunch of gullible rubes when you start talking about abolishing departments of government overnight and bringing back the gold standard (oh, and hating Mexicans, apparently)…

By: mscrib

mscrib — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:23:45 +0000

I still think he can beat Ed Clark’s percentage. However, this may cost Barr real votes (not just nerdy activist types). I can’t vote for Baldwin or any of these other guys because I still am “pro-choice on everything” (women’s privacy and reproductive rights included). I think a lot of people are in the same boat.

****

I’m not expecting much out of the DCBEE either. I was hoping to be able to at least vote for one winning candidate–Carol–this time around, but that probably won’t even happen.

By: Peter Orvetti

Peter Orvetti — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:29:51 +0000

I almost always end up writing in a candidate for something in D.C., and I don’t really expect them to count it. After their Florida 2000-like handling of this week’s local primaries, I’m not sure they really count votes here at all.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/10/AR2008091000716.html

By: Trent Hill

Trent Hill — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:31:28 +0000

Trust me, after today–Barr will not be breaking any records.

By: mscrib

mscrib — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:17:51 +0000

From the reports I have read and heard from people in attendance, the Ron Paul staff/supporters displayed some of the most amatuerish political behavior in recent memory at his press conference (like harassing LP staffers and disrupting Barr’s press conference). Bob Barr and the LP are correct that RP and the joke that refers to itself as “Campaign for Liberty” are splintering the libertarian movement by refusing to take a stand in the election, other than vaguely urging supporters to vote third party. The LP is a political party. The LP supports Libertarians on the ballot, not “anyone but the Big Two.” Ron Paul and his creepy personality cult deserve to be taken to task for their general ineptness.

This is not to say that I wouldn’t have handled the Bob Barr competing press conference differently, but Ron Paul and his worshipers are more in the wrong on this issue than Barr and the LP.

People with a pragmatic, incrementalist, real-world view on libertarian politics need to vote for libertarian-ish Barr in November (not socialist Cynthia or Moral Majority Chuck or [insert here] Nader). 2008 could be the best year an LP presidential candidate has ever seen, which could, long-run, benefit LP down-ticket candidates, the party and the movement long after Barr is out of the picture. While I certainly have major disagreements with the Barr campaign (although fewer than I have with RP and his supporters), I still plan to write in Barr on my D.C. ballot.

By: G.E.

G.E. — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:58:27 +0000

So, DC voters, if you want your vote to be tallied, Barr is the choice.

People with integrity do not want to vote for your candidate, Richard.

By: richardwinger

richardwinger — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:08:23 +0000

Ironically, the Turner federal court decision (saying the US Constitution requires that valid votes be counted), which said that congress could not cut off funds to count votes for the marijuana initiative, is a useful precedent for getting valid write-ins counted. So Barr, by his amendment in the 1990′s, inadvertently helped election law!

By: tonywall

tonywall — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:00:37 +0000

It’s too bad Mr. Barr didn’t do the same for the medical marijuana ballot initiative in D.C. in the late 90′s.

By: richardwinger

richardwinger — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:47:57 +0000

Bob Barr will be a declared write-in candidate for president in D.C., but Charles Jay, Ron Paul, and George Phillies probably won’t be. Although DC has a bad habit of refusing to tally the votes even for declared write-in candidates, which is in violation of a court order from 1975 from a DC superior court (the Kamins case). I expect the Barr campaign to force DC to count his write-in votes. So, DC voters, if you want your vote to be tallied, Barr is the choice.

By: amyb31416

amyb31416 — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:47:52 +0000

Barr lost my vote yesterday, I’ll now vote against Barr, McCain and Obama–unless the LP replaces Barr/Root, hopefully with Ruwart/Kubby?

Barr single-handedly destroyed the best chance the LP had to get future ballot access, for that reason, I started a petition to have him removed: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/RemoveBobBar/

Please sign and promote if you agree. Thanks.

By: johncjackson

johncjackson — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:13:11 +0000

Principled non-voter here.

By: Peter Orvetti

Peter Orvetti — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:36:04 +0000

I will probably write in either Charles Jay, Ron Paul, George Phillies, or Mary Ruwart. I live in D.C., so my three electoral votes are a Dem lock anyway, and the LP ticket is not on the ballot.

By: darolew

darolew — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:58:18 +0000

“Whatâ€™s a Ron Paul supporter to do this November?”

I share that sentiment.

There are no candidates on my ballot who I feel represent me, even a little bit.

By: Sivarticus

Sivarticus — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:21:28 +0000

I’m still just saddened and disgusted with how things played out today. Barr is gonna lose A LOT of support. So, how can the liberty movement even make a dent in this election now? We really only have Baldwin, who isn’t even on in 40 states. I can’t see him breaking half a percent. I can’t see Barr breaking 1% after today either.

Nader…he may get several percent, more with some Ron Paul supporters. But there are drastic differences on economics and regulations Ralph has supported. I voted for him in 2004 since he was the main anti-war choice and I couldn’t stomach Bush or Kerry. I also didn’t know much about the LP or CP then. I’m not sure I can vote for him again this time after being forced awake on so much more by Dr. Paul. Besides, won’t a lot of Nader votes just say there’s a lot of disgruntled Democrats and liberals out there?

Barr really threw things to the wind today with his little stunt. This is going to take a long time to sort out, personally and in the large scale political realm. What’s a Ron Paul supporter to do this November?

By: Peter Orvetti

Peter Orvetti — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:26:24 +0000

Audio links for NPR stories:
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=94481300&m=94486424

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=94463570&m=94463556

By: Fred Church Ortiz

Fred Church Ortiz — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:22:24 +0000

The cat macro’s my favorite.