Political Punch

Bob Barr??
I choose McCain, I can never vote for an unknown like Barry.
the DNC has chosen Barry, I disagree he is a lost cause.

Hillary supporters,

Bob Barr would be a much better choice than McCain for you to vote for in the fall, if you just won't vote for Barrack Obama!

In fact the 5-10% of the right wing votes he will suck away from McCain takes away your stupid "Only Hillary can win against McBush" argument!

Barr will be just like McCains Nader! Very exciting, can't wait for November!

Face the facts, come November everyone will be saying three words "President Barrack Obama!"

Obama 08!!

I am a person who is a former Republican as well. I listened to the Republican machine for 15 years and 2 years ago I also switched to the libertarian party as well. Before I switched a too believed that we needed to keep drugs illegal I to did not thing gay marriage was something that we needed to have legalized. But since moving to the libertarian party I realized how wrong those ideals were and for the country to move forward we need to stop making laws that divide us as a nation and waste tax payers money trying to enforce them. I hope that not only conservatives look to the libertarian party as a choice but also the the social dems. who feel that their party is unwilling to make the choices that will help us all.

Don't pigeonhole a real, conservative constitutionalist -- Dr. Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party. Not much chance to win, but he is a man of integrity.

The "party of principle" ignored the party standards and the principle of being true to core beliefs. Bummer.

I am an ardent and longtime libertarian.
I hold an official seat in our chapter and was an editor of our Party Newsmagazine. I ran for public office under the Libertarian ticket.

That said, I have been tired and impatient with the presidential nominees that the LP has traditionally endorsed; typified by the last one, where we had a true libertarian who had name recognition and a campaign infrastructure, an extroverted personality with a proven track record to get things done, and instead we chose a self-taught constitutionl lecturer who lived out of his car.

OK, I say, Bob Barr is not a fully transformed libertarian, yet. But he publicly declares to be, has washed himself down with the Libertarian moniker, has made publicly self-effacing apologies for his past anti-libertarian conduct and stances.
He has real name recognition in the real world outside of our insular camp, he has real world experience in prosecuting a political campaign, and he is just what I think the LP needs for purely practical reasons.
If he proves to be not the Libertarian he says he is, then he will be drummed out of his position in short order.
I say, although it is not the purest avenue, let's give Barr a chance to pull us out of our hovel, and parlay Ron Paul's popularity with the public's dissatisfaction with both of the Big Parties.
see my article at:

I agree with those who see Barr as just another frustrated Republican right wingere trying to get a another chance at running other people's lives. Libertarians by definition do not have any commonality with Barr's rigid social views about government controlling who you marry and what you do with your body. Libertarians not believe in government mandated social engineering......... Well apparently until now that is. There goes what is probably the last and greatest hope for America, an independent political movement dedicated to the true principles of American democracy, whoring itself out for a little publicity.

THE ONLY THING "INDEPENDENTS" DO IS STIR THE POT! NO INDEPENDENT WILL EVER WIN. VOTERS MAY AS WELL STAY HOME OR VOTE FOR OUR ENEMIES.

I'LL TAX McCAIN'S "EXPERIENCE" OVER OBAMA'S "LIES AND TIES TO TERRORISTS AND ANTI-AMERICANS" ANY DAY!

FACTS about MICHIGAN and FLORIDA.

What is the most important right granted to U.S. citizens? THE RIGHT TO VOTE!!!

OBAMA AND A GROUP OF POLITICIANS ARE TAKING THIS "RIGHT" AWAY FROM MILLIONS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS IN FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN!!!

Obama took his own name OFF the ballot in Michigan. Now he is crying wwwaaa.... don't count the votes of Michigan because his name was not on the ballot???

Obama CAMPAIGNED and ran ads in FLORIDA. Obama is the only candidate who campaigned. His name was on the ballot. The people voted overwhelmingly for Hillary and Obama LOST. He doesn't like it. COUNT FLORIDA'S VOTES!!!

James Carville and another millionaire Rendell OFFERED TO PAY FOR A RE-VOTE in both states, but the OBAMA camp refused because they will LOSE big time.

THERE IS TIME TO RE-VOTE. Michigan has an election scheduled in August --- add Hillary and Obama to the ticket and count the votes!

The DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION is on August 23, and we have enough time to either re-vote, or to count the existing votes in its entirety, exactly the way they were cast by the American people.

GOD BLESS AMERICA, KEEP OUR FREEDOMS, OUR RIGHTS, AND THE VOICE OF THE “PEOPLE” --- not the voice of the “delegates”.

OBAMA HAS TOLD TOO MANY LIES.

NO OBAMA!

I really hope that candidates like Nader, Barr, Paul, McKinney and the like get significant support in the ge. A message needs to be sent to the main parties that we are not going to accept their garbage. Even though Ron Paul is a republican, I still view him as an outstanding candidate along with the others I mentioned.

The Libertarian Party is having something of a split itself, old party, new party. Of course, how old can you be born in 1971? LP's growing pains have to do with, shudder, electability!!! By definition, anarchists won't or can't govern. They've traditionally been useful to the sector that wants to de-regulate, which is everybody in heavy corporations and heavily depending on stock market profits and annual reports. Sorta the Exxon mobile group. Libertarians are useful to them. Still, I watched the convention with interest for there is a growing viability in a third party. Only trouble is, the Libertarians who want public office will have to govern. That gets the anarchist purist Libertarians confabulated. All they want is to be free of any and all regulation, taxes and government. I guess they drive on our roads but why should they help pay for them?

Another former Georgia Congressperson will most likely get the nomination of a third party. Cynthia McKinney is the favored candidate for the Green Party nomination, which will occur July 10th-13th in Chicago. McKinney has been a strong opponent of the war and the erosion of civil liberties and would make an excellent president. Please cover her candidacy and the Green nomination as well. With a strong conservative Libertarian candidate and a stronger progressive Green candidate, anyone who speaks of "spoilers" is just full of it. Vote for whichever candidate truly represents you and reflects your own positions. This is the year of third party! Vote Green '08!

I want to see more about Bob Barr on the network stations. He deserves the same chance as the other candidates in all fairness. Let the people make the decisions as to who will lead this country.

Barr's past and Nader's past taint both third party campaigns.

Tapping into the national frustration will be the key here but Barr simply is not the man to do it and Libertarians haven't proven their theories in practice at a meaningful level.

The only out here is for Barr to hook up with the Ron Paul folks which won't happen. The net result will just be third party background noise.

I thought Barr said he would work to repeal DOMA. Anyway, I thought he was not as impressive as the others, who were geeks but passionately so. They should have nominated the woman. They went for name recognition, but, as said by other commenters, he does not have a libertarian track record--DOMA, a ridiculous impeachment about private conduct, PATRIOT act, etc. This tends to show that no organized group sticks with purity of beliefs, which, in its way, makes the the majors look not as bad as people say. We live in a media-driven, two-party environment, which reduces the willingness of parties to transmit purity of ideology through candidates. In a multi-party syste, the sorting goes more toward choosing a true messenger of a niche of opinion.

Bob Barr gives some true conservatives a chance to look at another candidate to vote for in November.

Bob Barr is no libertarian. He has never believed in freedom for anyone but himself. It's amazing the party fell for this sham.

@Louise & Charlotte: Agree completely...

I love the Libs and what they represent, but they really have to work on the "electability factor" if they want to stand a chance. nonetheless, they have my vote!

I'm voting for Barr as a protest - the biggest ememy of the Dems/Reps is a 3rd party - that alone amkes it good.

Bob Barr and his VP choice Root are both former Republicans who call themselves Mainstream Libertarians now. They aren't, but the Republican Party has moved so far away from where they should be that these two men had to leave it. Many others have had to leave too - polls show people who claim to be Republican are at their lowest levels ever. It's too bad Karl Rove and George Bush were allowed to wreck the Republican Party brand.

This must be a joke. A man who engaged the government in a frivolous impeachment that simply wasted time is the "libertarian" candidate.

Compared to the other parties, this convention seemed very disorganized to me. In addition, the candidates in this party are somewhat esoteric and seem to lack some of the "social graces" one finds in Hilary, McCain, and Obama. BUT so did GW, Lincoln, and other pre modern press Presidents of this US. Given the downright Socialist/Marxist agenda of Obama, the Socialist agenda of Hilary, and the Socialist-stupid-run-this-country-out-of-existence-and-disenfranchise-the-conservatives-agenda of McCain, I will vote Lib!

Some would say the Libertarians have sold out. Others would say they are just a bunch of wackos.
What I can't understand is how that makes them any different than Democrats or Republicans.

Your largest expense is not your home, energy, or food. Your largest expense is taxes, and that's your only expense lawmakers can do anything about. the rest are market driven

It's like this: No free stuff, no vote from me. I'll take Clinton, Obama, or McCain over these "Libertarians" any day. Who on earth would vote for a party that wants to get government out of our lives? I want the government to give me free stuff, especially healthcare and the internet. Go away Bob Barr! I want free stuff.

Even the Libertarian voted for the Patriot Act! This guy is pretty mainstream compared to Ron Paul.

Liberta....what? Never heard of them....sorry, but if you want to be heard, you need to make a bit more friends with the media...reality check..

what is this world coming to..

Hillary, Hillary, go away
Don't come back some other day
Barack Obama is here to stay
Hillary, Hillary, go away.

Isn't that SPECIAL,.....they're acting like real grown up politicians that have a chance to really do something!
Gee-Golly! Wow!
What a bunch of non-relevant idiots.

yesterday before i went to church,
i know there was a story up here that talked about the obama people saying
bill clinton is key to helping them win.
or something like that.
obama needs bill to help unify the party
and they expect bill clinton to help them.
what happened to that story?
i know it wasn't a nightmare.

i hope there is no truth to that.
because if it is.
when obama loses, the clinton' will be blamed. when obama loses she is going to be blamed anyway.
but i hope they do not campaign for him.
michelle said she would have to think long and hard before she would campaign for sen. clinton if she had been the nominee. so sen. clinton should take about six months to rest up and think about it then give michelle her answer.

just saw barr on cnn,

he looks to mean. he never smiles.
who would want him as president?
i couldn't stand to watch him off and on for 4 years. and then if you could get past looking at that mug, and start listening to what he has to say.
yuck

Jake,

can you explain what in the world your host and Cokie were talking about when they kept saying HRC should remain in the race because Ross Perot was ahead in June? how is that relevant at all in the conversation?

BTW that Lib convention was crazy, 6 ballots, lots of backroom negotiating, was actually some fun TV watching on a SUnday afternoon on CSPan