The following was posted today on the Bob Barr website by Shane Cory. It is of particular interest given that Barr did not show up today at the Ron Paul third party press conference, thus causing a major rift with the Ron Paul camp.
It is unclear why Barr thinks Ron Paul should be his VP candidate, and not the other way around when Ron Paul has far more support both in and out of the LP, and far more experience in Congress. Furthermore, Barr’s current VP Wayne Allyn Root was nominated by the delegates at the Libertarian Convention, so Barr doesn’t have the power or authority to replace him. Root seems to think it’s a fine idea, but he doesn’t have the power or authority to overrule the delegates either.
Many thanks to LFV reader Bubbu Blanco for bringing this link to LFV’s attention!
Bob Barr Shows Leadership to Unify Liberty Movement
September 10th, 2008 by Shane Cory
Asks Paul to Run as his Vice President
Atlanta, GA – Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee for president, has invited GOP Congressman Ron Paul to be his running mate in the upcoming election. In a letter sent to Paul, Barr called Paul one of the “few American patriots” who exist in today’s society, and asked him to “seriously consider this final offer as an opportunity to show true, lasting leadership beyond party politics.”
Barr cited Paul’s 1987 letter to then-GOP Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf, in which Paul stated that, “after years of trying to work through the Republican Party both in and out of government…[Paul] concluded that [his] efforts must be carried on outside the Republican Party.”
Though recognizing Paul’s personal investment in the Republican Party and his recent attempts to reform the party from inside, Barr said he disagreed with Paul’s strategy. “Better options remain that will carry a message of liberty onto the ballot in November and beyond,” Barr stated, adding at a news conference called today at the National Press Club, that “change in politics and public policy in America cannot and will not be done from within the current, two-party system.”
Barr continued, “‘The status quo will not change the status quo’ and impact comes entirely from gaining votes in the General Election.” That is why Barr said he would remain focused on the Libertarian Party’s electoral effort and clear message, and why he invited Paul to join him.
“While you declined my offer to seek the Libertarian presidential nomination many months ago, I ask that you seriously consider this final offer as an opportunity to show true, lasting leadership beyond party politics,” Barr stated in his letter to Paul.
Barr’s running mate, Wayne Allyn Root, expressed support: “As the Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee, I believe in one thing above all else—principle. There can be no compromise on the ideals of limited government, lower taxes, lower spending, and more freedom for the American people. Those are the principles to which I’ve dedicated my life. The GOP and Democratic candidates only give lip service—at best—to these ideals and principles. It is only an act at election time every four years.”
“I want to end the charade once and for all,” Root continued. “I am willing to sacrifice anything to advance the cause of liberty, freedom, smaller government and to enable the American taxpayer to keep more of their own money and property. Understanding Dr. Ron Paul’s reputation and name recognition in the freedom movement, I am willing to step aside as Libertarian vice presidential candidate if he would be willing to take my place. I will pledge to work day and night, just as I have as the vice presidential nominee, to support Dr. Paul. I believe this is a wonderful opportunity for the Libertarian and freedom movements. I encourage Dr. Paul to accept Congressman Barr’s offer. The campaign is making this offer because we believe there is no sacrifice too large when it comes to improving the lives of the American people and American taxpayers.”
Barr’s letter to Paul can be found here.
Paul’s letter to the GOP can be found here.
Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.
Last Free Voice 
As one who had SERIOUS questions about NewletterGate, I still applaud this move, for the greater good. Barr/Paul is a big league move!
In other news, Robert Milnes has joined the Barr campaign.
So let’s get this straight:
Barr asks Paul to replace Root as his running mate, which would effectively take Paul off the ballot for his Congress seat, and throw under the (short) bus the man he cut an endorsement deal with at Denver to secure the nomination.
Paul smartly refuses.
In the process Barr disses the Campaign for Liberty and chucks all LP credibility and alliances with that movement out the window, and probably cost him a large chunk of votes. That genius Cory then calls the C4L “withering” when it dwarfs the LP. Real smart, genius, and your boss, too!
Root, meanwhile, fresh on the heels of his own “Million Dollar Challenge” Ted Dibiase moment, issues his own statement that he would welcome being cast aside, which would effectively kill his own professed 2012 aspriations in the process. What planet is he on?
Then Davis, in whatever Kool-Aid-induced trip he’s on, calls Barr a “major player” in the election after all of this?
Maybe only if the TX suit succeeds. Otherwise, FUGGEDAHBUDIT!
I see the McFly locomotive going into Eastwood Ravine, and the DeLorean won’t hit 88 MPH. Quick, disconnect the rest of the cars, and everybody off, now!
For those of you in Denver who voted for these fools: Thanks for nothing!
I’m generally really good at predicting these things, but this one came out of nowhere.
This is a clusterf*ck of monumental proportions.
As of today, I support NOTA for prez, which means that this year, I will, for the first time ever in my life, NOT cast a ballot for a presidential candidate.
It’s sad. The Barr campaign had loads of promise for the LP. Now I can’t wait for this election cycle to end as quickly as possible.
The only reason I plan on voting this year is to oppose the movement to deny the LGBT community the right to marriage.
Hi Gene, welcome to the club!
Down-ticket is where it’s at this year in CA! No on all props, and the rest, to each their own.
I prefer to call this a new term: “collosaflop”.
I have such a headache now.
He used us. He used us for access and then flipped us the bird.
And no, Mike, the Bryonia didn’t help. Nothing is going to help this sort of headache short of getting Barr removed.
I agree with Mike, no to all CA propositions this year!!
Libertarians need to – more than ever – get involved in their state and local Campaign for Liberty groups and make sure libertarian voices are heard. If only troofers and Bilderberg conspiracy nuts are left, the RP movement will amount to nothing in the long run.
Hey, Cool! I can stop watching soap operas because a doozy is unleashed right here with the most-likely terminally-ill Lebertarian party. What the heck else will happen in the next episode?
Gene – Wow. I’m speechless!
Why would Ron Paul sully his good name by running with Barr? Paul lured me into the Libertarian Party in 88, Barr drove me out of it in 08.
If voting really did any good, it would already be illegal anyway. If you want to fight for freedom, rescind your voter registration and start stockpiling ammo.
We’re screwed in ‘08.
RESIST!
Mike: This is a club I would rather not belong to. This further demonstrates the absolute pathetic nature of Libertarian politics.
Faeriejems–
Keep watching—this soap opera will more than likely only get better—-
Wait until somebody tries to replace Barr with Ruwart and then she gets to explain why in the world she had an affair with her married campaign manager a few months ago—so much love to go around to “heal her world!!”
Gene, I meant this time only. I wish I wasn’t in that club, either. But I’ve been there mostly since Denver.
“We’re Screwed ’08” Now that’s a good bumper sticker!
Maybe Barr should try to trade Root for Palin – he could tell McCain it is his final offer.
But seriously, it sure is entertaining to see Barr wrap himself in the flag and wave the Constitution around. His new appreciation for the old dead letter is fascinating considering how many years he spent wiping his own fat ass with it.
Swap a Root for a pitbullied pig with lipstick? LOL!
Remember, it was the McCain camp who called their own VP a pig, not Obama. With friends like those…
With the right campaign team and a realistic approach to third party politics, I believe Bob Barr COULD have been not only a player in this election, but could have made many more Libertarians proud. It’s not Barr himself that bungled this, it’s his freaking campaign team. Unlike most Libertarian campaigns where the candidate basically acts as his/her own tactician, manager and treasurer, major party candidates do what they are told by their campaign handlers. I am more than certain that Barr is doing exactly that. In return, he is getting the crappiest-managed campaign he could have ever imagined. More than anything, Barr is becoming embarrassed on a very public stage. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if some of Barr’s Republican “buddies” set him up with Verney and Viguerie on purpose to sabotage his campaign and growing reputation as a civil libertarian.
In any event, this has turned out to be a horribly mis-managed campaign. Best to just let it die a natural death and move on.
Barr has continued to do well in obtaining cable news appearances.
They are keeping up a good stream of timely press releases, some of which appear related to the media
appearances.
He continues to do much better in the polls than any previous LP candidate.
Barr’s message is good.
The fundraising is about normal and the online approach should result in more net funds for the campaign that direct mail. I am not seeing, however, a lot more campaign spending yet.
Barr is not obtaining a lot of support from people who were recruited by Paul. My impression is that while most Barr supporters did support Paul, they were already Libertarians.
There is a conflict between the Campaign for Liberty and the Libertarian Party.
The Campaign for Liberty is about getting Paul supporters involved in Republican Party organizations so that the next Republican Party primary effort will have a better infrastructure.
From a partisan Libertarian Party perspective (which I don’t entirely share,) the goal is for Ron Paul supporters to switch to the LP. Paul’s treatment by the Republican Party (no speech at the convention, the failure to count the votes of his delegates, etc, )should cause them to give up on the Republicans.
Paul’s approach to the 2008 election was a bit puzzling. Given his basic strategy, an endorsement of McCain is best. Rumour has it that some on his staff support doing just that.
Instead, he proposed a kind of third-party unity effort. Don’t support Obama or McCain. Pick one of the four alternative party efforts that agree with the four principles–peace, privacy, anti-debt, and anti-Fed.
I think there are two things going on. Paul will want to count the total of the “third party” vote as supporting his approach. And, further, by “supporting” all four, he is somewhat protected from charges that he sought to spoil the election for McCain.
As Ron Paul supporters seek party office in the Republican Party (precinct, county committee, and so on,) these charges might be important.
On the other hand, the partisan Libertarian goal is to get as many votes as possible for the Libertarian candidate.
I think, the libertarian goal should be to get as many votes as possible for a libertarian message. (And I think Barr’s message is libertarian enough.)
Anyway, it has been clear for some time that Paul would not officially endorse Barr.
I think the Barr press conference was about the Barr campaign’s response to this lack of an endorsement–again calling for Paul to give up on the Republlican Party and work with the Libertarians.
I believe that Barr didn’t show up at the Paul press conference because the “third party unity” theme only became clear at the last minute.
A good bit of “heat” is being generated is coming from staff.
Oh.. I didn’t know that the Barr campaign had a National Field director, what that job involves, or that this guy Ferguson was in the position. Perhaps he is busy doing good things. However, one fatal flaw in his service was a failure to understand that if you have a fancy sounding title, you lose the right to share your personal opinions. Especially when they amount to a personal attack on an icon of the libertarian movement. (And, contrary to the
campaign’s message.)
Rassmussen, Cory, and Kraus have run their mouths entirely too much about petty conflicts between staffers, But Ferguson, at least, should resign.
It’s not Barr himself that bungled this, it’s his freaking campaign team.
Astonishingly, this is the second time I’ve seen this argument (the first time it was made by Bruce Cohen), which (to me) sounds rather like this: “Barr is such a great professional campaigner that he hires idiots and then does just what they tell him to do – so don’t blame him!”
To which I can only reply: WTF?!? If that’s professionalism, give me principled amateur-run campaigns anyday.
In any event, this has turned out to be a horribly mis-managed campaign. Best to just let it die a natural death and move on.
Here we are in complete accord.
No surprise here. Paul is in the GOP (to stay) and he wants more supporters exercising power in the GOP. He is acting in his self-interest, which is at least partially in alignment with the interests of the “liberty movement”.
Excellent goal. Now what are we doing to achieve it?! Nothing. In fact we went backwards on Sep 10.
Why was RP so popular? Why did he raise so much money? Because he is the real deal.
Why has BB failed? He’s NOT the real deal and he keeps reminding us of that fact.
Pretending he is the real deal will not make him so!
Real Deal: someone who is unquestionably libertarian, genuine, likable and demonstrates integrity and courage in the battle against anti-liberty.
The small foothold Ron Paul has gained is due not only to his being the real deal but also to the fact that he has been elected to Congress 10x and is a member of one of the top 2 parties (the former made possible by the latter!).
If he was neither in Congress, nor a Republicrat, he would never have gained any noteworthy attention this year. Giving up both those assets would be suicide.
You don’t understand his strategy if you really think that. His goal is to remake the GOP as a libertarian-ish party. His primary asset in achieving this goal is his integrity (consistency).
If he endorses McCain he blows all that to nothing. I’m so surprised there would be any confusion about that at this late stage.
Huh? Paul effectively endorsed all 4 candidates. Well, 3. Barr blew his shot to appear with Paul – two shots. It could have been him talking with Wolf Blitzer along with Paul instead of, or in addition to, Nader.
Barr decided he would get the sole endorsement – or none. He got none. Stupid him.
If the Libertarian Party is to retain any credibility in the liberty movement for 2010, 2012 and beyond, we had better get ourselves together, be the real deal, elect real deals to party leadership positions and nominate real deals for P/VP in ’12.
Failure to do so will result in the center of gravity moving back to the GOP and the irrelevancy of the LP. RPers are pissed about the GOP convention now, but if they decide the only way up is through the GOP, they will start climbing there, and not within the LP.
You would think by now that people would know better than to underestimate Ron Paul’s integrity. What Bob Barr tried was essentially extortion. That he actually thought that Paul would knuckle under only demonstrated starkly the degree to which the man simply doesn’t get it. Bob Barr’s not a libertarian, he is, like many “belt-way libertarians,” merely someone who appreciates the opportunity in libertarianism.
George Donnelly wrote: “Paul effectively endorsed all 4 candidates. Barr decided he would get the sole endorsement – or none. He got none.”
Exactly right — and exactly why I’m disappointed in both Paul and Barr.
Everybody misses what the C4L Press Conference was all about. It wasn’t about 2008 or the four non-major party candidates.
It was about 2012. It was so obviously about 2012 that people didn’t see it; instead they still stuck on 2008.
Nobody noticed the feather-boaed presence in the corner during this, but he was there, fresh off a raucous speech at the Rally for the Republic. That was a big clue right there, about 6’5″ and 245# worth.
Dr. Paul was laying the seeds to begin 2012, to try to draw into the natural constituency of the non-major parties and disaffected voters to get it going.
The “We Agree” component was the campaign platform. Note it had broad agreement while avoiding areas of disagreement. It had “big tent for these issues even if you disagree on everything else” written all over it, in big, bold light-up neon letters. It was designed to do this on purpose, with a great purpose. It is laid out to address the 4 biggest and most unifying issues facing the nation. Screw health-care–that’s a BS issue anyway.
Had Barr not screwed the whole thing up for his own ego and utter stupidity, screwing the LP in process, perhaps more people would have seen it. Instead Barr created a sideshow and got everything wrong, compounded by the statements of his staff and apologists after the fact.
Is it any wonder why Dr. Paul was furious at Barr? Barr is playing for the here and now, and Paul is playing for the future. This has always been a long-term movement, beyond November, and Barr doesn’t get that. It’s possible that Nader, McKinney, and Baldwin don’t get it either, but that may be a different issue.
David Nolan is right: The Barr campaign is dead, from ego and shortsightedness. The LP is trying to clean up the mess he eft behind, and it won’t be an easy road to repair the 18 months of effort that a lot of LPers spent to build the bridge that Barr blew up with one assinine stunt.
Now, pass a mop, because as always, we got a LOT of work to do. And Barr just made it even harder.
doesn’t this web site has other languages support??
“doesn’t this web site has other languages support??”
Not to my knowledge.
I removed your link, by the way, on the off chance that your comment was just spam which made it past the filter.