You raise some interesting points regarding Mary Ruwart and the Libertarian Party, but I think you will have to agree, as well informed voters, one can never agree with everything on any Presidential candidate’s platform.

Though I do believe that life begins at conception, I had to rethink my position on abortion in regard to my support for Ron Paul. I’m probably more closely aligned with Dr. Ruwart’s position on abortion, and more closely aligned with Ron Paul’s on the boarders than Dr. Ruwart’s.

The point is this: You said in your response, “Bob Barr’s historical votes do look bad on paper, but if you listen to him now he is running on a Ron Paul’s platform.”
I’m sorry, but for a seasoned voter, and in particular for those who are not well informed, all we have to measure a candidate on is their actions and/or voting record, and in Barr’s case his “historical voting record”, is nothing more than flip-flopping at its very best. What makes it even worse…He’s doing his poltical flip-flopping on Ron Paul’s coat tails.

Can we as individuals or political candidates change our minds…?? Can we regret our personal actions [and, if we are lucky enough represent the American people by attaining political power] can we regret our Congressional voting record? OF COURSE!!

If as you said in your article http://www.libertymaven.com/2008/05/22ron-paul-divider-or-uniter/1095/ dated May 22, 2008, ‘Ron Paul: Divider or Uniter?”
“It is my belief that Barr is the candidate that will further Ron Paul’s message to more people”…HOWEVER, if that message is not consistent with Barr’s voting record; AND as already proven, Barr will be forced to spend more time defending his voting record, than he will in spreading the message of freedom, liberty and prosperity, Barr sorely misses the Libertarian high ground that Ron Paul honestly represents.

The Libertarian nomination for President should have been Dr. Mary Ruwart. The Libertarian Party sold out…they certainly lost my vote, AND it will take the party a lot longer than 2012 for them to recover.

I will either cast my vote for Chuck Baldwin (CP Presidential Nominee) OR, I will return to my original stance and vote only for Ron Paul, even if it means writing-in his name on the ballot.

Maybe you too will rethink your vote!

Best regards,

Donna

I certainly appreciate your opinion and understand it. My support of Barr is due to my belief that he is misunderstood by many Ron Paul supporters. Ruwart is certainly a more pure Libertarian, but I do not believe she would have united all Ron Paul supporters. Many Ron Paul supporters are staunchly opposed to an “open borders” style immigration policy, which Ruwart supports to some degree. Ruwart also is in disagreement with Ron Paul on abortion, as she is pro-choice. These are typical libertarian positions and makes her more of a pure libertarian than even Ron Paul.

Also, there was at least one (unscientific) poll done on Ron Paul forums to select who Ron Paul supporters should get behind, and Barr won rather convincingly even when Chuck Baldwin was included.

Because of these reasons, I don’t believe Ruwart would have united Ron Paul supporters.

Bob Barr’s historical votes do look bad on paper, but if you listen to him now he is running on a Ron Paul platform. He introduced Ron Paul at CPAC. They are friends. Barr now has continuous regretful statements about his vote for the Patriot Act and also has self-hatred for voting for the authorization of force in Iraq. If you haven’t read the recent article by Brad Jansen in the American Spectator about Barr’s history of votes, please do. It is rather enlightening and shows that sometimes there is more to these votes than the vote itself. The link is here:
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13262

It is my belief that Barr is the candidate that will further Ron Paul’s message to more people. He has the best chance to get the necessary media attention as a serious spoiler to John McCain. He has the best chance to win over more conservative Republican libertarians. Some of whom may never support Ron Paul specifically, but for whatever reason would support Barr. To some, like it or not, Ron Paul has become a polarizing figure. To some, being a Ron Paul supporter means you are a conspiracy theorist kook. These are small minded people, but they do vote.

If Barr gets 5-10% of the vote and McCain loses by less than that amount, coverage of Barr, and therefore coverage of the Ron Paul message will reach more people. It would also potentially give the American voters the idea that third parties can be viable after all.

A person who was a delegate for none other than Aaron Russo , and who was leaning towards Ruwart this year posted a message outlining the reasons why Barr is a great choice to spread the Ron Paul message. Actually, that post is so important that I’m going to make it into its own LM article. But here it is from:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=1475203&postcount=537

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From Peace&Freedom:

Ah, memories. I was on that LP stage four years ago, making one of the nominating speeches for Aaron Russo for President (where I asked the convention to ‘take the red pill,’ and go with a different-than-usual choice). This year I leaned towards Ruwart at the end, but can’t say I’m displeased with the choice of Barr. His nomination practically helps the Paul Revolution tremendously in 5 ways:

One, it virtually insures a McCain defeat in November, which will make it MUCH easier for the Ron Paul Republicans to start transforming the GOP, IF that’s possible. A McCain election victory would have given that movement no real chance for party reform; now it does have a chance.

Two, it sets up a 1-2 punch to the Republican Party to move it in a pro-liberty direction, with libertarian pressure being applied to it from both within (from the RPRs) and without (the spoiler role the LP will have this year).

Three, because it will be the LP taking the heat for playing spoiler, it accordingly takes the heat OFF the Paulites within the GOP from being scapegoated if/when McCain loses.

Four, Barr will continue many or most of the Paul themes through the election, thus keeping the Paul movement’s impact on politics going strong through the end of 2008.

And Five, the Barr nomination partially revives the theoretical possibility Republicans could toss over McCain as their nominee by or at the GOP convention, since the writing should already be on the wall for rank and file Republicans that Mac is dead s a doornail.

Not a bad day for liberty at all. Barr/Root LP08!!
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Enjoy.

You may not like what I’m about to say and frankly I’m a little surprised. But, please let us agree to disagree.

If Barr had done his homework, regardless of whether he’s a libertarian or not, as an American he should never have voted for the Patriot Act, War on Drugs, Real ID, etc.

The LP is sending a terrible message [my opinion] to their constituents and especially to those who are on the cusp of joining the party, myself included. The message is even worse [again, my opinion] for those who think the LP is merely a fringe party! To nominate a candidate just because he/she has high visibility is as bad as voting for the lesser of two evils. Is the LP so hungry for their party to win they will vote against their beliefs? What happened to voting your conscience?

Mary Ruwart is the real deal! She may not have the visibility, but since the early 1980’s she been an active member of the LP and maybe one of their purest [ideologically) members. If she won the nomination, I’ll bet she would have stolen more than a few votes from Hillary! More importantly, she would have united Ron Paul supporters. She would have carried the LP message into 2012.

I admit the voting was close. But, when Root put his weight behind Barr, the party lost their way on [what they think will be] a winning road. Remember [again, my opinion] winning is not as important as the message; the message is the only way a Third Party can move forward. At a time when the LP gained so much ground through Ron Paul, their [LP] nomination for Barr, I fear will only move them backwards, not forward. There will be too much fighting within the ranks. Time will tell [I hope I’m wrong}] but in my gut, I think Barr is a charlatan.

I look forward to your response. Donna