If McCain chose a Giuliani or Lieberman or Bloomberg to be his running mate, I think there would be revolution and his nominee would fail. But for the convention to turn to Ron Paul, either to be V-P, or to replace McCain, may be more than we can reasonably expect of Republicans this year.

The most optimistic scenario may be for McCain to squeeze through such an abominable running mate in Minneapolis, and for Ron Paul to leave the convention willing to join Bob Barr on his ticket. In that case, it wouldn’t strain credulity to believe that the Barr-Paul ticket might best the McCain-War Hawk Liberal GOP team in the November balloting, a la 1912.

Harry Browne is the closest person I have to a political idol. Indeed Harry Browne got some media attention, but I suspect Barr will get infinitely more by comparison.

I have never suggested that Barr was the next Ron Paul. In fact I’ve stated that there will never be another Ron Paul. All I’ve suggested is that the best way to spread the freedom message to the most people is by supporting Bob Barr.

Barr was considered one of the most “libertarian” Republicans while he was in Congress. He is good friends with Ron Paul. He worked with Ron Paul on several bills while they were both in Congress. He introduced Ron Paul at the CPAC conference. Barr joined the Libertarian Party over 2 years ago. So it’s difficult for me to see how he is merely “riding on Ron Paul’s coat tails”.

In fact, I firmly believe Ron Paul would endorse Barr if Paul weren’t faithful to the GOP. I don’t expect this to actually happen because Ron Paul won’t even endorse against neo-con incumbent Republicans, even when a “Ron Paul Republican” is running against the incumbent neo-con. (as in the case of Vern McKinley’s campaign against Frank Wolf).

In truth, I don’t mind him riding the coat tails of Ron Paul as long as that wonderful freedom message is being spread further.

The good thing in this case is that we will get to watch it all unfold because Barr is the nominee and in the race. I hope that we can continue our discussions as the race goes on.

If Barr should magically become President, one of us will be proven right. I doubt that will happen, but we can certainly monitor Barr’s actions, rhetoric, and media appearances in the next several months to gauge how much of an impact he is having at spreading the message.

While still split, it seems a plurality of Ron Paul Forums people agree with me. I certainly can see myself in the future lamenting what might have been, had all of the Ron Paul faithful put their support behind Barr. As it is, we will see how it goes.

Enjoy.

I thank you for your thoughtful response. And, like you, I’m not that easily swayed.

As I recall, Harry Browne, who was a principled libertarian, one who was well-versed in the libertarian scholarship, somehow still managed to gain newsworthy support.

You keep saying Barr will not be President, but what if he is? We’re ripe for a Third Party candidate! And, do you nominate a candidate just for the buzz, or because you want him to win the Presidency? What will you think of Barr’s past voting record if he wins?

I do not belive for one minute that Barr truly represent Ron Paul’s beleifs, or his voting record wouln’t be an issue. When you sell Barr to your readership like he’s the next Ron Paul you not only do a diservice to your readership, you totally misrepresent Ron Paul.

The closest Barr will ever come to representing Ron Paul will be to do just what he’s doing…Riding on Ron Paul’s coat tails.

Regards, Donna

Thanks for the comment but I’m not swayed (as you might expect).

I’m not sure how to quantify “short term success” for the Libertarian Party. Bob Barr is not going to be President. He is a tool to help spread Ron Paul’s freedom message. He is a tool to set the stage for future elections for liberty minded candidates of all parties.

As I’ve stated there may be a few devils in the details of the issues he supports, but in general his message is one of free markets, low taxes, states rights, and civil liberties. THAT is what gets play on television and in the newspapers. THAT is Ron Paul’s message.

If the Libertarian Party nominated a “consistent, principled libertarian, one well-versed in the libertarian scholarship” as Katz says… no one would care because that is what they’ve always done. Nominating Barr is a news maker and therefore provides opportunity for more people to hear Ron Paul’s message from someone other than Paul. From someone who was a long time Republican who still has great respect from many in the GOP.

It would be an amazing thing to see if Barr could somehow work his way into the debates. He’d likely have to poll at 15% or more to do that, so it is not likely to happen, especially with the Ron Paul base being split about him.

Barr is not going to be the next President so him wavering on the periphery of Ron Paul’s platform doesn’t carry much weight with me. The point is… he is running on Ron Paul’s general ideas and he has the best chance to spread those ideas out of anyone left in the race, even Ron Paul himself.

Therefore, I support Bob Barr for President, and I believe all Ron Paul supporters should do so as well. I know that is a pipe dream, but it does look like more Paul supporters are going to be voting for Barr than any of the other candidates left in the race, if you put any weight in the results of this poll on Ron Paul Forums:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=139820

Wouldn’t it be great if Barr got all of those write-in votes as well as the votes for Baldwin? Well it would be great to me. But while it seems Paul supporters are split on their choice, it does seem more of them will be supporting Barr than the others.

Thanks again Donna. I really do appreciate your viewpoint.

-Marc

I really wish you would step back and rethink your stance.
The five reasons you posted written by ‘Peace and Freedom’ are in my opinion truly lame, nothing more than stale pond water.

I would like to provide you and your readership with substantial reasons (probably less than 5) why Ron Paul supporters SHOULD NOT vote for Bob Barr and, in this particular instance, less is much, much MORE!

The article I reference (link provided) came from LewRockwell.com and is written by a Joshua Katz http://www.lewrockwell.com/katz-j/katz-j28.html

• “While Barr seems, in some ways, to be among the more libertarian-leaning conservatives, he is not a libertarian on the most important issue of our time – foreign policy. I have yet to hear an unambiguous commitment to immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Unlike Paul, he also has not promised to remove our troops from the other 150 countries in which they are stationed. Barr’s campaign website uses the rhetoric of non-intervention, but a perusal of the articles available on that same website gives the lie to any idea that he opposes foreign intervention”
• “Barr calls for use of foreign aid – money stolen from Americans – to achieve better drug enforcement – forcing Americans to pay in order to be foiled as consumers. He has praised Bush for the surge, which “is working,” supported the use of military tribunals, and argued for reauthorization of the Patriot Act – an act for which he voted”.
• “Much is made about Barr’s libertarian voting record in the US Congress. Yet the man who claims to be for privacy, who runs the Privacy Watch List, voted for what was, at its time, the most egregious violation of privacy on the books. Even if he now says he regrets this vote, what does it say for his judgment, for the positions he will take in the future? Besides, to what extent can he truly regret voting for the Act if as recently as 2005 he was advocating for its reauthorization? The Patriot Act was not a difficult decision, and he made the wrong call on it. As President, he will face more subtle and difficult decisions. He has given us little reason to trust him.”

Not unlike McCain, Barr has been given a free ride, and not unlike McCain, many of the facts about Barr are not being reported by the MSM.

Once again I will state, and I agree with Mr. Katz, “the LP needed to put forth a consistent, principled libertarian, one well-versed in the libertarian scholarship, in order to continue the educational task…”

The LP failed us with their Presidential nomination of Barr. They confused their priorities with the possibility of short term success; they will fail with the long term return of freedom to our nation.

Regards, Donna