jgmaynard, your comments buy into the 2 party collectivist mentality that we have a 2 party system and all other parties are spoilers. Barr is definitely getting votes of people who would vote for neither Obama nor Mccain, myself for example. Elections are only a zero sum game if every eligible voter votes, which they don’t.

For example, look how many new voters Obama has signed up who might not even be registered to vote in this election otherwise. Ron Paul also cured a lot of apathy, and many people that Ron Paul signed up will likely be voting for Barr. So the idea that Barr’s votes are being pulled from either candidate is really misdirection. The two major parties want us to believe that any third party is just an election wrecker.

Obviously, I’d like to see a Libertarian Party president, but I will be happy if Barr gets enough votes to seriously throw the LP into the middle of the political tunnel vision.

However, I disagree with the statement that: “Since Barr is certainly getting many votes that McCain would never get, for this poll at least, Obama would win regardless of Barr.”

For that to be true, than Barr would have to be pulling MORE votes from McCain than Obama. That may be true, and probably is, but IF he were pulling more from Obama than McCain (on the war issue, for instance), than McCain would win the poll if it were not for Barr.

JM