Liberty MavenA Scathing Review of the Barr Campaign
August 15th, 2008 10:43 am | by Mike Miller | Published in Bob Barr, Commentary, Constitution, Debate, Drugs, Election, fisa, Fund Raising, Harry Browne, History, Libertarianism, Liberty, Media, Politics, Polling, REAL ID, Ron Paul | 6 Responses
Over at NolanChart.com, Walt Thiessen has written a critical article on Bob Barr’s Libertarian campaign for President. It is a negative article that I, unfortunately, mostly agree with. Thiessen makes three major points:
- Although some polls put Bob Barr in the 6% range in June, all polls now put him in the 1-2% range.
- Measuring up to Ron Paul’s, Barr’s fundraising is comparatively non-existent.
- Barr has “failed to win over the party faithful”, and has failed to adequately explain his support of unconstitutional bills in his past.
I agree with him on the first 2½ points, but when he and other people continue to say that Bob Barr has done nothing to alleviate the concerns of those who question his part, I strongly disagree. In every interview I’ve seen where people question his past support for the Patriot Act, the Drug War, etc., he has admitted his mistake, and explained how he seen the light and actually worked hard to reverse these things. What else can the man do? Only time will tell whether or not he is sincere or just being political expedient, but that’s not part of this argument. Bob has worked tirelessly for the past 5 years against the Patriot Act and it’s successors, FISA, and has even joined up with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Marijuana Policy Project in support of medicinal drug use. What else can the man do to alleviate concerns? If you simply choose not to trust him, that’s one thing. But to say that he’s done nothing is simply ludicrous.
Thiessen concludes by predicting Barr will get less votes in November than Badnarik’s 397,000 in 2004, which I feel is quite astonishing. I certainly hope this won’t be the case.
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August 15th, 2008 at 11:30 am (#)
Bob Barr should stop worrying about his past record (of which most voters aren’t aware and many others have no complaints), and start offering U.S. voters a real alternative to McCain and Obama. These can be taken right from Ron Paul’s campaign and used to attract his voters and contributors:
1. Pull our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, not because the “surge” has failed or hasn’t failed, but because we don’t belong there and never did. The presence of U.S. troops anywhere in the Middle East provokes Islamic terrorism and does nothing to ensure the free flow of oil. It shouldn’t matter to U.S. foreign policy whether governments there are democratic or not, are pro-West or not, observe human rights or not, as far as our military policy extends. They need to be stable governments commanding the respect and allegiance of those within their borders. That will ensure safe commerce. And if we aren’t seen to be using our guns and money to support or oppose these governments, their citizens will never have occasion to complain of us, whether they like their governments or not.
2. Stop baiting Russia over Georgia. The Russians have more good reason to have their troops there than we in the West have to be Kosovo and Bosnia. And we certainly don’t need Georgia or Ukraine in NATO to ensure American security. Precisely the opposite – such an annexation invites conflict. We also should discard plans to put missles in Poland. The propaganda that they are designed to protect us from Iranian missiles is a transparent lie and a direct provocation to Russia.
3. End our persecution of Iran. Their nuclear reprocessing program is well within their legal rights, and the temptation for them to develop nuclear arms is only enhanced by our threats. If our concern is over the threat Iran may pose to Israel or its Arab neighbors, our ability to help defuse any crisis will be enhanced if we are seen as a disinterested, impartial broker and not a co-belligerent of one side or another. We should make it clear that we will not send our troops to fight any more wars in southern and western Asia.
4. End the income tax, not only because it is a bane to the production and savings needed in our economy, but because it gives the government an excuse to spy upon us and pry into our lives, not to mention the maintenance of the military-industrial complex.
These are campaign positions that span the libertarian-paleoconservative divide among Barr’s potential supporters and hold appeal for many other American voters who not going to get these promises from either the Republicans or the Democrats.
August 15th, 2008 at 1:09 pm (#)
The nutty libertarian “base” really doesn’t matter since there are so few of them and they don’t even agree with each other. Barr has done his best with these folks and if they are determined to hate him, so be it. We need libertarian leaning republicans and democrats along with the libertarian moderates. Ron Paul people ought to be on board too, but I realize many of them are hung up on the radical aspects of Paul’s approach and won’t go for anything else. It’s their loss.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:07 pm (#)
When I wrote, “He has done absolutely nothing to satisfy those party members who simply don’t trust his supposed conversion to libertarian principles,” I was referring strictly to Barr’s communications within the LP to party members. Yes, I’m sure Barr has made various comments in news interviews, but that’s not how a savvy politician goes about winning over his own party. He communicates directly to them!
I’ve been on the campaign’s email list since his nomination, and there has not been a single message sent out to that list in defense of his controversial positions on the issues. I have not seen any mailings to LP members on the subject. The most I have seen are some links to videos that the campaign has put out which seem intended to suggest that Barr has always stood on the libertarian side of these issues.
When Barrack Obama wants to lure Clinton voters or when John McCain wants to lure Romney and Huckabee voters, they do it directly by contacting those voters, by appealing directly to them. They don’t do it through a TV interview, and they certainly don’t do it only in defensive answer to tough questions asked by MSM journalists.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:20 pm (#)
Thanks for the clarification, Walt!
August 15th, 2008 at 5:38 pm (#)
To be assured of proper treatment of federal Government one must return to constitutional requirements. Congress shall coin money and regulate the value thereof. See Schecter Poultry v US 295 US 495 1935. Supreme CT. ruled
“Congress cannot abdicate it’s responsibility and delegate to another group it’s duty” We now pay interest to bankers for printing our own money, $1.2 Billion a day. Why? Study Andrew Jackson. He was wise to their intentions in 1835, When he paid off the national debt. The IRS is also doing unlawfull things to the citizens. Google Sherry Peel Jackson and Joe Banister.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:09 am (#)
[...] You can reach Walt Thiessen’s article “Unreality at the Barr Campaign” from this link http://www.libertymaven.com/2008/08/15/a-scathing-review-of-the-barr-campaign/1489/ [...]