Liberty Maven

After yesterday’s big media day I think it is an appropriate time to announce my own “official” endorsement of Bob Barr for President. Considering all of the pro-Barr sentiments made by me over the course of the past several months this will not come as a shock to anyone who reads Liberty Maven regularly.

I lobbied for Bob Barr to get in the race once Ron Paul officially dropped out. I’ve been critical of both Paul and Barr where I felt criticism was due. Clearing away all of the minutiae and focusing on the two all encompassing campaign questions I consider for each candidate, Bob Barr is the last one eliminated.

Those questions are: Do you have a mathematical chance of winning? Do you support individual liberty? The first weeds out the riff-raff and the second usually weeds out the rest. The last candidate to be eliminated wins my vote, therefore I fully and officially endorse Bob Barr for President of the United States.

Bob Barr is not perfect. No candidate is. For my money Harry Browne came pretty close back in 1996 and 2000. But this is 2008 and Barr is the best of the better candidates on liberty. He is better than McCain and Obama on civil liberties, foreign policy, and a whole host of other issues. He is better than Chuck Baldwin because he is not a protectionist on trade. He is better than Ralph Nader because he is not anti-business.

That which makes Bob Barr imperfect for some makes him perfect for others. The fact is that Barr has an anti-libertarian voting record and that eliminates him in the eyes of some. I view his voting record as a scarlet letter. He can’t hide his record, but he can repudiate it and express regret and remorse as he has done.

It is high time my fellow liberty seekers join me in saying the following to Bob Barr:

I forgive you Bob Barr. I believe in redemption. There is no better man to kill the beast than the man who has lived in the beast’s belly. I will vote for you on November 4th and support you for as long as we both fight for maximizing individual liberty and minimizing government control in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.

[NOTE: This is my individual endorsement and may not reflect the views of other authors at Liberty Maven]