Although Ron flounders a little at the end there, he pretty much sums it up in a way that I think a lot of us have never fully considered: 16% of the country votes for one candidate, and the rest of us, the true majority, are all left feeling like “the minority”. Footage below, including what we can and need to do about it:
This interview with Bob Barr was taped during the Republican National Convention. The tone of the interview is a bit like a couple of friends sitting down for a conversation with attempts at humor, neither quite successful. Barr does certainly seemed very focused on getting in to the debates, which is music to my ears. There was little in the way of issues discussed in the interview, but Barr defends against the spoiler role yet again. He’s getting good at it.
This is quite a shot in the dark, and I’m sure the Barr campaign discussed this internally, although one never knows. They can use the Texas ballot access fight to their advantage in an attempt to get Bob Barr into the debates.
They should continue spreading the word about Obama and McCain missing the ballot access deadline in Texas. Also, they should add a new tactic to their press releases on the matter. The Barr campaign should make it clear (and public) that if both the Obama and McCain campaigns are truly interested in “change” as they claim then they should be for what the majority of the American people want and that is for Bob Barr to be in the debates (according the the recent Zogby poll saying 55% of those polled said he should be included). This alone is already being pursued to a degree, but it must be made more public using all media opportunities. The key is to continue to use the “change” rhetoric of the anti-change Parties against them.
The final and most convincing argument can be found with the Texas ballot fight where both Obama and McCain missed the filing deadline (supposedly). It seems that threatening a lawsuit could be used as a negotiating tactic. The Barr campaign’s lawyers can offer to drop the lawsuit if both Obama and McCain agree to allow Barr into the debates. Pointing out the amount of money and time both campaigns will have to spend on defending the lawsuit instead of their own campaigns should be a key point.
It is unlikely either Obama or McCain will fold to such “offers”, but it is worth a shot, especially since the law is being relaxed to their benefit. For Bob Barr, fighting for debate access is more important than fighting for ballot access at this point.
If Obama and McCain are truly for “change” and putting the “country first” then they should not suppress Bob Barr’s inclusion in the debates. Unfortunately, unless the main stream media makes this Texas ballot fight and hypocrisy widely known most voters will never get to hear the true message of change in this election.
A court in West Virginia ruled against Bob Barr and Wayne Root being on the ballot in November today. This, yet again illustrates why there is not a level playing field if you aren’t a donkey nor an elephant.
As the Barr campaign blog put it, “If they are going to ignore the Constitution then far be it from me to believe they are going to pay attention to their own ballot access laws.”
I continue to dream that we actually still live in the America of our founders.
Bob Barr appeared on CNN’s “American Morning” yet again this morning to discuss the state of the GOP and John McCain’s speech last night at the Republican National Convention. As expected he echoed much of his previous statements regarding the GOP and whether he thinks of himself as a spoiler.
He does a good job of turning the conversation to the issues that matter rather than the beauty contest of the two party battle. He also argues that McCain is implying he is for going to war with Russia.
The Bob Barr campaign sent out a press release earlier today claiming that Barr is slated to be the only Presidential candidate on the November ballot in Texas. Apparently, the Democrats and Republicans have failed to meet the filing deadline for being on the ballot in the state. Well, at least that was the first report.
Ballot Access News seemed to confirm the initial report by verifying that “at 2:30 pm Texas time, August 27, Kim Kizer of the Texas Secretary of State’s elections division says neither major party’s certification has been received in the Elections Division.” Then later some new information surfaced from a different source that conflicts with this report.
Texas Secretary of State spokesperson Ashley Burton said that upon further checking, “Both parties filed before the deadline. We expect their amended filings after both parties finish their nominating process at the conventions.”
So did the Barr campaign overreact, get all giddy with excitement too soon and issue a false press release? Hardly. They well know the obstacles to ballot access in various states across the country. They are fighting not just for their singular campaign, but for all future third party and independent campaigns. They are throwing gas on the smoldering fire of unfair ballot access rules, doing their best to expose the two party duopoly. The campaign did the same thing when they filed the injunction lawsuit against the Saddleback Church’s Presidential Forum.
There has been some criticism of the Barr campaign recently, but they continue to fight to get the freedom message into as many minds as possible.
Liberty Maven
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