Third Party Watch

From Outright Libertarians:

This Monday, former Congressman (and recent LNC committee member) Bob Barr announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Nomination for President of the United States.

Many of you are wondering where Outright Libertarians stands on this recent development, and the short answer is this: our position has not changed.

We continue to strongly support Dr. George [...]

From the Root for America campaign:

Wayne Allyn Root will debate former United States Senator Mike Gravel on Fox Business Network on Friday May 16th. It is believed to be the first-ever Libertarian Presidential debate to be televised nationally, outside of C-Span coverage during the Libertarian convention. Former Congressman Bob Barr was invited to join the [...]

Those who attended the Libertarian Party’s 2004 national convention in Atlanta may remember this video, which was aired in the convention hall. Steve Kubby’s presidential campaign has YouTubed it in two parts for your viewing pleasure.

The bulk of the video is a feature which was filmed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and which aired on [...]

Here’s the clip that CNN ran about Barr’s campaign announcement.

The front page story from the Washington Times misreported one aspect of Barr’s campaign:

Mr. Barr said he still opposes abortion and the legalization or decriminalization of drugs, just as he did as a federal prosecutor during the Reagan administration and as a Republican in the U.S. [...]

From the Phillies 2008 campaign:

In a statement issued earlier today, Libertarian Presidential candidate George Phillies reiterated his commitment to keeping government at all levels out of the abortion question. “Government, no matter whether state, Federal, or local, has no legitimate right to interfere in your private life or your medical decisions,” he said. “You will [...]

From the Root for America campaign:

“Over the course of the last year I have had the privilege of meeting all of our Presidential candidates. Whether it has been at picnics, debates, forums, or over dinner it has been an honor to have gotten to know them. For the most part, the Libertarian Party and [...]

The following is a motion to be presented at the Libertarian National Convention:

NOTICE OF MOTION
from the Libertarian Party of Colorado

WHEREAS, the current Libertarian Party Statement of Principles fails to describe or explain libertarian philosophy as being consistent with the vision of those patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence,

WHEREAS, the current Libertarian Party Statement of [...]

From the Root for America campaign:

The Las Vegas Sun newspaper will be featuring extensive coverage of Wayne Allyn Root’s Presidential campaign, family and home life in the days preceding the Libertarian Convention. A team of Las Vegas Sun staff- including photo journalist, political reporter, and videographer, have spent extensive time at candidate Root’s home over [...]

Guests: Bill Redpath, Mary Ruwart

Hosts: Steve Kubby, Richard Cowan

Callers: I don’t have audio to check, but off the top of my head I remember Todd Andrew Barnett, Rob Latham, Rob Power, Less Antman, David Nolan and me. If you remember other callers, or listen to the show, let me know in the comments and [...]

As Tom Knapp stated yesterday, this is the first time it’s been “humanly possible” for me to provide my view of Bob Barr’s presidential announcement yesterday. As the photograph above illustrates (from right to left), Doug Bandow, Derek Barr, Bob and his wife, and Russ Verney stood together as the presidential announcement was made.

One [...]

From Christine Smith for President:

The NVP show with Smith is one of the most powerful interviews you can hear. Many issues were discussed, with all three hosts (Bryan Siemon, Ray Powell & Neil Kiernan ) and listeners expressing support of her candidacy on-air. If you listen to just one interview – hear this [...]

Today is Mike Gravel’s birthday and he’s celebrating with this YouTube. He also (according to an e-mail I received from his campaign) just won a presidential straw poll in West Virginia. Here are the numbers they have provided TPW:

Below are the straw poll results from the West Virginia LP Convention, held yesterday.

Senator Mike [...]

USA Today story here.

I’m sure TPW publisher Stephen Gordon will offer more details as soon as humanly possible, either in an edit to this story or a full separate piece—this is just the “news flash!” version. Feel free to take it away in comments, though.

Over at LRC, Less Antman has declared the Dallas Accord dead. Here’s how he describes the informal agreement among Libertarians:

At the LP Convention in Dallas, Texas in 1974, disagreement on whether police, courts, and large-scale defense ought to remain government functions or be provided on the free market threatened to derail hopes for libertarian [...]

From a release distributed by Ruth Bennett:

Several of you have talked to me about running for Governor of Washington State this year. A couple of you actually volunteered to help! I have been thinking about it since I ran in 2004 when I got about 63,000 votes and the difference between the winner D [...]

From the LA Times:

Paul’s presidential candidacy has been correctly dismissed all along in terms of winning the nomination. He was even excluded as irrelevant by Fox News from a nationally-televised GOP debate in New Hampshire.

But what’s been largely overlooked is Paul’s candidacy as a reflection of a powerful lingering dissatisfaction with the Arizona senator among [...]

It looks like Libertarian National Committee member Pat Dixon is holding public office once again. Here’s an e-mail from his campaign:

Marcia Gully 239 votes, 42%
Pat Dixon 336 votes, 58%

Thank you to everyone who supported me. I appreciate the donations you have made to my campaign to get phone surveys, direct mail, newspaper ads, [...]

From Phillies 2008:

Libertarian Presidential candidate George Phillies today condemned ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) export restrictions as “a highly effective American subsidy for foreign manufacturers,” and said they should be repealed.

“ITAR makes sense if you believe that America has a monopoly on high-tech engineering and research,” Phillies said, “and if you believe that foreigners [...]

The AJC’s Political Insider, John Martin at Politico, CNN’s Mark Preston, Reason’s David Weigel and others report that Bob Barr will be holding a press conference on Monday. According to Martin and Preston, inside sources have confirmed that Barr will announcing a presidential race. It’s no big secret that I’m a campaign insider, but [...]

One of the recurring themes of third party politics in America seems to be the phenomenon of the “hostile takeover.” A disgruntled major party politician, an eccentric multi-millionaire, or perhaps a group of major party factional schemers decides that rather than working within the party of their putative loyalty, or perhaps forming a new party, [...]

From Phillies 2008:

Libertarian Presidential candidate George Phillies today condemned the War on Iraq as an overwhelming financial catastrophe. “We will spend three trillion dollars,” he said, “on a war without a reason. Beyond the irreparable loss, the Iraqi and American war dead, an astronomical financial loss is now being visited on the American taxpayer.

“Thanks to [...]

by Steve Kubby

Dear fellow Libertarians,

I’ve got a secret that I want to share with you. Some of you may find it a startling revelation. Some of you may find it disappointing. Still others may read things into it that you shouldn’t. So I’ll have a little bit of explaining to do. But it’s been bothering [...]

From the Root for America campaign:

Libertarian Presidential candidate Wayne Allyn Root will be traveling to New York for a Libertarian Presidential debate on Fox Business Channel on Friday May 16th. Former United States Senator Mike Gravel has agreed to debate Root. Former Congressman Barr has also been invited by Fox. Root will appear on other [...]