Third Party Watch

The Barr campaign today sent out an email (excerpt below) asking for user-contributed concepts for campaign commercials. A set of recently-created video mashups already being contributed is here. A larger playlist that collects more Libertarian commercials is here.

I don’t want to delay our media campaign any longer.

We need your creative help to get [...]

David F. Nolan was the first national chair of the Libertarian Party, having been the prime mover behind its formation in 1971. On his Nolan Chart website he says:

As of yesterday afternoon, Bob Barr’s Presidential campaign is effectively over. There were signs of serious trouble even before yesterday, but his “no-show” at Ron Paul’s [...]

Andrew Davis is the media coordinator of the Libertarian Party, and on the party’s blog he defends Bob Barr’s decision to absent himself from the Ron Paul press conference—without specifically mentioning that event. In “Third-Parties and the Philosophy of Liberty” he writes:

There are very real, and very diametric differences between the Libertarian Party and [...]

Russ Verney, Bob Barr’s campaign manager, just doesn’t get it. He persuaded his candidate to snub Ron Paul’s third-party press conference on Wednesday and hold his own press conference down the hall, where Barr criticized Paul’s effort. And when that released a torrent of criticism, Verney defended those actions on Thursday but used [...]

Third-party circles have been abuzz for days about the “major press conference” Ron Paul scheduled for the National Press Club this morning. “Dr. Paul will announce his intentions for the fall presidential election and will be accompanied by several special guests.”

First I learned that Chuck Baldwin would be one of those special guests. [...]

The following is a statement presented Wednesday, September 10, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. It was presented to the media by Rep. Ron Paul, former Republican presidential candidate, joined by Cynthia McKinney, Green Party presidential candidate, Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party presidential candidate, and Ralph Nader, Independent presidential candidate. At a [...]

At 10 am today, Wednesday, September 10, former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Joining him behind the dais were Cynthia McKinney, presidential candidate of the Green Party, Chuck Baldwin, presidential candidate of the Constitution Party, and Ralph Nader, Independent candidate for president.

One [...]

The following is a media release from the Barr presidential campaign. The text of Barr’s letter to Ron Paul can be found in the posting below.

www.BobBarr2008.com
Interview Contact: Andrew Davis
Email: Andrewdavis@bobbarr2008.com
Phone: (202) 731-0002

Bob Barr Shows Leadership to Unify Liberty Movement
Asks Paul to Run as his Vice President

Atlanta, GA – Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee [...]

The following is the text of Bob Barr’s letter to Ron Paul, urging him to join his Libertarian Party ticket as the vice presidential nominee:

September 9, 2008

The Honorable Ron Paul
Committee to Re-Elect Ron Paul
837 W. Plantation
Clute, TX 71531

Dear Dr. Paul: [“Ron” in handwriting]

Our nation is fast approaching a precipice that, if crossed, will damage our [...]

Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president, finally said what was on everybody’s mind during a recent appearance on MSNBC. While fielding a question about Palin and Obama’s experience, Barr stated that Palin needs to be ready to takeover because McCain is ‘old.’

McCain’s age has been a taboo topic for political pundits unwilling [...]

The Houston Chronicle obtained an advance copy of Ron Paul’s prepared remarks for the press conference he is holding Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Joining him will be third party presidential candidates Bob Barr (Libertarian Party), Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party), Ralph Nader (Independent), and Cynthia McKinney (Green Party).

According to the [...]

Austin Cassidy says on Conservative Pulse:

Ron Paul will appear on the ballot in Louisiana as a Presidential candidate this November, despite never expressing an interest in doing so. It seems that there are a few states where a candidate can be placed on the ballot for President or Vice-President entirely by the actions of supporters. [...]

As we’ve reported before, both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party failed to register their candidates by the statutory deadline in Texas, presumably leaving Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party as the only candidate on the state’s presidential ballot.

Texas has 34 electoral votes, more than any other state except California. It is [...]

The Missoulian in Missoula, Montana reports on an interesting development in that state, namely that Ron Paul is presently slated to be on the presidential ballot as the candidate of the Constitution Party of Montana, which has split off from the national Constitution Party. Bob Barr and Ralph Nader will also be on the [...]

Perhaps an issue has fallen into the lap of Bob Barr that will give his little-noticed presidential campaign some traction—especially among libertarian-minded Ron Paul backers who have not exactly flocked to Barr’s banner.

So begins the Los Angeles Times politics blog Top of the Ticket. It then quotes from the Barr campaign’s media release on [...]

Speculation is rife about what’s going to happen Wednesday when Ron Paul has his press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. On their websites, both the Constitution Party’s presidential candidate, Chuck Baldwin, and the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate, Bob Barr, say they will be joining Ron Paul at the press club.

What [...]

Ballot Access News

On September 5, U.S. District Court Judge John Copenhaver upheld West Virginia ballot access laws for president. Barr v Ireland, 2:08-0990.

The decision is 34 pages long. It puts heavy stress on the problems that a later deadline than August 1 would cause elections officials. Of course, if the state didn’t require so many [...]

National Journal, covering Bob Barr at the GOP convention, reports:

“Bob Barr is a friend of mine; he’s a good guy,” said former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican. But Hastert declined to forecast Barr’s November performance, instead saying, “The Democrats have the Green Party, and the Republicans have the Libertarian Party.” The comparison may [...]

The Boston Globe reports that “Libertarian Bob Barr has qualified for New Hampshire’s presidential ballot as an alternative to Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.”

The third-party alternatives on the ballot in New Hampshire now include Barr, Independent candidate Ralph Nader, and another Libertarian, George Phillies.

The article notes:

Third-party presidential candidates need 3,000 certified signatures—1,500 from [...]

The following is a media release from the Barr presidential campaign:

www.BobBarr2008.com
Interview Contact: Andrew Davis
Email: Andrewdavis@bobbarr2008.com
Phone: (202) 731-0002

Obama, McCain Fail to Qualify for Texas Ballot
Barr Met Deadline, Demands Law Be Enforced

Atlanta, GA - The Bob Barr presidential campaign has stated “serious legal consequences” will occur should Senators Barack Obama and John McCain be allowed on the [...]

The following is an op-ed in the September 2 issue of the Washington Times, by Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr:

The dirty little secret about social security
The problem can be solved
Bob Barr
Tuesday, September 2, 2008

I am frustrated by the refusal of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama to adequately confront Social Security’s looming fiscal crunch. [...]

CQPolitics found Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, where he was seeing old friends and trying to get support from the Ron Paul fans in town. Barr seemed immune to the Palinmania going on inside the convention hall:

Barr said reports of a “cursory vetting process” for [...]

Bob Barr gets an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association and is an NRA board member, while McCain receives a C rating. But few expect the NRA to buck the Republican Party in any way.

Gun Owners of America is another story. GOA makes the NRA look like the Sarah Brady bunch. [...]

ABC News’ Nitya Venkataraman reports from Minneapolis that Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr stopped by Ron Paul’s Minneapolis “Rally for the Republic” to meet and greet supporters of the Texas congressman:

“Ron has chosen to work within the Republican Party, I’ve chosen to work through the Libertarian Party through the electoral route, but we all want [...]

Ballot Access News reports that “the Republican Party challenge to Bob Barr’s Pennsylvania ballot position has been moved from September 4 to September 5 (Friday). It will be at 10 a.m. in Courtroom One, Widener Bldg., 1339 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Experienced election law attorney Sam Stretton will be defending Barr.”

The GOP is seeking to invalidate [...]