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Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr of Georgiamarker announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's nomination for President of the United States on May 12, 2008 after months of grassroots draft efforts. Bob Barr won the party's nomination after six rounds of voting on May 25 at the 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention. The candidate portrayed himself as an alternate for conservatives to the Republican nominee John McCain. He emphasized his opposition to the Republican Party for its positions on the War in Iraq and the PATRIOT Act but stood as an advocate for border security and fiscal constraint.

Barr finished fourth in the race, behind Ralph Nader, receiving 523,686 votes, or 0.4% of the vote.

Early stages

Presidential candidate Bob Barr
On March 19, 2008, Barr confirmed his interest in running for president. This came as the media acknowledged a movement on Facebook to encourage the former Congressman to begin a campaign. Barr remarked that there existed a "dissatisfaction with the candidates for the two major parties" but commended presidential candidate and Republican Congressman Ron Paul for "advocat[ing] libertarian and true conservative principles." Pollster John Zogby commented that a possible Barr candidacy would be potentially upsetting for Republicans, and described his possible supporters as individuals who see him "as a consistent libertarian who opposed the PATRIOT Act, budget deficits and gun control." Later in March Barr stated that he was "looking very seriously at" a presidential run.

Barr launched an exploratory committee and created a campaign website on April 5, 2008. Within two days the committee reported that $25,000 had been contributed from supporters. Later in April, the committee found through polling research that Barr had the support of 7% of the electorate despite not being an announced candidate. On the lead up to Barr's impending announcement, columnist George Will wrote an article in Newsweek chronicling the Libertarian Party and the potential candidate's run. Will stated that Barr could have a similar effect on the election as Ralph Nader did in 2000 yet described the potential effect as a "condign punishment" to presumptive Republican Party nominee John McCain for his co-sponsorship of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, which Barr opposed.

Campaign developments

Libertarian Party nomination campaign

Bob Barr announces his candidacy for president
Barr announced that he had officially begun a campaign on May 12, 2008. He stated in his announcement that his run would give the American people a "meaningful choice" to vote for in November so they would not have to "hold their nose and pull a lever...for the lesser of two evils." He cited the need for a reduction in the size of government as the primary reason for his run. In response to the announcement, Republican consultant Christopher R. Barron took a different approach to Barr's potential effect, countering the claim of George Will. Baron stated that Barr's run "is unlikely to hurt Sen. McCain in any significant way" but that it could "actually help McCain by siphoning off some of the enthusiasm among college voters and antiwar advocates for Obama."

During an interview with Newsweek following his entrance into the race, Barr responded to a question on why he decided to announce his candidacy two weeks before the Libertarian convention. He remarked that he had not "seriously consider[ed] [running] until about five or six weeks" prior to announcing. When asked if he believed he was a "spoiler" in the race to John McCain, Barr stated that "the votes [he would receive] are not going to come from people that are committed to voting for McCain." Also during the interview, Barr commented that his campaign would make use of the internet similar to methods employed by Ron Paul and Barack Obama to mobilize young voters.

Barr's campaign manager Russ Verney sent a fundraising memorandum on May 19 that included his predictions for the campaign's prospects. He compared the candidate to Ross Perot, for whom Verney served as advisor in 1992 and 1996. He set a future timeline where Barr would participate in the nationally televised debates in October 2008, and capture 19% of the vote on Election Day. The manager commented that Barr's run was "no ordinary presidential campaign" and that he had a chance to do well in the election because "America is swamped in Libertarian information."

Barr participated in the Libertarian Party presidential debate on May 20, 2008 at Dupont Circlemarker sponsored by Reason Magazine, and attended by fellow contenders Mike Gravel and Wayne Allyn Root. Barr remarked during the debate that "inside the heart of every American beats the heart of a libertarian" and that the nation was entering on a "Libertarian era." He also stated that as president he would eliminate the Department of Education. Later in the debate, Barr's opponent, Root, criticized the Washington media for its portrayal of Barr as the only candidate, an action he described as absurd.

Libertarian presidential nomination



As the 2008 Libertarian National Convention held in Denver, Coloradomarker approached, the "radical" members of the Libertarian caucus criticized the "mainstream" Barr by distributing fliers that declared that the "Libertarian Party [is] not for sale." The criticism was in response to allegations that Barr's campaign was an attempt by conservatives to take over the party. Libertarian delegates disagreed with the media's portrayal of the race, stating that Barr is "not a shoo-in" for the nomination. At the convention, Barr was attacked by fellow candidates Steve Kubby and Mary Ruwart for his vote in support of the PATRIOT Act in 2001 following the September 11 attacks. Barr responded by stating that he regretted the vote and had spent the previous five years "working [to]...drive a stake through [the PATRIOT ACT's] heart, burn it, shoot it, [and] burn it again..." Barr was named the Libertarian Party's nominee after six rounds of balloting on May 25, 2008. Las Vegasmarker businessman, and fellow Libertarian primary opponent Wayne Allyn Root, was named as his running mate.

General election campaign

On June 4, 2008, as the nominee of the Libertarian Party, Barr invited the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee, John McCain, and the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee, Barack Obama to weekly presidential debates through an official press release. To participate in official presidential debates the Barr campaign must surpass the 15% threshold put in place by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Media coverage

Barr received some media exposure a few days following his nomination by visiting New York Citymarker to appear on the Colbert Report and for an hour long interview on Glenn Beck's Headline News program. The former appearance was part of the campaign's strategy aimed at young voters and former Ron Paul supporters to inform them about his campaign. Young people made up a large portion of the show's viewing audience. During the interview with Colbert, Barr was asked why he "voted for the PATRIOT Act" if he was such a "big advocate of personal privacy." He responded by stating that the Bush Administration "went back on everything they told us [in Congress] they would do with the PATRIOT Act."

It was determined in a study by the Independent Political Report that Bob Barr led all other third party candidates in media reports from an evaluation of Google News. The coverage was attributed by IndyTruth to the campaign's use of daily press releases described as "provocative." Highlighted in the evaluation were reports from Barr that called for the need to remove troops from South Koreamarker and commentary on other presidential candidates. The report stated that the press releases "trigger[ed] widespread chatter in the blogosphere," and was a catalyst for the campaign.

On June 30, Barr appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. He described his qualms with the presumptive Republican nominee, stating that "John McCain is symptomatic of what's wrong with the Republican Party in these first years of the 21st century. They talk one thing but do something different." When asked if he agreed that McCain would be a better choice than Barack Obama he responded that it was "a mixed bag" and that "Senator Obama clearly is much better" on "civil liberties and privacy issues" but that he "would favor a more expansive federal spending policy." Barr opined that "neither of these candidates is talking about the deep cuts in government spending and returning power to the people." Barr identified the Republican Party's position on FISA legislation as his biggest aversion to the party. When confronted with opinion polls that showed Barr with 3% in the presidential race, Barr explained that the numbers would increase in the following weeks announcing that his campaign would be launched "full-time" on July 4.

During an interview with Fox News on July 14, Barr criticized the Treasury Departmentmarker's plan to help Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. His opposition was based on the government's use of taxpayer money to credit the enterprises, explaining that "the taxpayers of this country are being put at further risk" because "this is all taxpayer dollars that we're talking about here." But Barr did state that "doing nothing would not be advisable" and that the government "has to do something." He explained that there "has to be a very firm commitment to restructure Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." Barr was criticized by some Libertarians for his remarks. Boston Tea Party presidential nominee Charles Jay stated that he disagreed with Barr and that there should be no bailout for the lenders and that the government should instead "bail out of the mortgage business and let free markets flow." Jay then labeled Barr as a "dixiecrat."

Campaign activities

Barr was invited by former Vice President Al Gore to attend a We Campaign event to raise awareness for global warming. Barr met with Gore privately and attended the event on July 17, further stating that "global warming is a reality." He affirmed his belief that the government should "remain firmly committed to free market solutions and innovations to address this issue; not tax-driven policies." He praised Gore for his efforts, stating that he was "pleased that Mr. Gore agrees that the public debate of this issue should include me." He criticized his fellow candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama for not attending the event, stating that their absence showed "their unwillingness to address this important issue." He called on his fellow candidates to appear at other "we campaign" events to debate solutions to the problem.

During a visit to Austin, Texasmarker for a fundraiser, Barr made a surprise appearance at the Netroots Nation convention on July 19. The candidate remarked at the meeting of progressive bloggers that "there are a lot of libertarians here, [and] a lot of supporters" of his campaign. Barr's presence at the conference was acknowledged by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who observed that "Bob Barr — even Bob Barr — opposed" the domestic spying bill she was discussing.

Comments from observers

Former Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul made favorable comments about Barr's campaign, saying: "I think (Barr is) running a very important race and I'm encouraging him. I haven't endorsed him but he's saying the kind of things I like to be heard and said. I hope he does real well." Later Paul stated that because Chuck Baldwin, who was running for President under the Constitution Party, worked hard for Paul's campaign, it is "going to be real hard to say I'm for Barr." He says, "for me to pick one over the other is not easy. I hope they both together get a lot of votes."

It was announced at a press conference on September 10, 2008 that Paul would give his open endorsement for three third party candidates—Baldwin, Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney, and independent Ralph Nader, as well as Barr—in opposition to the Republican Party and Democratic Party's nominees. Barr, however, chose not to attend the event, and his name was not included in the final statement released by the other candidates.

Later that day, it was revealed that Barr had earlier offered the Libertarian vice-presidential candidacy to Paul, via a letter. The letter stated that Barr's current running mate, Wayne Allyn Root, would willingly step down should Paul accept the offer. A spokesman for the Paul campaign called Barr's offer "terribly interesting," but added that Paul had no intentions of running on a third party ticket.

Ron Paul dropped his endorsement of Barr on September 22, citing the candidate's criticism of his earlier endorsements. Paul opted to instead support Chuck Baldwin's candidacy.

Results

Barr's campaign ended after receiving 523,686 or 0.40% of the popular vote on Election Day. He finished in fourth place, but won the largest percentage of votes for his party since Harry Browne in 2000. 67,582 of his votes were won in California, the nation's most populous state, but he won the largest percentage in his home state of Georgia with 0.73%.

Polling

May 18, 2008 Rasmussen polling reports showed that in a four-way race between Barack Obama, John McCain, Ralph Nader and Bob Barr, Barr would finish in third place with 6% of the vote leading Nader by 2%. A breakdown of Barr's support showed that he would receive 7% support of Republicans, 5% of Democrats and 5% of unaffiliated voters. The report also showed that most Americans didn't have enough information about Barr to form an opinion about him.May 20 polls from the InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Survey of 652 individuals showed that in his home state of Georgia, Barr would receive 8% of the popular vote, placing him in third place, and 27% behind Barack Obama for second. Zogby polling showed on May 21 that Barr captured 3% nationally in a four-way race. CNN polling on June 7 placed Barr at 2%.

In July 2008, CNN polling placed Barr at 3% in a four-way race butZogby polling placed Barr at 6% nationally. He polled at 8% in four states including Georgiamarker, Coloradomarker, Iowamarker and Minnesotamarker, polled at 9% in Oklahomamarker, New Mexicomarker and Nevadamarker and surveys in New Hampshiremarker put Barr in double-figures at 10%.

A Zogby poll released on August 15, 2008 indicated that most Republicans and Democrats wanted Barr included in the presidential debates. The poll also indicated that nearly 70% of independent voters would have liked to see him included.

Ballot access

Barr achieved ballot access in 45 states according to the Libertarian Party website. He was denied access in Oklahomamarker, after failing to reach the minimum threshold of petition signatures. In July, the campaign filed a lawsuit against the state to try to get the candidate on the ballot despite not meeting the guidelines. Barr also filed lawsuits in Massachusettsmarker, West Virginiamarker and Mainemarker to appear on the ballot under similar circumstances.

Barr's plea in West Virginia failed on September 7 after U.S. District Court Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. dismissed the lawsuit. The judge proclaimed that "it was their (the campaign's) lack of reasonable diligence that ultimately thwarted their effort to gain ballot access here" in West Virginia.

Lawsuits were filed against Barr by GOP members in Pennsylvaniamarker, to prevent the candidate from appearing on the state's ballot on charges that the Libertarian Party tricked individuals into signing the state's ballot access petition. Commonwealth Court Judge Johnny Butler dismissed these allegations on September 16, allowing Barr to remain on the state's ballot.

The campaign also filed a lawsuit to prevent John McCain and Barack Obama from appearing on the ballot in Texas, charging that the candidates' parties did not reach the state's August 26 deadline to report their nominations to the Secretary of State. The current Texas Secretary of State Esperanza Andrade reported that all the correct paperwork was filed but neither the Democratic nor Republican parties formally nominated their candidates (at their respective conventions) until after the deadline.On September 23, 2008, the Texas Supreme Courtmarker rejected Barr's request without giving a reason.

On September 26, 2008, the Louisiana Supreme Courtmarker reversed an earlier decision to keep Barr and Root on the ballot, and ordered that they both be removed due to missing the state's deadline, which passed as state offices were closed because of Hurricane Gustav. The Barr-Root campaign promptly announced that it planned to appeal to the U.S.marker Supreme Courtmarker. But the court refused to hear the case, and on election day, Barr's name was absent from the state's ballot.

Endorsements



Rejected endorsement

James Buchanan, of the white supremacist group White Civil Rights, posted a Barr endorsement on Stormfront.org, urging whites to vote for the "best man" rather than John McCain, whom he described as a "liberal." The Barr campaign repudiated this endorsement, with campaign manager Russ Verney stating, "We do not want and will not accept the support of haters. Tell the haters I said don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out." Verney also emphasized, "anyone with love in their heart for our country and for every resident of our country regardless of race, religion, nationality, or sexual orientation is welcome with open arms."

See also



References

External links

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