McCain, Obama ... Barr?

By Jennifer J. Foster

Published: May 12, 2008

Party disunity, nefarious plots ... No, I’m not talking about the race for the Democratic presidential nomination!

A few weeks back, I noted that former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) was closing in on a run for the presidency ... on the Libertarian ticket. He’s expected to make it official today.

I was annoyed with the idea when it first made news:

Can I just ask one question? (OK, that was one, but there’s one more.) How much sense does it make to run for president, commit to the grueling travel schedule, participate in all those debates, choke down who-knows-how-many chicken cordon bleu dinners at party events, shake an untold number of hands, suffer through all the local political soirees and fulfill all the other obligations of a major presidential campaign and then turn around and endorse someone who didn’t think running for president was important enough—or the American voters are important enough—to go through the process the way that you did?

... and I’m no fonder of it now.

Sure, Libertarians can do what they will. My only point is that it discredits U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and his efforts so far for Barr to enter the race at this point as a Libertarian. Paul is a Libertarian (yes, I know he’s a registered Republican, but we all know that he’s a Libertarian) running as a Republican; now we have Barr, who made his name as a Republican, running as a Libertarian.

Paul is still in the race. I’d like to ask those in the “reLOVEution:“ Are you going to support Paul, who became a bult phenomenon as he carried your standard for nearly a year, or Barr, who is best known for his work as a manager of the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton?

There are plenty of stories available about this, but I picked this one from the LA Times because it offered an interesting headline: “Ron Paul’s forces quietly plot GOP convention revolt against McCain.“

And you thought Democrats were having all the fun!