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Libertarians rally for prez

Third party faces obstacles but stays optimistic

By Bill Gallo, Special To The News

Published May 23, 2008 at 9 p.m.

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Representatives from Virginia, John Munchmeyer, left, and James Curtis mix a little bit of fun with serious issues at the Libertarian Convention at the Sheraton Hotel in Denver on Friday. The Libertarians are in town to pick their presidential candidate.

Photo by Linda McConnell / Special To The Rocky

Representatives from Virginia, John Munchmeyer, left, and James Curtis mix a little bit of fun with serious issues at the Libertarian Convention at the Sheraton Hotel in Denver on Friday. The Libertarians are in town to pick their presidential candidate.

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Is Bob Barr the longshot who wings John McCain in November? Can the combative former Georgia congressman bleed the Barack Obama campaign of enough youthful energy that Yes We Can becomes Just No Way?

For now, delegates to the Libertarian Party National Convention, in full cry this weekend at the Sheraton Denver, hold tight to "We're-in-this-to-win" optimism.

But if Barr, who bolted from the Republican Party two years ago, wins the Libertarian presidential nomination Sunday afternoon, he knows his only possible role in this fall's general election would be as third-party spoiler.

Think Ralph Nader, Al Gore and hanging chads in 2000. Or the 60-million-dollar man, Ross Perot, circa 1992.

"If I make the Republicans and Democrats uncomfortable, that's good," Barr said Friday in an interview with the Rocky.

"I certainly intend to take a lot of votes from both parties. This is the year that the Libertarian Party's profile will rise significantly because there is huge dissatisfaction with the Republicans and Democrats all across the board."

The famously fractious Libertarians, now 250,000 strong, have been around since 1971. This year, they boast 14 candidates competing for the party's presidential nomination.

Among them, a California cancer patient campaigning on his endorsement of medical marijuana, a Florida businessman who's posted his family's coat of arms on his Web site and ex-Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, a former Democrat .

Front-runner Barr, who led the call for President Clinton's impeachment, declared his candidacy just 12 days ago. But he's long since taken cues from the $35 million, Internet-based fundraising effort of now inactive 2008 Republican candidate Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who was the Libertarian nominee in 1988.

"Ron ran a phenomenal campaign," Barr said, "and we are already tapping into that."

Trying to capitalize, the Barr campaign has hired a strategist from the Paul camp, as well as an old Perot hand.

Like Paul, Barr is a fierce small-government advocate and a longtime critic of President Bush's Iraq war policy.

In his congressional stint, from 1995 to 2003, Barr was known as "Mr. Privacy" for his devotion to personal freedoms like privacy and gun ownership. He pledges huge federal budget cuts and, of late, warns against military intervention in Iran.

The former congressman acknowledges that some Republican "acquaintances" tried to discourage his third-party candidacy, lest it hurt McCain's chances in November.

He ignored their advice, he says, because the Arizona senator's conservative credentials are "almost nonexistent" and because "the country is ready for, I hate to say 'change,' because that's the theme of the Obama campaign. Americans are ready for something new because they're fed up with the major parties. We're here to give them the choice they're demanding."

Barr and the Libertarians face huge obstacles - relative obscurity, 11th-hour financing, and the perennial fight to get third-party candidates on the ballot in battleground states.

But neither the candidate nor members of the Barr-centric Georgia delegation at the Sheraton seem particularly daunted.

Delegate James Bell, a videographer from Atlanta, said he is one of the Georgians "responsible for moving Bob Barr . . . into the Libertarian Party."

Considering this coup, Bell smiled and said, "I believe Bob is now ready to take this party, and this country, to a whole different level."

If you go

* For more information on speakers and ticket prices, call 720-341-2193 or go to denverlpcon.com.

Comments

  • May 24, 2008

    7:44 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    bxwatso writes:

    Voting Libertarian is easy because you don't have to hold your nose at the manure and double talk coming from the traditional candidates. Libertarians are the only party that don't nanny you and pretend they can solve every problem with a new program and higher taxes.

  • May 24, 2008

    10:09 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    socrates writes:

    Also, voting libertarian is easy because it's really hard to think.

  • May 24, 2008

    1:03 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    derecho64 writes:

    It may be difficult for "socrates" to think, but not for the rest of us, who choose the Libertarian Party because of the doublethink and contempt coming out of the Demopublicrats.

  • May 25, 2008

    10:13 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Retread writes:

    Too bad these ideals cannot/will not be heard of by the masses, thanks to our two sided media. They ran Ron Paul out of Republicant camp, he was the only canidate with a fresh perspective on foreign policy. We would not want common sense to break out, it would end war, spending, and idiotic foreign policy..

  • May 25, 2008

    1:05 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    bugmenot writes:

    You say Barr "knows his only possible role in this fall's general election would be as third-party spoiler."

    Apparently you forgot what elections are for. Voting is the people's opportunity to say what we want. I do NOT want McCain, I do NOT want Hillary or Obama, I want LIBERTY. Having a Libertarian on the ballot -- ANY Libertarian -- gives me a voice.

    If I had to hold my nose and vote for McCain, everyone would think I support what McCain stands for.

  • May 25, 2008

    6:09 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    bugmenot writes:

    "... now inactive 2008 Republican candidate Ron Paul?"

    Ron Paul campaigned in Phoenix, AZ on 5/22 and in San Diego, CA on 5/23. If it is your intent to accurately report the news as it relates to Ron Paul, I suggest you visit http://www.ronpaul2008.com so you can get your facts straight.