Liberty MavenFive Reasons Ron Paul Supporters Should Support Bob Barr
May 26th, 2008 8:23 am | by Marc Gallagher | Published in Bob Barr, Election, Libertarianism, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Politics, Ron Paul | 6 Comments
Shortly following the Libertarian Party nominating Bob Barr as its Presidential candidate, the Ron Paul message boards were on fire with factions both in support of Barr and against Barr. Hidden a bit in the back and forth was a gem of a post that deserves attention no matter who you support. It concisely articulates why I support Bob Barr for President. It comes from a former Libertarian delegate for Aaron Russo (back in 2004), and a current supporter of Mary Ruwart. This is from user ‘Peace&Freedom’ on Ron Paul forums:
Ah, memories. I was on that LP stage four years ago, making one of the nominating speeches for Aaron Russo for President (where I asked the convention to ‘take the red pill,’ and go with a different-than-usual choice). This year I leaned towards Ruwart at the end, but can’t say I’m displeased with the choice of Barr. His nomination practically helps the Paul Revolution tremendously in 5 ways:
One, it virtually insures a McCain defeat in November, which will make it MUCH easier for the Ron Paul Republicans to start transforming the GOP, IF that’s possible. A McCain election victory would have given that movement no real chance for party reform; now it does have a chance.
Two, it sets up a 1-2 punch to the Republican Party to move it in a pro-liberty direction, with libertarian pressure being applied to it from both within (from the RPRs) and without (the spoiler role the LP will have this year).
Three, because it will be the LP taking the heat for playing spoiler, it accordingly takes the heat OFF the Paulites within the GOP from being scapegoated if/when McCain loses.
Four, Barr will continue many or most of the Paul themes through the election, thus keeping the Paul movement’s impact on politics going strong through the end of 2008.
And Five, the Barr nomination partially revives the theoretical possibility Republicans could toss over McCain as their nominee by or at the GOP convention, since the writing should already be on the wall for rank and file Republicans that Mac is dead s a doornail.
Not a bad day for liberty at all. Barr/Root LP08!!
May 26th, 2008 at 5:54 pm (#)
Marc,
I really wish you would step back and rethink your stance.
The five reasons you posted written by ‘Peace and Freedom’ are in my opinion truly lame, nothing more than stale pond water.
I would like to provide you and your readership with substantial reasons (probably less than 5) why Ron Paul supporters SHOULD NOT vote for Bob Barr and, in this particular instance, less is much, much MORE!
The article I reference (link provided) came from LewRockwell.com and is written by a Joshua Katz http://www.lewrockwell.com/katz-j/katz-j28.html
• “While Barr seems, in some ways, to be among the more libertarian-leaning conservatives, he is not a libertarian on the most important issue of our time – foreign policy. I have yet to hear an unambiguous commitment to immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Unlike Paul, he also has not promised to remove our troops from the other 150 countries in which they are stationed. Barr’s campaign website uses the rhetoric of non-intervention, but a perusal of the articles available on that same website gives the lie to any idea that he opposes foreign intervention”
• “Barr calls for use of foreign aid – money stolen from Americans – to achieve better drug enforcement – forcing Americans to pay in order to be foiled as consumers. He has praised Bush for the surge, which “is working,” supported the use of military tribunals, and argued for reauthorization of the Patriot Act – an act for which he voted”.
• “Much is made about Barr’s libertarian voting record in the US Congress. Yet the man who claims to be for privacy, who runs the Privacy Watch List, voted for what was, at its time, the most egregious violation of privacy on the books. Even if he now says he regrets this vote, what does it say for his judgment, for the positions he will take in the future? Besides, to what extent can he truly regret voting for the Act if as recently as 2005 he was advocating for its reauthorization? The Patriot Act was not a difficult decision, and he made the wrong call on it. As President, he will face more subtle and difficult decisions. He has given us little reason to trust him.”
Not unlike McCain, Barr has been given a free ride, and not unlike McCain, many of the facts about Barr are not being reported by the MSM.
Once again I will state, and I agree with Mr. Katz, “the LP needed to put forth a consistent, principled libertarian, one well-versed in the libertarian scholarship, in order to continue the educational task…”
The LP failed us with their Presidential nomination of Barr. They confused their priorities with the possibility of short term success; they will fail with the long term return of freedom to our nation.
Regards, Donna
May 26th, 2008 at 9:25 pm (#)
Donna,
Thanks for the comment but I’m not swayed (as you might expect).
I’m not sure how to quantify “short term success” for the Libertarian Party. Bob Barr is not going to be President. He is a tool to help spread Ron Paul’s freedom message. He is a tool to set the stage for future elections for liberty minded candidates of all parties.
As I’ve stated there may be a few devils in the details of the issues he supports, but in general his message is one of free markets, low taxes, states rights, and civil liberties. THAT is what gets play on television and in the newspapers. THAT is Ron Paul’s message.
If the Libertarian Party nominated a “consistent, principled libertarian, one well-versed in the libertarian scholarship” as Katz says… no one would care because that is what they’ve always done. Nominating Barr is a news maker and therefore provides opportunity for more people to hear Ron Paul’s message from someone other than Paul. From someone who was a long time Republican who still has great respect from many in the GOP.
It would be an amazing thing to see if Barr could somehow work his way into the debates. He’d likely have to poll at 15% or more to do that, so it is not likely to happen, especially with the Ron Paul base being split about him.
Barr is not going to be the next President so him wavering on the periphery of Ron Paul’s platform doesn’t carry much weight with me. The point is… he is running on Ron Paul’s general ideas and he has the best chance to spread those ideas out of anyone left in the race, even Ron Paul himself.
Therefore, I support Bob Barr for President, and I believe all Ron Paul supporters should do so as well. I know that is a pipe dream, but it does look like more Paul supporters are going to be voting for Barr than any of the other candidates left in the race, if you put any weight in the results of this poll on Ron Paul Forums:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=139820
Wouldn’t it be great if Barr got all of those write-in votes as well as the votes for Baldwin? Well it would be great to me. But while it seems Paul supporters are split on their choice, it does seem more of them will be supporting Barr than the others.
Thanks again Donna. I really do appreciate your viewpoint.
-Marc
May 26th, 2008 at 10:50 pm (#)
Marc,
I thank you for your thoughtful response. And, like you, I’m not that easily swayed.
As I recall, Harry Browne, who was a principled libertarian, one who was well-versed in the libertarian scholarship, somehow still managed to gain newsworthy support.
You keep saying Barr will not be President, but what if he is? We’re ripe for a Third Party candidate! And, do you nominate a candidate just for the buzz, or because you want him to win the Presidency? What will you think of Barr’s past voting record if he wins?
I do not belive for one minute that Barr truly represent Ron Paul’s beleifs, or his voting record wouln’t be an issue. When you sell Barr to your readership like he’s the next Ron Paul you not only do a diservice to your readership, you totally misrepresent Ron Paul.
The closest Barr will ever come to representing Ron Paul will be to do just what he’s doing…Riding on Ron Paul’s coat tails.
Regards, Donna
May 26th, 2008 at 11:24 pm (#)
Donna,
Harry Browne is the closest person I have to a political idol. Indeed Harry Browne got some media attention, but I suspect Barr will get infinitely more by comparison.
I have never suggested that Barr was the next Ron Paul. In fact I’ve stated that there will never be another Ron Paul. All I’ve suggested is that the best way to spread the freedom message to the most people is by supporting Bob Barr.
Barr was considered one of the most “libertarian” Republicans while he was in Congress. He is good friends with Ron Paul. He worked with Ron Paul on several bills while they were both in Congress. He introduced Ron Paul at the CPAC conference. Barr joined the Libertarian Party over 2 years ago. So it’s difficult for me to see how he is merely “riding on Ron Paul’s coat tails”.
In fact, I firmly believe Ron Paul would endorse Barr if Paul weren’t faithful to the GOP. I don’t expect this to actually happen because Ron Paul won’t even endorse against neo-con incumbent Republicans, even when a “Ron Paul Republican” is running against the incumbent neo-con. (as in the case of Vern McKinley’s campaign against Frank Wolf).
In truth, I don’t mind him riding the coat tails of Ron Paul as long as that wonderful freedom message is being spread further.
The good thing in this case is that we will get to watch it all unfold because Barr is the nominee and in the race. I hope that we can continue our discussions as the race goes on.
If Barr should magically become President, one of us will be proven right. I doubt that will happen, but we can certainly monitor Barr’s actions, rhetoric, and media appearances in the next several months to gauge how much of an impact he is having at spreading the message.
While still split, it seems a plurality of Ron Paul Forums people agree with me. I certainly can see myself in the future lamenting what might have been, had all of the Ron Paul faithful put their support behind Barr. As it is, we will see how it goes.
Enjoy.
May 27th, 2008 at 3:09 pm (#)
I like these ideas very much. While highly unlikely, I don’t believe it is legally impossible for the Republican delegates to abandon McCain at the convention, even on the first ballot. And even if there were a rule directing votes be cast as decided in the primaries and caucuses against the will of the delegates, I bet there isn’t a rule against reversing the outcome on a motion to reconsider. Republicans are like elephants, however. They are just too loyal and cumbersome to take such an action, no matter how bleak the polls may be.
If McCain chose a Giuliani or Lieberman or Bloomberg to be his running mate, I think there would be revolution and his nominee would fail. But for the convention to turn to Ron Paul, either to be V-P, or to replace McCain, may be more than we can reasonably expect of Republicans this year.
The most optimistic scenario may be for McCain to squeeze through such an abominable running mate in Minneapolis, and for Ron Paul to leave the convention willing to join Bob Barr on his ticket. In that case, it wouldn’t strain credulity to believe that the Barr-Paul ticket might best the McCain-War Hawk Liberal GOP team in the November balloting, a la 1912.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:28 pm (#)
I’m a former Republican and disappointed with the direction of the party. I’ve been in and out of the Constitution Party for several years and also disappointed with their choice of Baldwin over Alan Keyes. I’m excited with the selection of Bob Barr to represent the Libertarian Party and will support him in November. He is not a Republican. McCain will sell us out at the border with amnesty for illegals and Clinton and Obama are both socialists. My prediction: Bob Barr will win enough states in the General Election prevent anyone. The US House will decide the next President in January 09. McCain 20%-25% of the popular vote, Hillary or Obama 35% - 40%, Bob Barr 20% - 25% and Baldwin 5%. Watch the nominees for the US House in your District and vote smart!