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Bob Barr Implodes

Two weeks ago the Libertarian nominee pulled out of a press conference Ron Paul had called with the four leading third-party candidates (Barr, Baldwin, Nader, McKinney) to highlight their common ground. Barr decided to hold a press conference of his own down the hall. He also sent Paul a snide note — transmitted to Barr’s […]

Two weeks ago the Libertarian nominee pulled out of a press conference Ron Paul had called with the four leading third-party candidates (Barr, Baldwin, Nader, McKinney) to highlight their common ground. Barr decided to hold a press conference of his own down the hall. He also sent Paul a snide note — transmitted to Barr’s e-mail list as well — suggesting that Paul ought to replace the hapless Wayne Allyn Root as Barr’s running mate. This ploy could hardly have been more ham-handed: if Barr wanted to appear generous, he should have offered Paul, obviously by far the bigger attraction, his own slot at the top of the Libertarian ticket. Paul would not have accepted, but Barr at least would have received credit from some libertarians (note the small “l”) for making a serious offer.

After the press conference, Paul’s supporters, not to say Paul himself, were furious with Barr. And now, as a result of all of this, Paul is officially giving his blessing to Constitution Party nominee Chuck Baldwin. Here’s Paul’s statement. I don’t think Paul wanted to choose between Baldwin, who faithfully supported Paul’s Republican presidential bid earlier this year, and Barr, the nominee of the party whose ticket Paul had headed in 1988. But Barr’s behavior forced a decision, and the Libertarian Party is the loser for it.

I say Barr’s behavior, but it has to be kept in mind that Barr has some rather nefarious characters working for him, starting with campaign maestro Russ Verney, who made his name as a top adviser to Ross Perot, but who is also well known to some of us for helping to turn the Reform Party into a radioactive environment for Pat Buchanan in 2000. Verney, who thinks George W. Bush “showed incredible leadership” by standing atop a firetruck on 9/11, is not known to be a libertarian, big “L” or small. He’s a political mercenary who, at best, utterly misunderstood how a Libertarian nominee should relate to libertarian voters. And at worst … well, let’s put it this way: the Libertarian Party won’t be the first party Verney has wrecked.

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