It has been vexing to find my old support of Ron Paul so starkly at odds with the my later support of Bob Barr.   I admit that I have been discouraged by the falling-out between them and what is admittedly the mistake of Ron Paul in refusing to make a choice several weeks ago rather than offer a blanket endorsement of third-party candidates generally.  In end, despite my reservations about the disorganization inside the Constitution Party and the various state-level efforts to recruit Paul as presidential nominee, all of which reflect the typical confusion and disorder that I have come to expect from my party, I am actually a registered member of the New Mexico affiliate of the Constitution Party.  I had not watched Barr’s running commentary on the presidential debate on Friday, and I only heard his post-debate remarks today.  Give Barr credit–he is talking about providing leadership, and his remarks on Friday have led me to conclude that I will not vote for him in November. 

No doubt he has the support of various Reason folks who refused to defend Ron Paul against the attacks leveled against him when it actually mattered, and he is welcome to that unreliable support.  The main reason for supporting Barr rather than Baldwin in the first place was that Barr would prove to be a more viable candidate and would win more votes than any Libertarian or rightist third-party candidate in recent history.  The objective in supporting Barr was supposed to be that he would provide someone who would unite both Paul-supporting libertarians with cultural conservatives who remembered Barr’s past record and wanted a conservative alternative to McCain.  However, Ron Paul’s endorsement of Baldwin has made clear that the better candidate to support to pursue that end is Chuck Baldwin. 

Considering how recently Barr has endorsed a whole host of libertarian positions, he is no position to lecture anyone about a lack of fidelity to the cause of liberty.  I was willing to overlook much of Barr’s past record on the grounds that he had changed his mind, but through a series of decisions that he made I am no longer inclined to do that.  If I wanted to hear Chuck Baldwin attacked as a theocrat I could find that just as easily on the left.  In the end, Ron Paul retains a great deal more credibility in my eyes than Barr will ever have.  Whatever mistakes he has made this year, I take him far more seriously and his endorsement has more weight with me than anything Barr might say. 

Vote for Chuck Baldwin for President!