Posted on 05/16/2008 5:28:37 AM PDT by Zakeet
Could Bob Barr become this year's Ralph Nader, helping to "spoil" the White House ambitions of John McCain.
The former Georgia Republican congressman announced he was seeking the Libertarian nomination for president this week, and immediately disputed that he is spoiling things for anyone. "The American voters deserve better than simply the lesser of two evils," he said as he outlined his platform to freeze discretionary spending and withdraw from Iraq.
[Snip]
Still, Republicans claim they aren't concerned by Mr. Barr's possible appearance on all those state ballots. But they should be. You can bet cable TV producers who are backing Barack Obama will book the quotable Mr. Barr dozens of times. Don't be surprised if he even teams up with Mr. Nader for tag-team appearances, with the consumer advocate primarily blasting Democrats and Mr. Barr eviscerating Republicans.
So how should Republicans limit the potential damage Mr. Barr could cause them? For starters, John McCain should avoid giving unfortunate speeches such as the one he gave Monday endorsing the discredited cap-and-trade approach to limiting global warming -- a system that has flopped in Europe. Mr. McCain went so far as to say: "If the efforts to negotiate an international solution that includes China and India do not succeed, we still have an obligation to act" against global warming. Given the growth in carbon emissions of those two countries, that is a preposterous statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
That's 5% that McCain doesn't deserve anyway.
He's a buffoon. I suppose he's dangerous depending on what the national media makes of him.
We should ignore him — the less attention he gets the better.
Republicans officials are displaying the idiocy that has gotten them into this mess. Barr is going to pull a lot of conservative votes away because Republican elite have abandoned us. I am not voting for him, because he can’t win and libertarians go to too much of an extreme, but he will pull enough votes to get Obama into the Whitehouse.
Bob Barr is in collusion with the ACLU. Who would be dumb enough to vote for him?
Ron Paul without the charm
Conservatives might avoid McCain but I can’t see them voting for Barr, either. I predict Barr will get 3% of the vote from the right, Nader will get 3% of the vote from the left and neither will have an impact on the outcome.
McCain is McCain’s spoiler.
Conservatives do not need a candidate, they need a party. It is perhaps easier to take over the GOP than start a new party, but sacred cows will have to be dispensed with.
We need a strong conservative movement focused on a simple majority in the house, a super majority in the Senate, and a conservative POTUS. We need a strong platform:
1. A flat sales tax.
2. A return to Constitutional governance.
3. The recognition of the individual as being superior to the power of the state.
4. The end of the federal welfare state.
5. Strict control of our borders.
*snicker*
Libertarians lost my intrest when they started letting truther freaks into their ranks...
Bleh.
Barr won’t get 2%. Where will his votes come from when the fact that he is on the board of the aclu? The rank and file rats won’t trust him and any conservative voting for him wasn’t voting for McCain anyway, he/she was either staying home all together or skipping the top line. McCain will roll big in Nov. at this phony ink junkie barr won’t make a dent in that.
The top issue for conservatives is still defeating the islamofascists wherever they may be found. McCain supports this and the Libertarian Party does not. Therefore Barr will not be a Nader.
Bob who?
“but he will pull enough votes to get Obama into the Whitehouse.”
I still think McCain will win in a landslide. I don’t see why a conservative would vote for Barr. He’s worse than Ron Paul.
Ron Paul has charm? I missed that!
Do not let Bob Barr put a Radical Marxist (i.e. a Democrat) in the White House.
This (Perot) is exactly how Bill Clinton got himself elected to the Presidency. He was the worst President in American history--with the probable exception of Jimmy Carter.
Either of the two potential Democrat candidates would be worse.
Do not vote for Bob Barr. Vote Republican. The future of our children and of the world depends upon defeating the Democrats.
Our nation may never recover completely from the effects of the Bill Clinton Presidency. For example, when teenagers and grammar school children (!) contend that oral sex is not sex--in fact, the sexualization of our children--we feel the results of the Clinton Administration. Will America ever remove such a blight?
The threat of Iran is the direct result of Carter's Presidency.
We are still suffering the results of the Franklin Roosevelt Presidency.
If the Democrats seize the White House and Congress in November, they will seize the Supreme Court also. They will change the United States beyond recognition and recovery. This is what they mean by change.
Our vigilance now tells us not to allow the Democrats to seize control of the Federal Government. This is the price of our liberty and our nation. We must pay it, even if it means electing a Republican who is less than ideal.
So what’s Barr’s position on polar bears drowning?
McCain is opposed.
His global warming scam will steal enough money from Americans to buy each polar bear a lifeboat manned by fat hippies, swimming lessons and free cruise tickets to the icy shores of Tierra del Fuego. And maybe a stop along the way to eat a few Aztecs and steal their gold.
I think pissant forgot the < /sarc > tag...
Mr. Barr is not “sinister”. He is, however, a meathead.
Here endeth the lesson.
Three percent of conservatives supporting someone:
Who participated in his wife's own abortion?
Who carried on an extramarital affair while castigating Clinton for the same thing?
Who has consistently tried to undermine the Patriot Act despite voting against it?
As well, libertarians should remember that this is the same kook who said medical marijuana should be outlawed.
Agree with point #1.
Disagree with point #2. I think the idea of the GOP being the home of conservatism is dead, done, gone.
Nader got 2.7% of the vote.
In the nine presidential elections the Libertarian Party has participated in from 1972-2004 they have received 0.01%, 0.2%, 1.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.4% and 0.3% respectively.
If Barr gets 10% of the number you are predicting it would represent a massive resurgence of the Libertarian Party.
In 2000 the election was tight enough for the environmentalist wing of the Democrat spectrum to bolt and derail the Democrats with 2.7% of the vote.
Will 2008 be tight enough for the abortionist wing of the GOP spectrum to bolt and derail the GOP with maybe 0.5% of the vote (their best showing in a quarter century)?
It's possible.
But will the LP improve its showing from 150,000 votes in 2004 to 6,150,000 in 2008?
No, it won't.
He’s also a JERK.
Yes.
You're referring to McCain obviously.
I love it when people post their unsupported opinions as fact. Get some facts Jack if you want to say stuff like this. Where are the polls?
I don’t know what any self respecting conservative would vote for Barr, who is a former ACLU lawyer. Anyone who would associate with the ACLU can’t be a conservative.
That is a fact. Defending the country has always come first.
The first sentence makes me wonder if the writer and editor understand the basics of punctuation.
The only way for a victim of abuse to be free from it is to leave...so long as they hold on and hopre the abuser will change their ways...they will forever by subject to it...
I will vote against the Big O or the witch...but that is only for the near term.
We need a long term solution.
Baby steps.
He won’t put Obama in the White House. It is likely that Obama will get a thumping majority.....so any vote for Barr will just reduce the McCain minority.
Wish what you say was true. I don't see the GOP, or McCain trying to hard to root out and defeat the Islamofacists inside the US, instead they coddle and play the PC game.
McCain wants to bring the GITMO slime onto US soil and give them the same rights as US citizens.
It also we be a great boon if they get around to sealing the border, not just lipservice, to keep the Islamo scum from walking in from Mexico.
National Security and winning the WOT has to be fought here on the homefront, not just in the middle east.
Our candidate has proved he is a one trick pony as far as GOP voters go. On most other issues, he is a Democrat.
Still, it's not Barr's appeal or the Libertarian platform that will garner him some support, it's the godawfulness of McCain and his soviet-style big government boondoogle plans that will give him a bump.
I'll say 2%, though that may still be high.
I don't really see this as the problem; they can't beat us, the worst they can do is administer another attention-getter like 9/11. Which won't help them at all; au contraire.
Keeping some kind of limited government is more important. (This is nit-picking about the "top issue," not an endorsement of Barr.)
“Ron Paul without the charm”
Henry Waxman without the nostrils.
(At least that’s what he looks like to me!)
Changing your tune from "defeating islamofascis wherever it is found" to pro defense I see. Like I said prove it. On second though, never mind, because you obviously can't. Ignorance shielded by unflinching arrogance. Arguing with keyboard heroes, bible thumpers, ethanol advocates, etc. is a waste of my time. Have a great day.
You're not far off, dead. Zogby ran a poll before Barr got the Libertarian nod and it showed Libertarians getting 3% of the vote without even having a candidate.
Since I agree that 3% was a reaction to the godawfullness of McCain, I would not expect the L choice of candidate to drop the percentage, especially since anyone voting L would know they're not going to win and be stuck with the candidate.
OTOH the percentage could be added to by people who actually like Barr or like what he has to say during the campaign. OTOOH as we get closer to November, SOME people who despise McCain but truly fear Obambam may switch back.
(sarc)Oh heavens... By all means, let's vote for McRINO instead.(/sarc)
“I still think McCain will win in a landslide.”
The media is making Obama a saint. Obama makes ignorant statements and the press won’t even cover it. With conservatives mad at the Republican party and the lovefest of the media, I don’t see a landslide victory. There should be one but I don’t see it.
There will be a landslide but it will be McCain on the losing side.
The Libertarians always poll higher before an election than their actual numbers indicate.
Lots of people like to talk big about going third party before the election - but they rarely do.
When they actually vote third party in large numbers, it is for an uncategorizable person like John Anderson or Ross Perot or Ralph Nader - not for a defined party platform.
“There should be one but I don’t see it.”
I don’t ever watch TV, I don’t even have one so I’m just going off gut feeling. You’re probably right. I know a lot of people are going to catch on that Obama is a black panther.
For Republicans, the terror war (33%) is tops with the economy number two at 28%. . Source: Oct 2007 Rasmussen Poll
62% listed WOT as very important issue - Rasmussen April 30 - May 1 2008. This was amongst all voters, so the conservative number would definitely be higher.
WOT came in second in a Human events poll
It came in third in a CNN Poll of all voters and again would be higher for conservatives
So yes, the WOT is a top issue for conservatives.
Do those same poll stats about the WOT apply specifically to public opinion about the war in Iraq?
The WOT may be important to Republicans, but republicans have repeatedly shown that they’re not conservatives. They have grown government at a pace that made Clinton look like a slacker. They’ve given us the prescription drug giveaway, no child left behind, and the ethanol boondoggle just to name a few. If invading other countries and getting mired in an occupation were a conservative value then LBJ (one of the most liberal presidents of the 20th century) would be an arch conservative. And BTW importance doesn’t necessarily mean approval. It would be extremely important to an anti-war activist.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.