Posted on 09/16/2008 4:43:54 PM PDT by pissant
Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr’s campaign filed suit Tuesday seeking to remove Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama from the ballot in Texas, alleging that the two major candidates missed the deadline for officially filing to be on the ballot.
The lawsuit by the former Republican congressman from Georgia claims that neither McCain nor Obama met the requirement of Texas law that all candidates provide “written certification” of their nomination “before 5 p.m. on the 70th day before election day” because neither had been formally nominated by their respective parties in time.
That would have been Aug. 25. Obama did not accept his party’s nomination until Aug. 28, McCain his on Sept. 4.
The lawsuit states: “The hubris of the major parties has risen to such a level that they do not believe that the election laws of the State of Texas apply to them.”
Pat Dixon, chairman of the Texas Libertarian Party, issued a statement saying, “Libertarian principles require personal responsibility for your acts and failures. Obama and McCain failed to meet the deadlines. They must follow the law like everyone else.”
(Excerpt) Read more at statesman.com ...
If Barr was allowed to garner Texas' 34 electoral votes in this way, and neither of the major candidates was able to reach 270 without Texas, then the House of Representatives would decide. Some states which normally vote Republican have Democratic majorities among their House delegations, and other states are evenly split, so it would be hard for McCain to reach a majority. But I can't see the people of the United States allowing such a circus to take place. The last time the House decided an election was in 1825 following the 1824 election, when the first party system (Federalists vs. Jeffersonian Republicans) had broken down. In that case no one had close to 50% of the popular vote, whereas it is quite possible that McCain will pass 50% of the popular vote.
Ridiculous. Even if Barr is successful, McCain would win on write-ins. What a pos loser.
It’s getting harder and harder to remember when Bob was one of the good guys.
He’s turned into a real goofball. Does he have advanced syphilus or something?
ping
Actually, this could help prevent the Biden/Hillary switcheroo.
How?
And any Republican votes that were from Motor-Voter registrations should be thrown out, I’m sure, since it would be hypocrisy to accept them.
And, of course, it would be hypocrisy to think otherwise while arguing that Bob Barr can’t argue against a system while operating under it.
This looks like some of the same tricks that Obama has used to win elections in Chicago.
Many of the deadlines have passed for the parties to declare what candidates they will run (similar to this Texas example). If the Texas statute is ignored, then what argument can be made against Obama swapping out Biden and putting in October-Surprise Hillary, when Biden gets sick and is “too old” for the job...?
It says “AND”
...not “or”
“I don’t understand why libertarians don’t work within the Republican party.”
Independent conservatives, libertarians, constitutionalists and committed social conservatives (etc) are not wanted in the Republican party. This was made quite clear during the primaries.
What B.S.
Any voter can vote for any slate of electors he wants. This is about listing on the ballot and following the statutory law that is clear (and the Secy of State admits is clearly in favor of Bob Barr's claim--but says they can overrule it based on judicial activism [that thing that conservatives supposedly don't like]).
Besides, it seems to me that it would be the DEMS and the GOP, if anyone, who are "trying to deny," if that were the case. They are the ones who didn't file their candidates within the statutory limit and are trying to amend their slates after the deadline.
Great. I’m petrified of Obama slipping Cankles onto the ticket. I mean really scared.
True...he never supported "Judicial Activism" and "Ignoring the Rule of Law." You know, those two are cornerstones of conservatism, as evidenced by the FR posts flying around... </sarc>
Probably the best outcome.
McCain wins on write-ins, and then we have followed the law, and Obama can’t pull a switcheroo.
They have in the past, and all they've gotten is lip-service and bigger government in return. At some point, people may conclude that the GOP is just cynically using them for their vote.
You don't need a majority of electoral votes to win. You only need a plurality.
Considering the highly restrictive ballot access laws foisted upon third (ie. second) parties by the R & D establishment, this lawsuit might be poetic justice.
However, I doubt that it will go anywhere.
Sometimes you have to do the right thing and go with the statute, even if you haven't researched how the Secretary of State intends to ignore the statutes.
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