United Liberty
The Barr Campaign’s decision to shun Ron Paul’s press conference, hold their own and denigrate Ron’s efforts will have lasting effect- but will any prove positive for the Barr Campaign?
In the interest of full disclosure, I know Bob, like Bob, worked for his campaign up until a few weeks ago and planned on voting for him- a decision I’ll have to reconsider. I also know Ron, like Ron, worked for his campaign and would still vote for him today if he were on the Alabama ballot.
If the Barr Campaign’s actions today has possibly lost the support of someone who knows and likes Bob, I imagine the fallout among the Libertarian Party members and Ron Paul supporters will make them regret their actions today. Continued derisive actions and words from the campaign staff will only make things worse.
I called the Barr Campaign Headquarters and spoke to LP Communications Director, Andrew Davis, asking for an official statement from them.
We think holding our own press conference was the right decicion for our candidate and our supporters.
There’s no animosity towards Ron from the Barr campaign. Why would Bob ask him to be his VP if there was?
We are not about promoting 3rd party politics, but about getting as many votes for our candidate and our message as we can. A vote for Baldwin, Nader or McKinney is not a vote for Bob, so while we agree with the principles espoused today, we chose to focus on our candidate. It’s great to see 3rd parties coming together and we appreciate it. We know ballot access laws are terrible. We know it’s tough to get into the debates, but it’s not something that required a press conference.
We’re focused on the Barr Campaign and libertarian issues and that’s why we decided to have our own campaign.
One question that came to mind immediately after hearing that the Barr Campaign had blown Ron off was, “How does Ron feel about this?” Since C4L staffer, Don Rasmussen has openly discussed what he witnessed this weekend, I called him to to hear what happened first-hand.
First Don cleared up Russ Verney’s claim that Bob had never agreed to appear at Ron’s press conference. “I know for a fact that Bob had agreed to be there today and Verney is lying by saying otherwise.” I asked him how Ron reacted when he learned that his friend and one-time colleague would not be making an appearance as agreed. “I’ve never seen him so upset. He had to be reminded to lower his voice as there were reporters outside out door. He was extremely disappointed.”
Don confirmed that Shane Cory did indeed tell Don to “go f#@k himself” when he asked Shane why he did this, though he admits that Shane also recited a list of perceived grievences, ie; lack of invitations to events, etc., that led to the decision to eschew Ron’s press conference and stage his own.
Adam Kokesh’s public withdrawal of his support of Barr was also confirmed by Don. “When Adam stood up and said he was no longer supporting Barr, several others spoke up and echoed Adam.”
Lest anyone should accuse Don of simply not liking Barr and is now taking an opportunity to announce it, I can personally attest that Don supported Barr’s candidacy after Ron withdrew from the race.
For more comments from Don, read here and here.
I also just had the opportunity to speak to Adam Kokesh on the phone about his perspective on today’s drama. He came to Ron’s conference as a supporter of both Ron and Bob, but left altogether differently.
“When it became obvious to the crowd that Bob was not there, immediately some buzz started. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he didn’t show up because of a personal issue. I figured there was no way that he’d stand Congressman Paul up.”
“I went to Bob’s press conference still a supporter and still assuming the best. When the real reason he didn’t show up became apparent, I thought ‘What the f#@k?’. That’s when he lost my support.”
“Barr showed us today that he is not a team player for liberty. Barr is far more concerned about votes than he is promoting liberty and the Constitution. There’s a time to lead and a time to follow; today was a day to folllow Dr. Paul- to show some unity. Barr missed his opportunity and lost my vote.”
This was a disappointing day for those who had hoped Barr’s candidacy would be a way to continue the freedom movement begun by Ron’s campaign. And it’s a blow to the LP who finally had a candidate capable of capturing national attention and putting the Libertarian Party on the political map. Don Rasmussen’s advice is apropos here-
“Hopefully, the LP will find a way to reject this candidate without rejecting the idea of engagement in practical politics.”
The lesson about putting too much stock into any candidate has been driven home today. The real goal is to promote liberty and the rule of law, no matter the candidate or the party. As Ron has said many times, “It’s not the man, it’s the message.”
This is oxymoronic.
By not being a team player - at the lone time it was called for - you focus very negatively on your candidate.
A Bob Barr supporter no more.
Since Ron Paul dropped out and Bob sprung up, I was highly considering him. With this non-cooperation with the third parties and lack of activism — he’s off my list.
The least he could have done is shown up in support. (After all, it’s not like he’s got debates booked with the media — they don’t allow third parties.)
This is all just very sad. I really had high hopes for the LP this year. Part of me wants to give Barr the benefit of the doubt and recognize that he was simply trying to unify Paul supporters behind the LP ticket. Many Paul supporters are demanding marching orders, which I think is wrong-headed. But even if this assessment of Barr’s intentions is true, his actions today showed poor taste and very bad judgement. Kokesh’s comments hit the nail on the head. If Barr wanted to bring the focus onto the LP, he should have taken this opportunity to support the intentions of C4L and then attempted to set himself apart at a more appropriate time.
I predict that Bob will not reach the $1 million mark, and that his “6%” in the polls will end up shrinking to about 1 or 2 percent.
I will still be voting for the LP this year, since in California there really is no other option and voting for the LP will at least help ballot access for next election and portray to the media what Barr claims to represent is actually gaining traction.
Runoff sentences are cool.
btw, how is Adam doing in GWU? It’s a pretty expensive program but apparently the best political experience you can get in college. I’d like to interview him just on that, cause he’s that cool of a guy.
I was planning on voting for Barr to help ballot access for the LP. I may stick with that plan, but this all makes that decision quite difficult, especially since I was impressed with Baldwin today.
Adam really is a great guy- very keen mind, very passionate heart. I imagine we’ll see a lot of him in the coming years.
I’m very glad that Bob Barr didn’t fall into this trap. My friends, I have great respect for Ron Paul, I voted for him in 1988, and I have supported the Libertarian party for 20 years.
All the 4 small parties on that stage today, together didn’t amount to 1% in size of the larger parties.
Joining together like this, is an idea tried in other countries, it is a universally bad idea, that doesn’t work. It dilutes the message, confuses and denegrates all who participate.
The only time small parties should unite, is if they have a similar agenda, or if in doing so they’ve reached the 50 percent threshhold.
I listened to Paul. He understands, as well as anyone, that the country isn’t ready for 3rd parties. He understands, that you can endorse ideas safely, but not people. The moment you endorse any one candidate, it falls apart.
A perfect example of that is Oprah Windfrey. She could spend an entire career talking about women’s issues, about issues relating to african americans, and her popularity ratings were in the stratosphere.
When she endorsed an actual candidate, her negativity ratings skyrocketed, and she’s paid a big price for doing so, despite the fact, it really isn’t any surprise that she would endorse Obama, and thats a mainstream candidate.
I wish you well, but what Paul has done is stake out a position at the edges, endorsing ideas, not people. I agree this will work for Paul. I agree its safe. I agree its nonoffensive to his supporters.
The problem is, you have to make the tough choices, like Oprah did, in this life, because in the end candidates are elected, not ideas.
Paul has made a mistake, and his movement is impressive in some ways, but not impressive in its ability to get general election votes.
p.s. one other thought for you, as I read through your blog. Keep in mind, In 1988 I voted for my first presidential candidate, Ron Paul at the age of 18.
I’ve worked as a volunteer for the LP in various capacities even as a county chair.
There is a big difference between Paul supporters now and then, and that is Paul is a Republican.
I just wanted to say, I’m not a Republican.
I’m a Libertarian. When I voted for Bob Barr and helped select him as my nominee for President this year, I did so with other activists.
We didn’t do this on our own accord either, we, in turn had been selected by the membership. Bob Barr is our candidate.
We expect him to work for the best interests of the Libertarian party.
He is a great team player, but you need to understand who the team is… this is a real party, with 17,000 members. Bob Barr took on the responsibility to represent those 17,000 members of the Libertarian Party.
A lot of the criticism aimed at Bob Barr almost seems to be under the assumption that he somehow stole the nomination. he did not, he was nominated by the party activists.
I have a lot of respect for the party activists, who are highly intelligent, 100 percent commited to Liberty, and very well versed in politics and experienced in these matters as well. The only goal in nominating Bob Barr, was to advance the cause of the Libertarian party, and Bob has done the best job, this cycle, of any of the candidates that could have been chosen.
Naturally we would have picked Paul, if Paul had been willing to run.
Bob Barr disappoints me by wanting to dump Wayne Allyn Root from his ticket. The only reason I support Barr is because of Root. Root is by far the best man for the job. Barr also screwed up by not attending Paul’s conference. I now think Barr should step down and let the ticket be Paul/Root. If Barr was really for liberty he would do that.
On the other hand Paul should have supported Barr as soon as Paul left the race. Both these guys seem to be for themselves.
I knew from the beginning the Libertarian party screwed up when they didn’t have Wayne Root on the top of the ticket.
What the hell was Barr thinking, he stood to gain the most votes by attending. Do we want this dumbass to be President? Looks like I have to wait another four years for the Libertarian Party to get it right. Wayne Allyn Root 2012.
Barr/Verney and especially Cory are asses. One thing not clear from these reports is if Barr held press conference at same time as or after the Ron Paul press conference.
(All the 4 small parties on that stage today, together didn’t amount to 1% in size of the larger parties.
Joining together like this, is an idea tried in other countries, it is a universally bad idea, that doesn’t work. It dilutes the message, confuses and denigrates all who participate.
The only time small parties should unite, is if they have a similar agenda, or if in doing so they’ve reached the 50 percent threshold.)
“Robert”,
I think you missed the whole point of the meeting. They wasn’t joining together as one to make one new party, they was only combining forces in hopes of drawing attention to the mistreatment of 3rd party candidates by the main stream.
This would have helped Barr as much as it would have all the rest because he is being treated as an outcast as well. He would not have been giving up any of his own identity by appearing with all the other, he would have only been showing support for the same problems they all face as 3rd party candidates.
Also your facts are wrong about how large the LP is, the Constitution Party is the largest behind the Democrat and Republican parties. A little research online with Google and you can find this out pretty quick. So don’t make things out to be bigger than they are, I really dislike people exaggerating things to look important!
You’re right: its not the man, its the message, and at that press conference the message was something to the effect of “democracy and liberty are one in the same.” The message may also have been, “We like collectivists so long as they agree with us on a couple of points.”
What caused me to reject Paul after this debacle is not that he rejected Barr, but that he embraced three insidious collectivists and suggested that their views are something other than evil and criminal.
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