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Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Ron Paul's press conference, and a politically stupid response from the Bob Barr camp

Today, Ron Paul addressed the press corps. The big announcement? The two parties are essentially the same, and Americans should go ahead and vote for third parties. He didn't, as some were speculating, announce a run for President on a third party ticket. He also didn't endorse anyone in particular. He sort of endorsed all third-party candidates, and urged them to get together and have a third-party debate.

Here's video of the press conference:

And here's the really, really surprising response from Mike Ferguson, national field director for the Libertarian Party's Bob Barr campaign. The response goes ahead and insults Ron Paul, pretty viciously. For a long time, Bob Barr has been courting the Ron Paul vote. No more, I guess.

(And they have the audacity to put out a press release asking Ron Paul to join their ticket as the vice presidential candidate? What, dear reader, are they thinking?)

Some excerpts:

"Earlier today, Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) held a press conference in Washington, D.C. where he said…well, nothing...

He invited Libertarian Party Presidential nominee Bob Barr and independent Presidential candidate Ralph Nader along with the nominees of two small, minor political parties to stand behind him as he encouraged Americans to vote for anyone other than Sens. Barak Obama and John McCain.

Ron Paul wasted the press corps' time with this press conference. It accomplished nothing and displayed a complete lack of leadership on Paul's part.

Of the four invitees, only Bob Barr had the sense to skip the event. He held his own press conference, also in Washington, D.C., later in the day."...

"Ron Paul has, again, blown a tremendous opportunity to lead and advance the agenda of the Constitution, and individual liberty. Since he launched his Presidential Exploratory Committee almost two years ago, Ron Paul has repeatedly said this campaign is not about the man (him) but about the message (liberty and the Constitution).

Really, Dr. Paul? Your actions belie your words.

If he were truly serious about this being "about the message" and not the man, he would be making sure that the message is resonating far and wide through and during the Presidential campaign.

The Libertarian Party begged him to accept its nomination and continue his campaign through Election Day. He declined."...

"After Rep. Paul collected millions in donations from Libertarians, independents and Republicans during his campaign, he has since:

1) Sold his followers a book

2) Had people travel to (or donate to) a march on Washington D.C. that ultimately proved to be too small to even get noticed, much less have any sort of impact

3) Launched the "Campaign for Liberty" and hit up his followers, again, for donations to this organization that has made no noticeable effort to support liberty-minded candidates

4) Sold thousands of tickets to the "Rally for the Republic" in Minnesota, where he then sold t-shirts, more books, vendor booth space, advertising in the programs and a host of other things.

Ron Paul is now in the Ron Paul business – and business is lucrative.

As painful as it is to state the obvious: this campaign by the man is no longer about the message, it is about the money – lots of it. Other than in his pocket and in the pocket of his paid staff, where is all the money going?

No one seems to know for sure."

I've always been sympathetic with the U.S. Libertarian Party. But this attack on Ron Paul is so politically stupid as to be totally surprising. Just like that, Bob Barr's campaign has written off about a million potential supporters and contributors. Poof.

So, so stupid.

Posted by P.M. Jaworski on September 10, 2008 in International Politics | Permalink

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Comments

I can't believe how stupid the Barr campaign was today. While I was planning on voting for Barr, and have even donated some money to his campaign, I will not be doing so now.



Posted by: John Hoover | 2008-09-10 2:05:36 PM

You are right P.M. This was the dumbest political move I have seen yet. I am one of those Ron Paul supporters. I have also been a member of the LP for decades. I was not a Republican supporting Ron Paul, I was a libertarian, Big L, supporting Ron Paul.

I was disappointed with the Barr nomination from day one and have been wondering how I can swallow the bile and vote for him: a man who voted for the Patriot Act so he could have some say in how it was written. Would he vote for slavery too, as long as he was on the committee to decide how much money a slave can cost?

Despite all of this, I was still willing to vote libertarian to send a message. Now, I will write in Ron Paul to send a message to the libertarian party: you can't just put out any monkey and expect us to vote for him. I will stay a libertarian, but I will not vote for this candidate.

In an even more two-faced move, when I called the Barr party to complain about this, I was told that Barr supposedly wanted to ask Paul to be his running mate today. So, now we have a guy, Barr, who reneges on his agreements, is willing to throw his VP under the bus, and has no control over his national field director. Could you get any more unorganized? Moreover, I have a feeling that this post really reflects his position about Ron Paul and that if he really does ask Ron Paul to be his VP it will only be because of politics.

I hate people like that.

With Ron Paul I have a 20 year or so voting record I can believe in. Actions speak louder than words and this post today...well... that was the dumbest action ever taken in politics. But it sure shows how shallow and self centered the Barr campaign is. And they want us to vote for him?

Posted by: Sandra | 2008-09-10 2:14:02 PM

Maybe it's time to put some money on McCain's contract on intrade.

A feud between Libertarians and Ron Paul supporters should give him a bit of a boost.

Posted by: Terrence Watson | 2008-09-10 3:11:13 PM

Not a supporter of Paul, but he stuck to his word that he would not run outside the GOP. Good for him.

Posted by: Faramir | 2008-09-10 3:54:12 PM

I won't argue about what's politically smart or stupid.

But I will agree with the sentiment that Ron Paul blew the biggest opportunity to change American electoral politics since Ross Perot.

I was a rabid Ron Paul supporter and donated generously. I donated based on the sincere belief that Ron Paul could not possibly win the GOP nomination and could not possible pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity to launch a third party over the hurdle to political viability.

I was completly blown away when he did not run, and sunk into depression as I watched his supporters get railroaded at state convention after state convention. I watched cable news shows for even a glimpse of his March in Washington or his Rally for the Republic.

Tragic.

Barr/Root '08

Posted by: John Campbell | 2008-09-10 5:28:33 PM

Why would you donate to Ron Paul based on your sincere belief that he wouldn't possibly pass up a chance to launch a third party when he said he wouldn't run as a third-party candidate. Whether you agree or disagree with Dr. Paul, it's obvious to anyone that he is a man of his word. If he says he's not going to do something, he means it. That's one of the things that sets Ron Paul above and beyond most other politicians.

Posted by: Jonny H | 2008-09-10 8:59:07 PM

And that includes Bob Barr, from what I've seen so far.

Posted by: Jonny H | 2008-09-10 9:00:32 PM

If only this was the stupidest thing Bob Barr had ever done.

Posted by: Janet | 2008-09-10 10:20:32 PM

Most states have "Sore Loser" laws prohibiting candidates who lose primaries from running as third-party or independent. So this "Ron Paul HAS TO RUN as a Libertarian or Third Party" nonsense had NO CHANCE - NADA ZERO ZIP - of EVER happening.

Posted by: Charles | 2008-09-11 6:31:52 AM

I choose to read the response by Bob Barr and his spokesperson as an admittance to being nothing short of a NWO plant that was most likely 'ordered' to self destruct to sabotage the Libertarian Party once Dr. Paul did not fall for the 'bait' Wednesday morning.

Barr had admitted to Washington Times that "His previous employer was the CIA". http://washingtontimes.com/media/video/1772111900/

It's a no-brainer that he was placed there to sabotage the movement. It is so apparent by his voting record he is certainly no Libertarian. A neo con, sure, but not for Liberty.

Again, the good Doctor sticks to his principles and never sells out. I love and admire you, Dr. Paul! What you are doing to plough through a pathway back to our Republic is just remarkable!

Posted by: Anisha | 2008-09-11 10:58:01 PM

who was it that said "nothing in politics happens by accident" - I think Churchill.

This is the ploy - just reducing another candidate off the ticket by losing his possible votes from Dr. Paul; those Barr supporters/possible voters who were from the Ron Paul Camp or other nearby Independent thought will now funnel into one of the other 2-3 candidates left in the independent realm, don't take it personally.

Posted by: JB | 2008-09-12 9:09:19 AM

IMNSHO, Bob Barr & the LP has made their SECOND critical mistake in the Presidential campaign by not being at this press conference. The first critical mistake was not having him at the D.C. Freedom March & Rally on July 12, where thousands of rEVOLutionists gathered together for the cause of advancing liberty.

Perhaps now that Barr has 'become a Libertarian', he too has been infected with the disease which has plagued the LP for so very long: "Libertarian Purism". What, now that he's in the 'sacred liberty club' he's too good to share a stage with the Green Party Presidential nominee? Has he forgotten his recent past?

Sure, the Green Party typically touts Socialist philosophies, but in this case, Ron Paul has paved the way for the third party candidates to agree on 4 unifying pro-liberty platforms: personal liberties, nonaggressive foreign policy, economic responsibility, and Federal Reserve investigation -- basically, CONSTITUTIONALLY LIMITED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!

Earth to Barr campaign: That all fits into libertarian philosophy... DUH!

I was so very pleased to hear that after recent years of working on creating a palatable and rationale political platform, the LP is now finally beginning to position itself as a potential player in the political arena. Then it nominates someone with reasonable political experience (albeit along with skeletons, but not as bad as tolerating child pornography as Mary Ruwart apparently does!). However, it then goes on to entirely blow it by separating itself from the massive swell of new libertarian voters, not once, but twice (so far) -- STUPID... very STUPID!

There have been recent changes in the LP which give hope for growth, and the potential for becoming a viable political party. However, if it continues to keep its head up its [you know where] during a major campaign when it comes to POLITICS and increasing the pro-liberty vote, it will simply provide further impetus for pro-liberty American voters to seek a different political home.

And NO, Barr is not some kind of "NWO plant" and the "Neo-Cons" are not trying to take over the LP -- the mere claim is preposterous! The LP is simply not a big enough player in the political arena.

The LP is simply plagued with the same kind of PURISM disease which infects so many secular and religious groups which THINK they have all the correct answers to our problems, so they alienate others who think slightly differently.

This is exactly what happened here... isn't that obvious? Barr campaign spokesperson Andrew Davis is quoted as saying, “He didn’t want to dilute his message by being on the same stage as people like Cynthia McKinney, who is completely opposite of what a Libertarian is.”

Therefore, it appears as though the Barr campaign is entirely missing the point, along with the opportunity.

Regardless, I will continue to support the LP by voting for Bob Barr because it will help the LP remain on the North Carolina ballot.

ALSO, before anyone goes off half cocked because of these recent events, consider the foolishness of pretending we can send a strong pro-liberty message to D.C. and the states by voting for someone not on your state's ballot.

Even if the Barr campaign is being sabotaged by the very people who are running it due to political ignorance, unless one of the other candidates who signed the '4 point platform' is on YOUR STATE's ballot, there is really no other option than Barr for whom to vote -- write in's simply will not count!

American pro-liberty voters need to be savvy, not stupid. Regardless of the mistakes made by any of the candidates/parties which support this '4-point pro-liberty platform', we need to think about the strategies which will best advance liberty in our country.

In liberty,

8-)

bbc

Posted by: bernard b carman | 2008-09-12 11:56:19 AM

MNSHO, Bob Barr & the LP has made their SECOND critical mistake in the Presidential campaign by not being at this press conference.

Posted by: bernard b carman | 12-Sep-08 11:56:19 AM

Their FIRST mistake was to believe that anybody really cares about the Libertarian Party.

Posted by: The Stig | 2008-09-12 12:10:38 PM

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