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Bob Barr and those annoying down-ticket Libertarians

This in from Chris Cole, Libertarian candidate for US Senate in North Carolina [who is currently polling 4-6% against Liddy Dole and Kay Hagan]:

Hi, Steve,

I was reading your comments about the party HQ forgetting about the rest of the LP ticket, and thought that you would be interested in my experience with Barr on this matter.

He was a guest on my hometown talk radio station, with a host who is actually sympthetic with a great deal of libertarianism. He introduced Barr as a "true conservative", a title that Barr did not object to. Then during his interview, Barr said that Republicans should support him because he would bring out voters who would support the rest of the candidates on the Republican ticket. No mention of the LP or of other candidates on the LP ticket.

The station was WBT in Charlotte, and the host was Keith Larson. Barr was also on their morning news, on which he was introduced as a "traditional Republican." Again, he gave no correction.

I wrote an email to the campaign, mentioning how damaging that exchange was to other LP candidates, candidates on whose support Barr depends.

I got no response.


[Used with Chris Cole's expression permission.]

And, here, if you're skeptical, is where you can find the 30-second clip of Barr's analysis of how his candidacy helps down-ticket GOPers.

Thanks, Bob. For nothing.

Well, maybe not nothing. This sort of proves my point that neither Bob Barr nor the LP apparently gives a rip about all those hundreds of Libertarians running in State and local elections.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Interesting, not a surprise, but I would think it would help if this article had a date on it - was this before or after Barr conned the LP nomination out of the Denver sucker club?

I know he was talking about helping down-ticket R's before getting the nomination, is he still doing it as the candidate?

ART
LP Presidential Elector, NOT voting for Barr!
The interview occurred on 13 May 2008.
George Donnelly said…
Reaching out is good. Reaching out so far that you kick your own in the nuts is bad.

One more reason to continue my moratorium on donations to Bob Barr.
Eric Dondero said…
We Libertarian petitioners are out in the field every single day trying to qualify Barr/Root for the ballot.

One of the BIG excuses we get from voters for not wanting to sign is that him being on the ballot will "steal votes from the Republicans."

A reasonable answer to this objection is that Barr could bring out voters who would otherwise not have voted at all, and in all likelyhood, although they won't vote for McCain, they could vote for downticket Republican candidates.

Take New Hampshire for instance. You have a Leftwinger Liberal, posing as a Libertarian, some guy named Ken Blevins, running against a hardcore Libertarian Republican like John Sununu. Sen. Sununu has won the RLC Index as the "most libertarian member of the US Senate" three times in a row.

Is it not reasonable to assume that some disgruntled conservatives, who might have otherwise stayed at home, would come out to cast a protest vote for Barr, and while there, also vote for Sununu against horrible Leftist Dem Jeane Shaheen?

And if so, what in the hell is wrong with using such an argument on radio to allay any Republican fears?

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