Ron Paul: Barr can have a “very positive effect” in the presidential campaign
June 12th, 2008 by Jason PyeIn case you missed it, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) appeared on CNN this morning. Host John Roberts asked for his thoughts on Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr.
John Roberts: There’s another politician who’s in the race who’s made some changes, as well: Georgia Congressman Bob Barr. He was a faithful Republican, supported a lot of their conservative policies. Now he’s the leader of the Libertarian Party. They would have loved to have had you. You wouldn’t run as a Libertarian. Let’s listen to what Bob Barr told me back on May the 26th about his chances in this race.
[VIDEO ARCHIVE] Bob Barr: There are millions of voters out there that are not going to vote for Senator McCain and we aim to reach those voters with the message of smaller government and more individual liberty.
John Roberts: Congressman, what do you think of Bob Barr? Does he faithfully represent the values of the Libertarian Party?
Ron Paul: I think so. It doesn’t mean that you can look at his voting record like you look at mine and say there was never any infraction. That doesn’t mean that he can’t represent these values. He’s saying the things he should be saying. He’s joined the Libertarian Party and he presents these views and he talks our language. So I do really believe that he can have a very positive effect in this campaign and let the people know that limited government is a very, very important message and that people will have a chance. That gives everybody a choice in the matter.
Here is the video:
June 12th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
That’s right ladies and gentleman. Ron Paul says that Barr represents the Constitution and values of liberty. That in itself is good enough for me to make my decision who to vote for.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I love Ron Paul, and was part of the Ron Paul Revolution for almost a year, but for the life of me I just don’t understand why he continues to stay in a Party that no longer represents the values he stands for. The Libertarian Party (not the GOP) is now the Party of Limited Govt., Personal Liberty, Humble Foriegn policy, etc are not Republicrat values. The best thing RP can do for this Revolution, since he refused to run 3rd Party, is to officially pass the torch to Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I am from Canada, so I can’t do this. You need to petition Ron Paul to support Bob Barr in his Presidential bid . This could easily be done by having someone start an online petition for example on : http://WWW.PETITIONONLINE.COM.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
So, I decided to start a petiton anyway to get Ron Paul to support Bob Barr.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/bob99999/petition.html
The petition address is case-sensitive, I think
June 12th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Bob Barr and Ron Paul did not leave the Republican party… the Republican party left them!
Libertarians are the last hope for restoring limited gov’t in America.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Ron Paul won’t officially endorse Bob Barr because, while they are friends, Chuck Baldwin (the Constitution Party candidate) is also Ron Paul’s friend, and helped RP with his early campaigning. So if RP picks one over the other, it will be a slap in the face to however he didn’t pick.
In the end, it doesn’t matter - if RP just keeps spreading the libertarian message, he’ll be helping. After the Republican Convention, when Ron Paul is officially out, his support base will be looking for the person closest to him, and while I’m sure Baldwin is a nice guy, Barr represents Paul’s message more closely.
Now, if by some miracle due to low approval ratings, the Republicans decide to nominate Ron Paul instead… well, that may actually be a death knell to Barr’s campaign. Luckily (or unluckily?) it won’t happen.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Baldwin won’t be on the ballots in enough state to make a difference. I understand how some may like Baldwin more that Barr but Baldwin has no chance of impacting the election and Barr can.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Bob Barr needs to start hitting the energy issue. Get the Federal Government out of the energy policy business. Let the states decide whether or not they want oil drilling and nuke plants. Get the feds out of the way.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Paul stays with the GOP because it is much easier to change the platform of an established party by returning the GOP to the principles that it originally represented.
By interference from the two party system and dirty politics, it is near impossible to get third parties on the ballot as they are in other countries.
Paul realizes this and understands that the change must be undertaken from within the GOP with loyal Ron Paul supporters voting in “Ron Paul Republicans”, Paleoconservatives, or libertarian leaning Republicans if you will.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Hooray for Ron Paul and Bob Barr! Lets continue the Revolution into the General Election. With Bob Barr as a Libertarian candidate for President on all 50 state ballots, the American people will have a choice and can make a significant statement that we want a limited government that obeys the Constitution and that we believe that peace, prosperity and liberty will result.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Actually, on the one hand, I like that Ron Paul is staying with the Republicans, and Bob Barr is running as a Libertarian. This means that we have TWO avenues for change towards limited government and adherence to the Constitution. Hopefully RP will continue to have a huge effect within the Republican party, but we also have a strong candidate now representing the Libertarians (who thankfully has reversed some of his previous positions!) who will wake even more people up!
It’s like we’re at the front door AND the back door, if that makes any sense…once we get one of those doors open and get into the buildin’, watch out!
June 12th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
no IRS!!!!!
June 12th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
the Ron Psul revolution continues
http://barrbomb.com
June 13th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Change is not going to occur until the two-party strangehold is broken. Both parties are one System, and it is imperative that 3rd, fourth, fifth, etc. parties break out. I think that Ron Paul’s singular biggest mistake is trying to enact change in an entrenched party that is dead set against his type of vision.
With the juvenile swipes taking place between Obama and McCain, in a time of such uncertainty, I really think Bob Barr has a chance to break things out in the open.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Ron Paul may have had a few nice things to say about Bob Barr but Barr’s voting record tells a very different story. While having a name like Bob Barr may indeed help the Libertarians, I am concerned about how his candidacy will effect the two main candidates. Will he be another Perot or will he simply be a flash in the pan like the Libertarians had 4 years ago?
Regardless of the speculation the simple fact remains that the two parties have built such a wall of legislation that a third party really has no chance. Its a sad state of affairs.
June 13th, 2008 at 7:24 am
McCain can’t win with Bob Barr on the ballot - therefore, a vote for McCain is a wasted vote. Remember - the republican party was once a minor third party, not everything lasts forever.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I am a 27 year old commercial banker. I was raised in a yellow dog southern democrat household. When I started working I realized I didn’t have one thing in common with the democrats so I supported the Republican party. However, after Ron Paul came on to the scene I now realize that the Republicans and I don’t have a whole lot in common either. I voted for Ron Paul in the primary even though my family and friends were telling me my vote was wasted. I told them that if they would vote for the candidate that represents them the best that there wouldn’t just be two candidates to choose from. I may be an old man before it happens, but one day we will see the two party system collapse. I will never again vote for someone who does not represent my beliefs. Bob Barr has my vote unless Ron Paul has a change of heart and runs as an independent. Nevertheless, I am glad that there are people like Bob Barr and Ron Paul out there championing small government.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Well said, C Carter! A vote for McCain is a wasted vote. Good counter to all those who say Bob Barr on the ballot is just going to elect Obama. I say McCain on the ballot could do the same thing. Unless we draw former Huckabee, Paul, and Clinton supporters. That may seem like a disparate group…but between the FairTax fans (Huckabee and Paul), and the end to the Iraq Invasion (Paul and Clinton), there is a lot of common ground.
We can’t just pull McCain supporters and win. Clinton supporters are reeling from Obama’s victory. If we want to make an impact in this race…and either win or end up sending it to the House of Representatives…then we must…MUST…make an effort to woo Clinton supporters too.
June 14th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Bob Barr is the only sensible choice. Baldwin cannot have a real impact as he doesn’t have full ballot access, and Paul never ran independent. And the only other two choices are McCain and Obama. If conservatives believe a vote for Barr is a vote “for the democrats”, they need to reexamine McCain’s political positions and realize he is no better than Obama and possibly worse in terms of foreign policy disasters begging to happen. If Clinton supporters could somehow come to support Barr, that would be incredibly helpful. However, I personally don’t yet know any Clinton supporters who are now supporting Barr.
June 14th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
What’s this about the Supreme Court granting rights to war prisoners?? I disagree, they are not citizens. While we must treat them respectfully within the Geneva Convention rules, we need to try them in military courts. It is crazy talk to allow POWs access to American courts and lawyers. These men are terrorists and mass murderers captured during war time. Imagine if we had brought Hitler and his goons over here and put them in county jail. Imagine his defense being that no one read him the Miranda Act or got a search warrant? Are you nuts?
June 15th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Kasanda Says: These men are terrorists and mass murderers captured during war time.
War time? When did Congress declare war? I must have missed it.
June 15th, 2008 at 8:26 am
OK, say we get enough people to elect Bob Barr,dos’nt the electoral college play a roll in all this?how can we really make a difference when we have so much coruption in politics now,and who do we have looking out for us other than GOD almighty who already knows the outcome of all this?
June 15th, 2008 at 9:03 am
If it looks like a war, smells like a war…
June 15th, 2008 at 10:12 am
It doesn’t look or smell like the U.S. Constitution.
June 15th, 2008 at 10:29 am
get enough people to vote for barr and get him that 5% in the popular vote. then the political landscape as we know it will be changed. we can make a difference and we *will* make a difference. it’s time all of us to no longer acquiesce while our country is being drug down. we need to stand up and make a difference.
June 15th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
That’s exactly my point. Constitional rights are for citizens, not foreigners. Foreign combatants have a different set of courts and laws already approved by most of the other nations of the world and in use for over 40 years.
As to declared or undeclared war — it is what it is - war, regardless of who started it or who approved it.
A military that cannot prosecute prisoners will not take prisoners. The supreme court’s ruling will result in prisoners being killed before they can reach the stockade. Far from being humane, the new ruling will actually result in more death.
June 15th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Go Bob Barr!
June 15th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Then they should be charged and tried.
p.s. Don’t kid yourself, the constitution is for no one. Bush (with the help of Barr, et al approving the “Patriot Act”, made sure of that.
June 16th, 2008 at 2:57 am
Who is Baldwin and why should I care?
June 16th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Kasandra,
The Constitution doesn’t really grant rights to citizens (or anyone else). Mostly, it restricts what the federal government can do and those restrictions do not have a non-citizen loop-hole.
Consider that the Declaration of Independence states that the rights of man are inalienable and endowed by their creator (i.e. not by the Constitution or any other man-made device).
June 16th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I live for no man, My rights EXIST independent of whether or not the government recognizes them.
June 17th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I am proud to have been a member of the Libertarian Party since I was 15 years old. I am 23 now. I worked tirelessly for Ron Paul’s campaign, and I am very pleased to be able to support Bob Barr. We have the strongest, most compelling message out there; we will continue to gain political strength and one day (sooner, rather than later) we will restore America to what it once was. Thank you, Bob, for your hard work in the name of human liberty!
June 17th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
The so-called “war on terror” is a never ending war. That’s all the more reason why the prisoners of war should get a speedy trial. It isn’t right to keep them imprisoned for years before they get a trial. Believe it or not, some of them are innocent. Kasandra, put yourself in their place, Would you, if innocent, want to be kept in prison for years before you were given a trial before you could prove your innocence?
June 17th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Funny, I left a post here about Bob’s need to distance himself from the wingnut anarchist-blame-America Paulians, but for some odd reason the post has been deleted. If the Barr campaign is going to throw posts down the memory hole like the Obama website does on a regular basis then what is the point of leaving a “comment” section? I WANT to vote for Barr, and have legitimate reasons for why he should distance himself from factions within the Paul camp, but if this type of petty cherry picking is the order of the day, then I’ll take my vote elsewhere.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
I apologize to the Barr webmaster, my comment was NOT deleted. (Boy, I feel like a heel). I acted before I thought. My apologies to the Bob Barr campaign. You CAN count on my vote in November.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I would like to address the wasted vote fallacy.
Let’s assume for the sake of argument Bob Barr has no chance of winning. Voting for him will still achieve the following:
* Help keep the LP on the ballot in most states
* Send a NOTA message in regards to the two-candidate false dichotomy
* Add to that NOTA vote a message of what type of candidate you are willing to support
* Lend credence to the entire Liberty movement
* and most importantly… for those people who know they are libertarian, but are waiting for a certain threshold of mutual support before they are willing to make that move, you will make it that much easier for them to say, “Me too.”
I’m voting for Bob Barr, and I’ll vote for anyone else with a believable commitment to individual liberty. Please join me. Please share this with your fence-sitter friends.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:33 am
It’s time to consider the VP candidate Mr. Barr “selected.” I never heard of him, nor has anyone else I’ve asked about him. He’s probably a party line Libertarian and a successful man. Probably a nice guy. But Barr just cant’ win with a nobody for a running mate. Perot chose the admiral (who became an admiral for time as a POW, not running task force or something like that. He was a nice guy too. But if Perot had had a governor like Huckabee as a running mate, he might have made it.
If Mr. Root would step down, he would vastly increase his odds of ending up in a presidential administration one day.
Perhaps “Fair Tax” Huckabee is a good choice; or maybe Steve Forbes. Maybe some other high-visibility personality to enhance the ticket, would do the trick. Right now, the ticket looks pretty weak. There would probably be a slightly less pure libertarian profile than with someone within the Party; but, even Bob Barr presented that issue, and seems to be adjusting nicely.
Remember the phrase, “Only a heartbeat away from the presidency.” It does matter who is no.2.