Posted on 05/21/2008 10:01:44 AM PDT by mukraker
I'd like to ask my fellow FReepers what you think about the Presidential candidacy of Bob Barr?
Given our current choices for President, Obama, Clinton & McCain, is Bob Barr a good alternative this year?
I know no one will agree 100% with any candidate's positions. But, instead of not voting, would a vote for Bob Barr be an alternative you would consider?
As a disappointed Republican, I'm considering going Libertarian this year. I like most of their positins, especially on safeguarding Liberty for All. I'm tired of carrying Big Brother with me everywhere I go. I'd like to see the Constitution brought back into American governance.
Your thoughts? Thanks.
Bob is an excellent alternative to voting for John McCain ... for the democrat party’s candidate. Bob Barr joined himself to the ACLU upon being ‘un-elected’. Barr is calling himself a libertarian now ... go figure.
Perhaps those of us who live in solid blue states that McCain has no chance of carrying anyway could vote for Barr.
Bob Barr = Ross Perot
Bob Barr is a good egg in the long run.
But who likes long, runny eggs?
He is a very strange person.
Check out the Constitution & Falcon parties. I rather like Badwin. Anything but the corrupt “Two-Party Cartel”.
OK Reality check. Sure, McCain’s not a Conservative (at best, he’s not conservative on some issues but is on others).
But think about the the SCOTUS. Obama is going to nominate at least one, possibly two or three judges who are going to be Souter/Ginsburg clones.
So a vote for Barr will help send the Supreme Court left, way left.
Can’t wait to hear from the anti-McCain people who complain he is not strongly enough against abortion.
I suspect many of them will go for Barr and the “pro-choice” Libertarian Party.
Every vote for Barr is simply a vote for Obama.
Bob Barr association with the ACLU has made him a no go.
Answer: NO.
There a NO good votes to be cast for president this year. There are only multiple shades of lesser evils. I think this is precisely why conservatives are so ticked off this year. There is NO ONE to vote FOR.
Barr is in bed with the ACLU and off into Pat Buchanan La-La Land when it comes to the war on terror and Israel. Since I live in a swing state, I’d have to think long and hard about voting for him over McCain. But since McCain keeps poking a sharp stick in my eye (global warming, kissing the ring of La Raza, etc.), I’m not inclined to vote for McCain either.
If you want President Obama or President Hillary, sure! Barr would be a terrible choice in a three-way race because he would assure a RAT win. Now, if Hillary and Obama were BOTH running, one as a third party, then it would be a whole different story. BUT ... Barr has a very late start and a lot of catching up to do for even a hint of viability. All he can do is draw off McCain votes and give us a RAT president for 4 years and a ultra left Supreme Court for the rest of our lives. We’re screwed.
I could easily see McCain ALSO nominating Leftist Judges.
This seems to be a year of nothing but evils. On that premise, Barr could win my vote.
If it’s McCain versus Obama (or, as I still think possible, Hillary Rodham Lenin) next November, one of them will be elected President. Bob Barr, Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney will not be elected President. So your choice is either McCain (ugh), Hillary (shudder) or Obama (be very afraid). The only decision is - who will screw up the country less?
No, I prefer Ross Perot.
That way, we can be sure that once Hillary gets the nomination that so many FReepers seem to be hoping for, she can trash John McDole and do it with less than 44% if the vote.
Just like Bubba in ‘92. Don’t stop thinkin’ about tomorrow folks....
No matter who is elected in November we are all screwed.
Let's face it, we like to blame the system for the lack of choice, but when it comes time to choose, our selection ends up being from one of the two major parties. In the end, we make up the system, we are the system. As Pogo said: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."
It's going to take some work to change that. Work by us, the system. If you don't like what you see, then get active in the GOP. Join! Go to the local meetings and speak your mind. There are things that you can do. If you are doing things, bravo! If not, why not? As Ronald Reagan said: "If not us, then who? If not now, when?". And let me add this: "If not us, then it will be the RINO."
Having said that, the more I listen to what Barr has to say, the more I like him.
“Good alternative” to sane, adult participation in the actual political process of presidential election?
Not really, no.
The Libertarian Party will be lucky if it can get on the ballot in most states. They can’t win even if they could qualify on all 50 state ballots.
Its critically important that we prevent Hillary or Obama from becoming President. If they’re in they’ll appoint all liberal judges to the Supreme Court and prevent us from correcting Judicial Invention. No matter how difficult McCain is or becomees he is still 10,000 times better than Obama, Hillary or any Democrat.
We have to push for McCain to take a very conservative Vice President like Fred Thompson. Thompson’s desk was next to McCain’s on the Senate floor and they’ve been good friends since. Thompson can bring the conservatives back under the Republican banner. He assures us that constructionist will be chose on the Court. He has will be a largely stabilizing force on the liberal fancies of McCain.
McCain - Thompson 08 !
Ewwww, ACLU? No way. Here’s what I think: there are two candidates and 30 Million citizens (ok, I am REALLY bad with numbers...). Will you find a really great fit? No, most likely not. Do you want to throw your vote away? Then vote for Barr. It will count for nothing and will work against McCain, who at least understands Bad Guys and the Jihadists.
This is a tremendously important election; the downside is that it is binary. Chose the best of the TWO real candidates and continue to fight in your own circle of influence for what you believe.
Obama is SINISTER, and he will unfold a chilling vision that you cannot even imagine in our wonderful country. imho. We cannot let him win.
When I recently raised that ticket in a discussion, I was quickly told that the dems would paint it as the ‘too old’ choice. When I reminded them of the number of turning middle aged people back or still living with their parents for financial security, the notion of ‘too’ old became a non-issue! In fact, I think there is a way to portray McCain-Thompson as the best leadership in these very unstable times!
Got that right.
I was worried about a Gore presidency. Thankfully Bush won.
I was worried about a Kerry presidency. Thankfully Bush won.
I worry about a Hillary Clinton presidency. Thankfully she ain't gonna get the democratic nomination.
An Obama presidency scares the crap out of me.
I've gotta vote for McCain even though I don't want to.
That being said let's clear the air some on Barr's affiliation with the ACLU. Barr worked for them on personal privacy issues, topics that many conservatives would agree. He disagreed with some of the provisions of the Patriot Act, as did other conservatives, on a Constitutional basis.
I don't fault Barr or other conservatives for questioning some of the Act, I think there was sound, constitutional basis to do so and to not at least address them would be irresponsible. If there are questions, I say get them out in the open and discuss them because if they are wrong we need to understand that and if they are okay then it will only solidify that position.
The “torch and pitchfork” crowd want everyone to take to the streets just on the mention of the word ACLU. I agree they are usually at odds with conservative opinion, but that doesn't mean they always are and each situation needs to be judged on it's own merits. I'm not going to go back through the archives and make a list of when or where but I remember several times FReepers being in amazement that the ACLU “was on the right side” of a certain issue.
Although the odds may be with you, blindly being against something only because it has the ACLU attached to it makes about as much sense as being against welfare reform because Bill Clinton signed it into law.
As for Barr, I'm disappointed he may go to a 3rd party but as far as his association with the ACLU, to me he was taking money from them that might have gone to efforts more hated by the right. I can't support Barr's candidacy but this knee ignorant jerk hatred of him is almost pathological.
BTW - Barr was a good friend of Free Republic and our “congressional sponsor” for a long time. He passionately spoke at many of our rallies in DC and I sat in his office several times discussing issues important to all of us. You may disagree with him now and the path he has chosen but at least show him the respect an old friend of Free Republic deserves.
McCain-Feingold makes McCain a no-go for me.
Sorry, triangulating isn’t going to make the stench of the ACLU turn into scent of roses just for Bob Barr. He chose to go to work for an institution dedicated to the degeneration of America. He’s one of them regardless of how much he and his defenders try to spin the ACLU into ‘not so bad on some issues’. You might have gotten further by characterizing his joining the ACLU as pragmatic, like ‘he needed a job.’ People in North GA know Barr for what he really is and it isn’t pretty.
There is no longer an alternative. There will be two real candidates.
Bob ALCU Barr and all others are merely pretenders. A vote for them is a cop out.
Part of the system? No more.
When you spend a long time banging your head against a brick wall, sometimes it just feels good to stop for a while.
>> I’ve gotta vote for McCain even though I don’t want to.
+1
My nose will hurt from the vise-grips (clothespin no longer adequate). And I’m sure I’ll be sick the rest of the day, maybe the rest of the year. But John McCain is, unfortunately, the only sane alternative.
If you can’t vote for McCain the best alternative, I believe, is to write-in a vote for Ronald Reagan.
Could you imagine if Ronald Reagan got 3-4% of the vote instead of some fringe candidate? THAT would send a message. The proper message.
Are you talking about the American political process?
Just my opinion
Cutting off your nose to spite your face isn’t sending a message, it’s suicide.
If you want to send a message call Western Union.
I listened to Bob Barr on Glen Beck’s show last week. Barr wants to take down the border fence (”it’s ugly”) and favors open immigration, restricted only by screens for criminal background and public health and safety considerations.
You lie with dogs, you get fleas
Although I do not like Barr, he is far better than the 3 clowns now running. These are the worst possible choices. McCain is the only one of the GOP candidates for whom I cannot hold my nose and vote. Of concern is that he shows signs of being mentally ill and/or a sociopath. His lies are outrageous.
Cutting off your nose to spite your face isn’t sending a message, it’s suicide.
If you want to send a message call Western Union.
__
The QUESTION was is Bob Barr a good ALTERNATIVE, smart aleck.
The question implies that said person won’t be voting for McCain, so if seeking an alternative I offered one.
The DNC will appreciate you for that. 3-4% out of the McCain vote will elect even Hussein Obama. You’ll get what you and apparently Rush want ... complete democrap rule to make the nation pay for the foolishness of allowing Republicans to drift away from conservatism. Suicide is fun for such folks.
"Could you imagine if Ronald Reagan got 3-4% of the vote instead of some fringe candidate? THAT would send a message."
I answered the question asked in the topic of the thread, IF someone refused to vote for McCain I would suggest voting for Reagan.
Again, this implies that the person asking the question WILL NOT vote for McCain, all I did was answer the question. EVERY election there will be people voting for a candidate they know has no hope of winning. My suggestion to THOSE people (assuming they’re conservative) is to not vote for the Libertarian Barr or other fringe candidate.
It’s not my job to recruit for John McCain, John McCain has effectively given the middle finger to all conservatives. It’s up to McCain to earn my vote, not for me to vote for him because he’s not Obama, no one hates democrats more than me.
I don’t think anyone needs to be reminded about what not voting for McCain could mean, I think about 99.9% of the people here understand the math. Again, for you and Bob J, etc., I simply answered the question posed in the thread knowing that some will never vote for McCain no matter how much brow beating and scolding comes from you and others.
Assuming you can’t convert that last 3-4% vote, (which you can’t) wouldn’t it be better for ALL OF US if it went to Reagan instead of Libertarian, Constitution Party, etc.?
Blame McCain, not me. I did answer the question posed in the thread, If John McCain wasn’t who he is, we wouldn’t see these kinds of threads.
Uhhh, I was responding to this post...
“Could you imagine if Ronald Reagan got 3-4% of the vote instead of some fringe candidate? THAT would send a message.”
__
Please don’t quote me as saying Uhhh, I don’t say uhhh, or ya’know or drool when I speak. Can you accept that there are some who will NEVER vote for McCain? My suggestion is for THOSE people, only. Specifically, the person asking about BARR, a vote for Barr says you’re a libertarian, not a conservative.
Quote? Where are the quotation marks? How about the italians?
Are you drinking?
I am sick and tired of this slow cook toward socialism.
Vote for Bob Barr ... or whoever the Constitution Party puts forward ... see Barack get elected and then see him try to turn us into Great Britain overnight.
Maybe then people will wise up, revolt, and start heading back toward the Constitutional Republic we once were.
Some will say that we can't even afford that because in the few short years he is in office he could fill SCOTUS vacancies that will last for decades.
To that I say BUNK! If he puts in real losers then I am sure there is a way we can impeach them if they go too much against a hopefully improved tide of opinion.
If not, then America ends up getting what it deserves and life becomes a bit more fair.
I certainly hope you never voted for that horrible Ronald "union member" Reagan.
And whatever you do don't dare let your "thinking" process be debilitated by heeding the words of:
William "pot-smoker" Buckley, Jr
Whittaker "commie" Chambers
Norman "leftist" Podhoretz
You’re a real wiseguy, I half expected you to say “where’s the quotation marks”
You quoted me and added UHHH, in front of my words, since you didn’t use quotation marks it means you didn’t quote me?. Don’t play silly games.
Re: Are you drinking? You’re not very funny, just a smarmy smart aleck.
Re: The Italians, what the hell are you talking about?
For such a “distinguished” freeper, you sure are acting like a class A jerk in this thread. You have dropped considerably in my opinion, (I’m sure you care).
If this is the way you recruit for John McCain, you’re failing horribly.
I accept some people won’t vote for McCain, I suggested for THOSE people to write in Reagan, get it? Obviously not.
I made a suggestion in response to the OP, you came to be a smart aleck and start a fight. Your “witticisms” such as “if you wan’t to send a message go to Western Union’ HAR, HAR, HAR!!!, and “Are you drinking” HAR, HAR, HAR!!! And irrelevancies “What about the Italians”, HAR, HAR, HAR, are duly noted.
Comedy is NOT your strong suit, nor is staying on subject or being respectful of your fellow conservatives.
By the way Bob, Mark Levin hasn’t decided if he’s voting for McCain yet either, would you like to start insulting him now too?
Even if Barr didn't run (and there's no guarantees he'll be the LP nominee, there are 3 other libertarians vying for the nomination), a lot of conservatives are so angry with the GOP that they would've wrote in somebody else's name anyway. Plus you have the young adults and libertarians who've been crapped on by the GOP for years who would have wrote in Ron Paul's name.
That said, I wouldn't vote for Barr because of his ACLU ties, his head-in-the-sand defense policy and the fact that his foreign policy is even weaker than Paul's. I'm also glad that Paul isn't running 3rd party. I was hoping for a pure McCain vs Obama matchup so if McCain loses the GOP would have no choice but to become conservatives again. Unfortunately, now that Barr is running, the GOP have their scapegoat, they can keep being RINOs and keep blaming 3rd parties for their losses, as if they're somehow owed votes from disgruntled conservatives. Anyway, McCain is screwed. The base is angry, and with Ron Paul he at least prevented the libertarians from voting 3rd party had the GOP given him a voice, and he raised a bunch of money with virtually no media or political party support.
If the GOP wants to prevent future Bob Barrs from seeking the LP nomination, they need to at least co-opt several libertarian issues and start getting serious about cutting the size of government and spending again.
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