Posted on 06/28/2008 7:27:30 AM PDT by mngran2
He has been called a spoiler. A would-be Ralph Nader. A thorn in the side of Senator John McCain and the Republican establishment.
None of it bothers Bob Barr, the former Republican congressman from Georgia turned Libertarian Party candidate for president, who gleefully recounted what he says a group of Republicans told him at a recent meeting in Washington: Don’t run.
“ ‘Well, gee, you might take votes from Senator McCain,’ ” Mr. Barr said this week, mimicking one of the complainers, as he sat sipping Coca-Cola in his plush corner office, 12 stories above Atlanta. “They all said, ‘Look, we understand why you’re doing this. We agree with why you’re doing it. But please don’t do it.’ ”
But with the Libertarian nomination in hand, Mr. Barr hopes to follow in the footsteps of Ross Perot and Mr. Nader, whose third-party presidential bids wreaked general-election havoc.
For one, he is hoping to hitch his wagon to the enormous grass-roots movement behind Representative Ron Paul, the libertarian-minded Republican from Texas who recently abandoned his own presidential bid.
And with presidential elections increasingly boiling down to state-by-state battles for Electoral College votes, many political analysts think a Barr candidacy, no matter how marginal, could have some impact.
On the ballots in 30 states so far, Mr. Barr has the chance to be a spoiler for Mr. McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, in several states, among them Alaska, Colorado and Georgia. Mr. Barr’s campaign advisers also assert he has similar potential in other mountain states, New Hampshire, Ohio and other swing states.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Bob Barr should just go back to his job at the ACLU. He sold out the conservative movement long ago.
If Capt Queeg was so darned popular why is the GOP afraid of little ol’ Bob Barr? Might it be because they know they got stuck with Queeg?
It’s McCain’s job to get conservatives to the poll to vote for him. If he can’t, he needs to stay in the senate.
Spot on. Had Barr not exposed his true colors by joining the ACLU, it is possible that could have caused problems for McCain. But, as it is, true Conservatives will not be buying his act.
But that won't stop the slimes from writing puff-pieces in an attempt to jump-start his campaign.
Oh, wait. He isn't a conservative. So much for that idea.
Same reason the Dems have been concerned about Nader these last couple elections -- he could make the difference in a battleground state if the vote count is close enough.
Now the fur will fly! ! ! ! ! !
The twit doesn’t even deserve the ink he gets. Glenn Beck better get over himself fast. I don’t expect that to happen.
There is no "conservative movement."
Exactly!
BINGO, We have a winner! The tip off: ‘Look, we understand why you’re doing this. We agree with why you’re doing it. But please don’t do it.’
Translation: "Before you ran we had the conservatives by the gonads - where were they gonna go? Now you've given them a choice."
GOP primary voters picked McCain, so I wouldn't say the GOP "got stuck" with McCain. They picked him. Conservatives "got stuck" with McCain because they keep sticking to the GOP.
Bob Barr is no conservative in the first place. He sealed that fate by getting in bed with the ACLU.
You are right about McCain, but wrong about Barr. He is in bed with the ACLU, an organization that is anathema to anything conservative.
I think that was actually a chorus of yawns. ;)
I had no choice when my primary finally got around. So I was stuck with the McCainiac.
Same here! Don't blame me - I didn't vote for the piss-poorest candidate the GOP has ever had.
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