As you noted, Boob Barf (oops, I mean Bob Barr) was much more well known as a former Congressman, but did scarsely better than Badnarik.... AND Barf had the fortune of running against the unlikable backstabber John McCain. I attribute his poor performance to Barf renouncing everything people LIKED about him when he was a Congressman. Literally the ONLY thing Congressman Barr and Libertarian Nominee Barf had in common is they were both strongly pro-gun rights.
And of course, almost immediately after the election, Barf and his "Libertarian" running mate Wayne Allyn Root came crawling back to the GOP. So much for that "I'm so proud to be a Libertarian" stuff they spouted at the 2008 party convention.
Same thing in 2012 and 2016, when they nominated former GOP Governor Gary Johnson. His "Libertarian" running mate, RINO big government governor Bill Weld, is now back in the GOP fold. I don't think Johnson has ruled out running again as a Republican, either.
In any case, Jacob Hornberger won considerably more votes than Jo Jorgensen did in the 2020 LP primaries (she won ONE out of the 11 state primaries) for President. Guess the LP party elites figure they know better than the rank and file members who is the best nominee for the party (but they will gladly diss the GOP and Dems party elites for doing the same)
I have no objection to her though, looks like the LP is going back to basics. I never liked Harry Browne either, but at least he seemed sincere about what he actually believed in, unlike Boob Barf and RINO Weld.
Johnson, the asshole, ran a Libertarian for the Senate in 2018 (easy to forget) he seemed stronger than the weak Republican to the point that I endorsed him until he faded in the polls down the stretch and he indeed finished a poor third (though he got 15%, as opposed to the 9% he got in NM running for President). The rat ended up with over 50% anyway.
If Johnson had run as a Republican, I think it could have been a different race and maybe he could have even won.
Weld endorsed Biden (even as he was still running against Trump for the nomination!), so he’s in the DIABLO (dem in all but label only) POS fold with Joe Walsh, he should follow Bill Kristol and make the rat thing official.
As for the Libertarian nomination process, most states didn’t have primaries or caucuses and I don’t know why the delegates of those states should give a damn about the results of those that did, especially given the absurdly small number of votes involved, Hornb got 9100 votes (only 22% of the total) and Jorg got 5000. And this was a multi-ballot affair, no one was close to majority on the first ballot and she won by being everyone’s 2nd choice. Their hypocrisy aside, it was perfectly proper. If I were them and wanted to be true to ideals I’d allow all dues paying members (if they have them) to choose the nominee like the parties do in the UK and Canada.
Jorg btw was spotted (by her own photog in order to publicize it) protesting with BLM outside of the White House.