Libertarians should have nominated him only if he agreed to one thing:
Promote the Libertarian Party, NOT just your ego.
Were Bob Barr to put half of his futile efforts into getting Libertarian candidates elected in weak, underpopulated congressional seats around the country, in a single election they could become a serious party with real power.
Right now, the balance of power between the Republicans and the Democrats is thin. Even a dozen Libertarian congressmen, elected from little Podunk districts, could force the two main parties to give them power far beyond their numbers, in exchange for Libertarian support.
In a single election, on the issues they really care about, the Libertarians would have the swing vote!
The same applies to the Constitution Party. They could become extremely powerful after just ONE election.
But the presidential contenders for both parties have huge, bloated egos that demand that THEY waste all the party resources in a futile effort to become a spoiler.
It would be so incredibly easy to get real power, but they never do it.
Get the egotists who want to be “The Leader of the Free World” out of the way and go to some districts out west or in the deep south there a few million might win some Congressional seats. Give me 8 or so Reps and 3 Senators and I'll have the Dems and the Repubs dancing to my tune.