Topic: Bob Barr
Barr - Paul Alliance Buzz Builds
... and Ron Paul leaves the door open to endorsing a candidate "later in the year".
by George Dance
(libertarian)
Saturday, July 5, 2008

"Signs are emerging of a possible alliance this fall between Ron Paul, the libertarian-minded rebel Republican, and Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee," the Boston Globe reported on June 14. (1) "Already Paul and Barr seem to be edging towards a pseudo-alliance," echoed the Huffington Post on July 2. (2)

Those are just two examples of the ongoing main stream media buzz over a Paul - Barr alliance in the general election -- speculation that began more than a month ago, but which shows no signs of dying out. If anything, coverage of the story increased in June, spreading to TV news as well as the press.

This latest round of speculation was touched off by remarks from Ron Paul to CNN on June 12 (the day Paul suspended his own presidential campaign), which contained some of his most pro-Barr comments to date. Asked by CNN's John Roberts, "what do you think of Bob Barr? Does he faithfully represent the values of the Libertarian Party?", Paul responded by defending Barr against some Libertarians' criticism of his voting record in Congress:
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 [to hear it]. That gives everybody a choice in the matter. (3)
One day later, Barr tossed Paul his own verbal bouquet in a prepared statement:
"Congressman Ron Paul has fought tirelessly in both the Libertarian Party and the Republican Party to minimize government power and maximize individual liberty," said Barr, a former six-term GOP congressman from Georgia. "I want to thank him for all that he has done for liberty in this nation, and encourage him to continue his fight through whatever avenues he sees fit." (1)
That statement made the news even in Iran, where PressTV interpreted the last conjunct to mean that Barr was "suggesting a possible alliance with the Republican." (4)

The following week, FOX News jumped on the story with its own one-two combination, interviewing Bob Barr on "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on June 18, and Ron Paul on the "Glenn Beck Show" on June 19.

Cavuto sounded almost like an excited schoolboy as he constantly interrupted to pepper Barr with questions: "What's the deal here?... Have you talked to them, Bob?... Have you talked to Ron Paul?... And what has he said? Will he back you?"

Barr was non-committal: "Ron Paul is a very good friend of mine, I of his. He supports very much what we're doing. I support very much what he is doing. But I cannot speak in terms of what he might do formally for our campaign." He did though remind Cavuto and his viewers that, informally, Paul has "had some very kind things to say about Bob Barr and our campaign." (5)

The next day, Paul confirmed on the Beck show that there had been no formal endorsement, and gave one reason why. Asked "Will you be backing the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr?", he replied: "I have not made that decision; as of now, no. I haven't endorsed anybody for the presidency.... There's a friend [Baldwin] running on the Constitution Party ticket, as well as Bob Barr on the Libertarian." (6)

Paul's most detailed comments on the story came during a June 13 interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "Situation Room." At that time, he declared flat-out: "I just will not be endorsing John McCain, nor do I intend to endorse Obama." Blitzer followed that up by asking, "What do you think about Congressman Barr?" to which Paul answered:
I think he's running a very important race, and I'm encouraging him. I haven't endorsed him, but he's saying the kind of things I'd like to be heard and said, and I hope he does real well. But we also have Chuck Baldwin who runs on the Constitution Party [ticket]; his views are very close to mine, and he worked very hard on my campaign, so for me to pick one or the other is not easy. I hope they both get a lot of votes.
However, Paul left the door open to endorsing either Barr or Baldwin later: "I don't have immediate plans; maybe later in the year I might decide to." (7)

Paul hinted at the same possibility on his Beck show appearance: "As of now, no, I haven't endorsed anybody for the Presidency. We're mainly working on a grand celebration of liberty, a rally, in Minneapolis on Sept. 2. But maybe after that I might think about it." (6)

So there we have it: No endorsement before the Campaign for Liberty rally on Sept. 2, but perhaps one afterward. In the meantime, I expect Paul to have more and similar "kind words" for both Barr and Baldwin throughout the summer. I also fully expect to see both those candidates being given prime speaking slots at the Minneapolis rally.

Whether a Paul endorsement occurs later depends on a number of factors: not the least of which is how his supporters fare at the Republican national convention, also on Sept. 2. If McCain chooses one of Paul's "friends" as his running mate (possibly South Carolina governor Mark Sanford), he may still be able to forestall a Paul endorsement of one of his rivals.

But there seems little danger of that happening. The McCain camp has not only made no effort to accommodate the Ron Paul Republicans to date, but has gone out of its way to belittle them and shut them out. Any doubts on that score should be laid to rest by the McCain campaign's appointment of Michael Goldfarb as Deputy Communications Director in June. Goldfarb was previously editor of the virulently Paul-bashing Weekly Standard blog, where he wrote on the subject in March:
The Washington Times reports: "Ron Paul says the legions of newcomers his presidential campaign brought to the Republican Party are getting the cold shoulder from John McCain and from the party...."
[L]et me just say to Ron Paul supporters everywhere, and on behalf of the New Right (by which I assume Paul means the Jew Right), get lost.
There should be plenty of room for the Paulnuts in Obama's big tent. (8)

One hopes that Mr. Goldfarb has learned something in the past three months, and now realizes that those are not the only options, for either "Paulnuts" or American voters in general.

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Sources


(1) Foon Rhee, "Paul, Barr may be forging an alliance for fall election," Boston Globe, Jun. 14, 2008. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/14/paul_barr_may_be_forging_an_alliance_for_fall_election/

(2) Sam Stein, "The Coming Barr-Paul Political Alliance?," Huffington Post, July 2, 2008. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/02/the-coming-barr-paul-poli_n_110423.html

(3) "Ron Paul addresses the candidacy of Bob Barr on CNN." You Tube, Jun. 12, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVw8LaeQX9A

(4) "Barr to Paul: Continue your fight," PressTV, Jun. 15, 2008. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=60039&sectionid=3510203

(5) "Cavuto’s CEO Interview: Libertarian 2008 Candidate Bob Barr," FOX News, Jun. 19, 2008. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,369062,00.html

(6) "Ron Paul : Campaign for Liberty: Glenn Beck: 6.19.2008: Part 1," You Tube, Jun. 19, 2008. http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=TUCbtCrlyps

(7) "Ron Paul: 'I don't plan to endorse John McCain'," You Tube, Jun. 16, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oHIx3SX1yU

(8) Michael Goldfarb, "A Message to Ron Paul Supporters," The Weekly Standard blog, Mar. 19, 2008. http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/03/a_message_to_ron_paul_supporte.asp

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See also:

Ron Paul on Bob Barr: "We're allies"

http://www.nolanchart.com/article3963.html

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©2008 George Dance, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Saturday, July 5, 2008
Last modified: Sunday, July 6, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of George Dance only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. George Dance is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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Reader Comments:

Posted By: rtbohan
Date: 2008-07-05 13:37:02

Interesting and good article.  Mark Sanford, however, is Governor of South Carolina.  The New York Times once gave us three senators (Hodges, Thurmond, and Helms, but that doesn't mean you get to move our governor

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Posted By: George Dance
Date: 2008-07-05 14:08:47

Good catch, Richard; thank you. I'll make the change from NC to SC immediately; and as penance I'll embed some interesting video footage I found of Mark Sanford.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKOCsBpcZfw

(The interesting stuff begins around the 3:00 mark.) 

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Posted By: Jeremy West
Date: 2008-07-06 00:03:18

Nice article. I dugg it.

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Posted By: Junkie
Date: 2008-07-06 01:10:45

Barr & Baldwin should just join forces, call it the "Freedom Party".  Then Ron Paul has a ticket he can endorse and work for while bringing in teh money bombzz that the Paul community would love to get behind.

It might not win the Presidency but it just might secure a spot on the national debate stage like Perot did with enough money raised.  And we'd probably be witness to the highest percentage ever garnered for a 3rd party run in US History. The Freedom movement would only grow from there.

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Posted By: George Dance
Date: 2008-07-06 07:42:28

Jeremy: Thanks for the Digg. Digg looks like the best way to bring new readers here. I suppose I should join, learn, and start using it myself.

Junkie: I'm glad to see you thinking outside the box. I can't imagine the two parties merging like that, but I can think of some things they could do along that line.

(1) If the L's have a candidate in a race and the C's don't, the C's could endorse the L candidate; and vice versa.

(2) If the C's have a presidential candidate on a state ballot where the L's don't, the L's could endorse the C candidate in that state; and vice versa.

I'd like to see the two parties exploring those options.

 

 

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Posted By: Jean-Christophe Roux
Date: 2008-07-07 06:11:03

Hopefully Ron Paul won't make the mistake to endorse Bob Barr. Ron Paul needs to be faithful to the Republican Party to have a chance to take over that party or, at least, have a chance to change it. Disagreeing on all topics is one thing but endorsing a political opportunitst, would-be libertarian, from another party is another. On top of that, I don't see what would Ron Paul gain in such an endorsement. What the Bob Barr fans (yes, there are Bob Barr fans!) gain is clear: some ceditbility for their favorite candidate.

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Posted By: Joe Lawson
Date: 2008-07-07 12:11:58

I really hope Ron Paul endorses Bob Barr, especially before the debates, I think this would help to launch Barr into the 10% requirement for the League of Women voters debate, and then that should get him the extra 5% needed for the debate commission debates. This would allow the message to be heard by the American People. Barr is an excellent candidate that can bring the movement forward. A Ron Paul supporter

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Posted By: Christopher D. Osborn
Date: 2008-07-07 20:31:14

"Barr & Baldwin should just join forces, call it the "Freedom Party".  Then Ron Paul has a ticket he can endorse and work for while bringing in teh money bombzz that the Paul community would love to get behind."

 If only they could get over their differences and focus on their many similarities.  Then the only issue would be would would be running for President and the other as Vice.

 Mr. Barr seems to be getting the most attention so he would probably take the presidential spot, but it all seems so unlikely.  The Libertarian and Constitution parties have very real differences, dispite their similarities.

 Would be neet if tey could work something out anyhow.

 In Liberty,

Christopher (Fipher) D. Osborn

fipher.blogspot.com

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Posted By: Rob B.
Date: 2008-07-11 06:02:05

With Bob Barr already polling 5-10% in most states, according to Zogby, he may have a good chance to get into the debates and put the Libertarian Party into permanent challenger status. He is leading McCain and Obama in a current conservative poll:

[link edited for length]

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