First off I have to say that I've just been getting snippets of the event as they trickle in to YouTube but the just of it was that Paul wanted to express his views on the duopoly that occurs every year with the Republicans and Democrats leveraging third party candidates out of the debates and effectively silencing their campaigns. This coupled with the idea that a third party vote is always wasted ruins any chance of such parties ever gaining ground. The solution, hold third party debates if the big whigs won't allow them to rally support and hold a lot of them.
This is the Ron Paul speech from the event and I'm just impressed with the amount of guts and integrity the man has. It truly does our movement great service.
While watching this and the subsequent videos that follow (Q/A with the other candidates) I noticed no Bob Barr. Him not being there is news to me. This not only solidifies my doubts about Bob Barr and his intentions but makes the Libertarian Party look bad as if they are part of the establishment. All the third party candidates coming together to discuss reform of our election system should be first priority for all of them no? Are they satisfied with the attention they are getting? Isn't that attention alone a requirement to win an election. Instead we get comments like the ones below coming from the Barr campaign on the conference.
According to Don Rasmussen, who is involved with the CFL, “Barr committed to participate, but had his campaign manager call us minutes before it started to tell us that Bob thinks ‘it just isn’t worth it.’ I look forward to hearing him explain how breaking a promise to Congressman Paul constitutes a wise campaign strategy. ”
In addition his own Party is lashing out at him for this decision
Ralph Nader “represented the Libertarian Party and fielded the first question directed at Bob Barr,” says Tony Wall, LP state chairman of Tennessee. “This is absolutely a disgrace to the Libertarian Party and is totally unacceptable.”
I would have to agree.
FROM DAN RASMUSSEN, EVENTS COORDINATOR, CAMPAIGN FOR LIBERTY:
“The following reflect my personal feelings and is not endorsed by Dr. Paul or Campaign for Liberty.
“I am deeply disappointed by Bob Barr’s decision not to participate in today’s press conference just as I have been disappointed with the Barr campaign throughout this election cycle.
“The idea that he was busy is absurd. I am sitting in the National Press Club right now waiting for his hastily called press conference to begin. This is the same building where Dr. Paul’s presser just ended. Barr committed to participate, but had his campaign manager call us minutes before it started to tell us that Bob thinks “it just isn’t worth it.” I look forward to hearing him explain how breaking a promise to Congressman Paul constitutes a wise campaign strategy.
“It is my great hope that the alternative parties will present the American people with quality candidates that offer a real option. Clearly the Libertarian Party has failed to do so. Bob Barr has repeatedly broken his promises to Dr. Paul, showed up uninvited at C4L events, and made statement contrary to Dr. Paul’s beliefs while still claiming the mantle of heir to the R3VOLution.
“Hopefully, the LP will find a way to reject this candidate without rejecting the idea of engagement in practical politics.”
My fellow Libertarians, we need to treat Barr with the same scrutiny we would a Republican or Democratic candidate for election and stop babying him for having an (L) behind his name. If we want to see this movement through it is my opinion that Bob Barr is not the answer.
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I was planning on voting for Bob Barr, but after this, I'm starting to change my mind. According to http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/sep/09/florida-ballot-see-record-number-... Chuck Baldwin will be on the ballot in Florida.
Bob Barr 2008 National Field Director Mike Ferguson says Ron Paul showed a “complete lack of leadership” today, and “has, again, blown a tremendous opportunity to lead and advance the agenda of the Constitution, and individual liberty.”
This is just horrible. The original myspace (owned by Murdoch the neocon) blog post has been taken down but luckily is was archived before that. Along with some dead on comments here:
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/09/bob-barrs-national-fie...
Barr disgusts me more with each passing day. I was at the Libertarian Conference in Denver the day Barr won the nomination. He barely beat Mary Ruart in the final round and only because he financed the busing in of enough supporters to put him over the top when many of the delegate seats were empty. I have no doubt that had all the elected delegates attended the event (or could have afforded to in some cases) that he would not have won. His victory so enraged many that at least 50 delegates walked out of the convention right then. I also got to witness and completely delight in the grilling he received that evening at the hotel bar over his signing of the Patriot Act. You should have seen him squirm, you would have been proud of the (capital L) Libertarians. :) He seemed to have an answer for everything but none very convincing. I knew right then that he was not right for the job. Plus my cousin worked on his campaign and likes him a lot; my cousin is a total neocon and scares the hell out of me.
Hopefully this will put an end to his distraction (I mean campaign). A_G1RL said she thought he shot himself in the foot but I likened it more to stepping on an anti tank mine and becoming a messy spot on the ground.
Cheers,
RiverRat
Paul and Nader on the Situation Room
Barr's real intentions look questionable by not showing up today...he gave his word to appear , then backed out last-minute under the guise of his being there wouldn't be "worth it".....that move needs to be scrutinized!
I wonder what wasn't "worth it"?
A free plug in the press? An invitation to work with other 3rd Party candidates to confront the duopoly? A chance to come together and "pool" our political resources? It doesn't logically add up....
And who is Bob Barr to give Ron Paul a "final offer" on anything?....Seriously!
It is a sick reality that Ron Paul has more integrity in his pinky finger than most politicians wholly combined....
Just watched Nader and Paul on CNN Situation Room. I just wonder what the average American is thinking when they see an interview of this caliber on television. Of course we get the typical defeatist questions from the media who obviously misses the point of it all. If anything 3rd parties help champion issues while the other candidates champion popularity. I think the four issues they've addressed 1) Leaving Iraq 2)Civil Liberties 3)National Debt 4) The Federal Reserve, are all critical issues in this election and for me, the major issues facing this country... period. They both said that they wouldn't vote for evil, it wasn't a choice, and that the candidates were virtually the same on all major issues including the ones above, in which they have been relatively silent on.
Front page of Bob Barr's home page
Bob Barr Shows Leadership to Unify Liberty Movement
September 10th, 2008 by Shane Cory
Asks Paul to Run as his Vice President
Atlanta, GA – Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee for president, has invited GOP Congressman Ron Paul to be his running mate in the upcoming election. In a letter sent to Paul, Barr called Paul one of the “few American patriots” who exist in today’s society, and asked him to “seriously consider this final offer as an opportunity to show true, lasting leadership beyond party politics.”
Barr cited Paul’s 1987 letter to then-GOP Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf, in which Paul stated that, “after years of trying to work through the Republican Party both in and out of government…[Paul] concluded that [his] efforts must be carried on outside the Republican Party.”
Though recognizing Paul’s personal investment in the Republican Party and his recent attempts to reform the party from inside, Barr said he disagreed with Paul’s strategy. “Better options remain that will carry a message of liberty onto the ballot in November and beyond,” Barr stated, adding at a news conference called today at the National Press Club, that “change in politics and public policy in America cannot and will not be done from within the current, two-party system.”
Barr continued, “‘The status quo will not change the status quo’ and impact comes entirely from gaining votes in the General Election.” That is why Barr said he would remain focused on the Libertarian Party’s electoral effort and clear message, and why he invited Paul to join him.
“While you declined my offer to seek the Libertarian presidential nomination many months ago, I ask that you seriously consider this final offer as an opportunity to show true, lasting leadership beyond party politics,” Barr stated in his letter to Paul.
Barr’s running mate, Wayne Allyn Root, expressed support: “As the Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee, I believe in one thing above all else—principle. There can be no compromise on the ideals of limited government, lower taxes, lower spending, and more freedom for the American people. Those are the principles to which I’ve dedicated my life. The GOP and Democratic candidates only give lip service—at best—to these ideals and principles. It is only an act at election time every four years.”
“I want to end the charade once and for all,” Root continued. “I am willing to sacrifice anything to advance the cause of liberty, freedom, smaller government and to enable the American taxpayer to keep more of their own money and property. Understanding Dr. Ron Paul’s reputation and name recognition in the freedom movement, I am willing to step aside as Libertarian vice presidential candidate if he would be willing to take my place. I will pledge to work day and night, just as I have as the vice presidential nominee, to support Dr. Paul. I believe this is a wonderful opportunity for the Libertarian and freedom movements. I encourage Dr. Paul to accept Congressman Barr’s offer. The campaign is making this offer because we believe there is no sacrifice too large when it comes to improving the lives of the American people and American taxpayers.”
I don't know what to say at this point. I'm really embarrassed for the Libertarian Party that they have to put up with this guy. While offering Ron Paul a running mate position earlier in the cycle might have been strategic and flattering, Paul rejected the offer and gave his reasons. So what has changed? The only difference is that now there is less than 2 months in the cycle and the LP has a VP looking like he wants to duck out. Am I in some kind of bizarro world? Making threats is no way to getting support and neither is backing out on a promise, like attending a particular press conference critical to our nations credibility.
Sorry, just wanted you to look at this video hoping you will vote it up and get it more exposure.
I also agree with you. It sounds like Bob Barr didn't show up to the press conference today because he was mad Ron Paul didn't give him a solo endorsement. According to this article, Barr agreed to come, but backed out about a half hour before the press conference. He then apparently lied during his own press conference by saying he never committed to go.
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/09/shane-cory-to-ron-paul...
agree with you on this one. Shame on him, it couldve been an easy lift for him and if he cared about the bigger picture, the people. Perhaps he feared he would do horribly at the debates, someone could definitely bring up his shaky record. I think he was afraid of embarrassment, a bigger one anyway.
"free thinkers are dangerous, and beautiful"