Barack Obama, President

For months I have been mulling a Bob Barr endorsement. But after some consideration, I will reluctantly support Barack Obama.

In the first months of the primaries, I supported libertarian Ron Paul, since I am a libertarian. If Ron Paul would have won the Republican nomination, I am confident he would win in a landslide. But once it was inevitable that Paul had lost the nomination after loses in Iowa and New Hampshire he did fairly well in Nevada and won in Louisiana - people will tell you McCain won it, but Paul did - I endorsed Bill Richardson.

Shortly after that Richardson dropped out, and I endorsed the last good candidate left in the race, Hillary Clinton. I felt Hillary had the executive experience, and that Senator Obama’s only executive experience was on the board of Chicago’s Annenberg challenge, which is not presidential.

Obama was a state Senator, only active in the US Senate for 146 days, whoever supported him in the primaries (nearly 18 million voters) must have been high on something! But Hillary Clinton (a little over 18 million votes) had the experience to be president. But once Joe Biden was picked, I knew Barack Obama was walking away from just saying “change” and “hope” to focusing on the issues like Hillary Clinton.

Bob Barr seems like a good candidate with seven percent of responders in today’s Rasmussen tracking poll choosing someone besides Obama or McCain. But he still seems like a waste of a vote.

And so I reluctantly support Senator Barack Obama for president.

The Argument for The Argument for Bob Barr

With all the media coverage of Obama and McCain, it can be easy to forget there are other candidates for president this year. Perennial Democratic candidate saboteur Ralph Nader comes to mind, but this year the republicans may have to deal with their own Nader. Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate for president, has been stealing away McCain’s supporters.

A recent Zogby poll says that 55% of voters think Barr should be included in the presidential debates. The Obama campaign needs to help make this a reality. Not only would it make Obama look good if he publicly works to get Barr into the debates, it would help Obama gain more ground against McCain as McCain supporters switch to Barr. And of course, if McCain fought against letting Barr into the debates, it would make him look terrible. Regardless of prefer you like Barr’s message or Obama’s, you want Barr in the debates. Read more

Libertarians Nominate Conservative Bob Barr, Why?

I was almost hoping that I’d have to make a tough decision between the presidential Libertarian candidate and Obama. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for the Democrats, the Libertarian Party has selected former Congressman Bob Barr as their nominee.

A quick skim through Barr’s Wikipedia page confirms that he is more confused and washed up Republican than Libertarian. Barr was once one of the War On Drugs’ biggest supporters, but in recent years he has lobbied for a pro-medical marijuana organization. He was the author of the “Defense of Marriage Act” (the law that says a federally recognized marriage must be between a man and a woman). It seems like the reason he doesn’t support the “Federal Marriage Amendment” is not because it harms the civil liberties of homosexuals, but because it violates states’ rights. He voted for the PATRIOT ACT and the war in Iraq. He is pro-life. He has even suggested that the military ban the practice of Wicca in their ranks.

Other than perhaps the recent switch to promoting medical marijuana, Barr is not socially libertarian at all. Of course, the other half of libertarian philosophy is the economic side, and he seems to fit that, but when the Libertarian Party showed up at Warped Tour a few years back, they sure weren’t promoting economic policy.

The future of the Libertarian Party is in their social policies, because that is where they can attract many of the same voters that Obama is attracting. Instead of recognizing that, they have gone for a candidate who is going to steal votes from John McCain, and have set back their potential for growth for another four years.

Like I said though, for the democrats, this is a great thing. Barr is polling 2% ahead of Ralph Nader, and taking most of those votes from people who would otherwise vote for McCain. Maybe there is a hidden agenda here. The libertarians know that they can’t win, so they make sure that McCain can’t either, and then somebody who is at least open to new ideas and might listen to them can become president.