Bob Barr Will Not Be A Spoiler
Posted by Joe Rivett on 07.08.2008
If Barr turns out to be a spoiler in Georgia then you can bet the farm that McCain doesn't have a shot at the presidency to begin with...
Why does the media assume that anyone voting for Bob Barr is a disaffected Republican?
Here are some reasons why a disaffected Democrat may vote for Barr…
1. He is more anti-war than Obama.
2. He is promising to create a White House Position to defend privacy and civil liberties.
3. He wants to eliminate the deficit and has a more realistic plan to do it than Obama.
4. He wants to remove troops from South Korea.
5. He thinks the War on Drugs has gone too far.
I'm not buying that Barr is going to be the Nader-2000 of 2008. Firstly, many of his Republican voters are going to be people that wouldn't vote for McCain anyways. Secondly, he will pick up Democratic voters that don't like Obama but can't pull the lever for a Republican. Lastly, Nader will siphon off some potential Democratic voters which may offset Barr's votes.
Many in the media are saying that Barr could ruin McCain's chances in Montana and Georgia. However, if McCain can't win Montana and especially Georgia, he's probably going to get a thumping this election.
I'm frankly tired of the "spoiler" label, which is why we need runoff elections so we can choose the candidates in the order that we like them, that is the only way a third party will ever amount a serious challenge.
Thanks for finally bringing up Barr on this website. With Ashish's constant Obama worship I figured he would never get his due. First off Barr will take a number of votes away from McCain, based on the facts many conservatives do not like McCain. The problem with Barr is that the Libertarian party is factional, and many libertarians myself included feel that Mr. Barr is a wolf in Sheeps clothing. I mean he certainly had no problem supporting the Patriot Act. I do not buy that he "saw the light" so to speak. If you watched the convention you must have heard the boos when the Barr supporters rallied. You won't find a sane Libertarian who thinks this is our year, if we could find a canindate with half the charisma of Mr. Obama then with our message of personal freedom (just leave out that personal responsibility part) who knows where the part would go. Right now 2008 will just be another cycle where the "anti government lunatics" get a few votes.
Posted By: Eric (Guest) on July 09, 2008 at 08:49 AM
This is why I've said all along that the RNC should've gotten behind someone like Ron Paul instead of John McCain. Ron Paul could've attracted more Democrats than John McCain based on his stances and his sound voting record to back it up.
Now, the Republicans have to hope that Obama is exposed as the left wing liberal he is during the debates (voting for partial birth abortion isn't grounds for someone being a moderate).
Posted By: Rick (Guest) on July 09, 2008 at 11:18 AM
Joe,
We need more than run-off elections. We need instant-runoff voting where people rank their choices and have their vote transfered to their second choice (etc.) if their first pick gets eliminated.
IRV lets people vote their conscience with out having to worry about the "spoiler" effect or "wasted vote" syndrome. And it does it all at lower cost than having two separate election to conduct the run-off.
June
Posted By: June (Guest) on July 10, 2008 at 12:02 AM
STAY CURRENT