Ron Paul Meeting with Independent Candidates

[Herb Schaffler]

Posted on September 10, 2008, 11:50am | [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This No Hillary For President Forum Link.
Ron Paul's press conference with the top third party candidates just wrapped up, but it was missing one of the scheduled speakers: Libertarian Bob Barr. Barr pulled out of the conference this morning, but the LP's Austin Petersen hadn't been told. He showed up with campaign literature and was kicked out of the hallway by Paul spokesman Jesse Benton. "He was extremely angry," Petersen said. "I feel like the fall guy."

I'll find out shortly why Barr decided to bail on the press conference. According to Ralph Nader (who joined the Green Party's Cynthia McKinney and the Constitution Party's Chuck Baldwin on the dais), Barr's campaign manager Russ Verney affirmed that Barr agreed with the premise behind the press conference, that all the candidates had [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This No Hillary For President Forum Link. to four principles.

Foreign Policy: The Iraq War must end as quickly as possible with removal of all our soldiers from the region. We must initiate the return of our soldiers from around the world, including Korea, Japan, Europe and the entire Middle East. We must cease the war propaganda, threats of a blockade and plans for attacks on Iran, nor should we re-ignite the cold war with Russia over Georgia. We must be willing to talk to all countries and offer friendship and trade and travel to all who are willing. We must take off the table the threat of a nuclear first strike against all nations.

Privacy: We must protect the privacy and civil liberties of all persons under US jurisdiction. We must repeal or radically change the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the FISA legislation. We must reject the notion and practice of torture, eliminations of habeas corpus, secret tribunals, and secret prisons. We must deny immunity for corporations that spy willingly on the people for the benefit of the government. We must reject the unitary presidency, the illegal use of signing statements and excessive use of executive orders.

The National Debt: We believe that there should be no increase in the national debt. The burden of debt placed on the next generation is unjust and already threatening our economy and the value of our dollar. We must pay our bills as we go along and not unfairly place this burden on a future generation.

The Federal Reserve: We seek a thorough investigation, evaluation and audit of the Federal Reserve System and its cozy relationships with the banking, corporate, and other The arbitrary power to create money and credit out of thin air behind closed doors for the benefit of commercial interests must be ended. There should be no taxpayer bailouts of corporations and no corporate subsidies. Corporations should be aggressively prosecuted for their crimes and frauds. financial institutions.

Barr agrees with all of that. It's a coup for Paul, who has settled into a role as the patron saint of political outcasts. He introduced the candidates as representatives of the real American majority. "Most people are voting for the lesser of two evils!" Ralph Nader took the sentiment further, arguing that lousy media coverage and trivia "like the newest one, Lipstickgate!" was preventing the average voter from learning how he agreed with these four candidates. As weird as the event got, this was really something: Ralph Nader, old-time contributer to the Freeman, signing on to a libertarian candidate's principles. Cynthia McKinney and Chuck Baldwin agreeing on the bulk of a political platform.

But it did get weird. There was no censorship of the candidates. Cynthia McKinney had time to tell press to watch the film American Blackout and learn how the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen. Chuck Baldwin repeated his line that when he's elected "the New World Order comes crashing down!"

[Herb Schaffler]

Posted on September 10, 2008, 12:14pm | [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This No Hillary For President Forum Link.
Politics, formerly Campaigns & Elections, has an interesting story on Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr. Some snippets:

We wander back out into the club's lobby, and Barr tells me that he hopes my story displays a respect for third-party candidates. Then, before I leave, I ask one last, intentionally provocative question. If, just theoretically, he had no choice but to vote for either McCain or Obama, who would he pull the lever for? I'm met with a completely unamused, bespectacled glare, and then Barr sharply proclaims that he could not "in good conscience" cast a ballot for either one of them. "I have better things to do with my vote that was bought with the blood of many, many patriots over the years [than] to simply hold my nose and vote for the lesser of two evils."...
"We're seeing Barr pick up several fragments of the vote," says John Zogby, president and CEO of Zogby International. "He's getting more traditional conservatives-libertarian conservatives, who would have gone Republican otherwise, and still might come home. But it's clear they're disaffected with Bush, and some have become disaffected from the Republican Party after the scandals, high deficits, the Patriot Act, and other elements. So do I think Barr will get 4 to 6 percent overall? No, but could he make the difference in some states? Yes, absolutely."...
"I don't think Bob Barr will have any impact on the race," says Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter that analyzes American political campaigns. "I think that people who vote for Barr would not have voted for John McCain under any circumstances. So these are Bob Barr voters, and if he's not on the ballot, then they're staying home."

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This No Hillary For President Forum Link. .

[nohil-billy]

Barr will indeed pick up several fragments of the vote. These will be the same people who always answer NOT SURE on every survey.


Q. Would you like hot bamboo shoots shoved under your fingernails.

NO - 98%

YES - 0%

DUH, GEE!!! NOT SURE. - 2%