Meeting in Denver over the weekend, in a much smaller and probably more civilized, convention than the Democratic National Convention set to unfold in the city in August, the Libertarian Party nominated former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr for President and a Las Vegas oddsmaker for vice president.
Barr led the impeachment campaign in the U.S. Hose of Representatives against President Bill Clinton, which was successful. This earned him the undying enmity of Democrats, who after redistricting in Georgia put Barr in the same district as another GOP congressman, assisted him in defeating Barr.
Barr, never known as Mr. PR, tells it like it is and lacks the charm and charisma of the modern media age. He is a hardcore economic and cultural conservative, however, and is sure to draw Republican votes that are upset with the nomination of the moderate-to-liberal John McCain.
A lot of Libertarians are not cultural conservatives, however, and are upset with Barr votes on abortion, gay marriage and federal drug enforcement. There is a real possibility that the GOP votes for Barr and his losses of free-swinging Libertarians may about offset each other. The highest showing of a Libertarian presidential candidate was by Ed Clark in 1988, drawing 1.5% of the vote nationwide.
The greater danger is that in a few states that seesaw between McCain and Obama, Barr's total could tilt the state to Obama, much as the vote for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader did in 2000 in Florida, tipping the state from Al Gore to George Bush and electing him president.
That's why it is a serious moral crisis for a Republican to decide whether or not he should vote for Barr as a protest. Some think four years of Obama would lead to a Reagan-like revolutiion in the GOP, just as four years of Jimmy Carter did in 1976-1980.
Others wonder if even four years of Obama would be a disaster the U.S. would never recover from.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment