Is the Barr Campaign Finished ?
In this article Libertarian Party founder, David Nolan says so.
"As of yesterday afternoon, Bob Barr's Presidential campaign is effectively over. There were signs of serious trouble even before yesterday, but his "no-show" at Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty news conference -- followed by an insulting suggestion that Ron should join Barr on the LP ticket in the VP slot -- demonstrated just how out-of-touch the Barr campaign is, and how poor Barr's vote total is likely to be."
Video of the press conference pt 1, pt 2, pt 3.
The Libertarians know their candidates for president won't win. They use the process to promote their ideas and values. Their candidates are chosen with an eye towards their ability to communicate these messages. In this election cycle they chose a "celebrity" candidate in Bob Barr who is just not a Libertarian.
Sayeth Barr, "I'm not interested in third parties getting the most possible votes, I'm interested in Bob Barr as the nominee for the Libertarian Party getting the most possible votes."
I guess you could see this coming.
In the last election the Libertarian, Michael Badnarik and Green, David Cobb, almost seemed like a team on the campaign trail. Of course, Nader refused to debate with the third party candidates then. Will Barr be the holdout this time ? Will Nader be more forthcoming this time ? Will the next reality show on TV have people putting lipstick on barnyard animals ?
Stay tuned, Bat-Friends.

Well, I am not happy at all about the Libertarians picking Bob Barr as their presidential candidate. I felt Mary Ruwart would have been much better. At least they did not embrace an entertainer the way they have in the past with the likes of Howard Stern.
In this WSJ opinion piece, Bruce Bartlett suggests that a strong Libertarian candidate could bring out the Republicans who are currently vowing to stay home and not vote as a protest against John McCain.
This could cinch a win for the Democrat presidential candidate but help out Republicans in the congress and senate which would hamper the effectiveness of the Dem president.
Wonder what the Greens are gonna come up with.

The Libertarian National Convention is ON !
C-Span will be covering it today from 10:30 AM on through the afternoon.
From what I saw last night, Mary Ruwart looks like the best candidate to me.
Bob Barr comes off as the most polished, but his experience in DC gives him the edge on that. Mike Gravel looks old and tired and the rest of the pack come off like late night infomercial hucksters.
While the Democrat convention might actually be interesting this year, the corporate parties' conventions are usually no more than dull coronations. Libertarian conventions are a trip. Things actually happen. Issues and ideas are discussed and real change is always the focus.
Never a dull moment.