Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Barr 'underdog' at Denver

Everybody keeps talking about Bob Barr as a "spoiler" for John McCain, but first Barr must wint the Libertarian Party nomination, which won't necessarily be easy:
Former Rep. Bob Barr will be an "underdog" for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination going into this week's convention in Denver, the ex-Republican's campaign manager said Monday.
"We definitely don't expect to win it on the first ballot," said Russ Verney, the Barr manager who shepherded Ross Perot's third-party bids in 1992 and 1996. “The other [Libertarian] candidates have been out there recruiting delegates for over a year. Bob just declared his candidacy last week, so he's definitely the underdog."
After days of telephone calls soliciting support among LP delegates, Barr's backers say that when the convention begins Thursday, they will be ready for a tough contest against a crowded field of Libertarian hopefuls, with several rounds of balloting likely.
"We'll be ahead on the first ballot, but not enough to win," said a key Barr campaign operative, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Barr confirmed that assessment on Monday, saying in a brief phone interview that his campaign was prepared to contend for the nomination through multiple ballots during Sunday's vote at the Denver convention.
Read the whole thing. I'm leaving early Wednesday morning for Denver to cover the convention, and will try to keep y'all updated.

1 comment:

  1. If the Libertarian Party doesn't nominate a mainstreamer like Bob Barr or Wayne Root, watch for an immediate and massive flow of Libertarians out of the LP to the GOP, and even towards a "Libertarians for McCain" effort.

    We're running a poll over at Libertarian Republican blog to see what LRs will do if Barr or Root doesn't get it. Surprisingly, most LRs are already expressing support for McCain.

    So, the LP has its work cut out for it, in attracting Libertarian Republican support. The best way to do that is to nominate Barr.

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