Libertarian Party Convention going on in Denver

[Galileo Galilei]

Libertarian Party Convention going on in Denver

Political Plotting in Denver

Several stories have surfaced detailing the political maneuvering in Denver.

Many consider Bob Barr to be the favorite. Barr is a good friend of Ron Paul. I think it will come down to Dr. Mary Ruwart and Bob Barr, with Ruwart winning. Other strong contenders include Wayne Allen Root, Steve Kubby, Michael Jingozian, George Phillies, Daniel Imperato, and Mike Gravel.

The Libertarian Party uses sequential balloting, where the lowest vote getter is dropped off each round until someone gets a majority. I think the voting is on Saturday night.

I have never seen this many strong candidates vying for the nomination. In 2004, there were only three strong candidates, and before that typically only one or two.

Fear and Loathing in Denver
By Robert Stacy McCain
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13264

The LPHQ NeoConspiracy
http://lastfreevoice.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/the-lphq-neoconspiracy/

Update on the Vast Right Wing (within the LP) Conspiracy
http://thirdpartywatch.com/2008/05/21/update-on-the-vast-right-ring-within-the-lp-conspiracy/

Also, The Last Free Voice has extensive LP convention coverage and a preview of all 14 candidates:

Jacqueline Passey: Endorsements
http://lastfreevoice.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/jacqueline-passey-endorsements/

Where to find coverage of the Libertarian Party National Convention
http://www.jacquelinepassey.com/2008/05/where-to-find-coverage-of-the-libertarian-party-national-convention.html

http://www.jacquelinepassey.com/

LAST FREE VOICE
http://lastfreevoice.wordpress.com/

Lew Rockwell Blog covering LP convention as well:

The LP Convention, So Far
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/021126.html#more

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/

There are several people live blogging from the event. Here's a few that I've found. The LP has 14 candidates for president, and the winner may assume the mantle as the leader of the Ron Paul movement, if RP does not win the GOP nomination.

Chuck Baldwin, also a strong backer of Ron Paul, has already won the nomination of the Constitution Party, over Alan Keyes.

Reason Magazine Blog
http://www.reason.com/blog/

Independent Political Report
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/category/libertarian-party/

Comics Pundit
http://www.comicspundit.com/

Third Party Watch
http://www.thirdpartywatch.com/

Thomas Knapp
http://knappster.blogspot.com/

Bob Barr Blog
http://blog.bobbarr2008.com/

Christine Smith for President Blog
http://www.christinesmithforpresident.com/cblog/

Libertarian Party of Colorado Blog
http://lpcolorado.blogs.com/lpcolorado/2008/05/national-libert.html

Todd Seavy
http://toddseavey.com/

Libertarian Party Convention Blogs
http://www.blogcatalog.com/posts/libertarian%20party%20convention

C-SPAN will Cover Important Parts of Libertarian Convention Live
May 22nd, 2008

C-SPAN will broadcast coverage of the national Libertarian Party convention live, for the most exciting parts. That includes Saturday evening (9 PM eastern through midnight, which should include debates among the presidential candidates), and Sunday 10:30 AM eastern, all day (which will include the presidential voting). Thanks to Austin Cassidy’s new Independent Political Report for this news.
15 Responses to “C-SPAN will Cover Important Parts of Libertarian Convention Live”
http://www.ballot-access.org/2008/05/22/c-span-will-cover-important-parts-of-libertarian-convention-live/

[Bradley in DC]

Wow, thanks. :)

I thought--but do NOT know--that there would be speeches on Saturday night and voting on Sunday. Is that right?

[Galileo Galilei]

Wow, thanks. :)

I thought--but do NOT know--that there would be speeches on Saturday night and voting on Sunday. Is that right?

yea, that might have been a mistake, the presidential voting may be on Sunday. I was at the 2004 convention and can't remember exactly when they do it.

It will take forever to vote with 14 candidates and no clear favorite.

The first ballot will probably eliminate the candidates most have not heard of. That will still leave Barr, Gravel, Ruwart, Kubby, Burns, Phillies, Imperato, Root, Jingozian, and Smith. Then, slowly, the candidates will be whittled down.

In 2004, it was almost a three-way tie between Badnarik, Nolan, and Aaron Russo.

On the critical second ballot, it was 260 Russo, 250 Badnarik, 245 Nolan, so Nolan was out. I voted for Russo.

Most of these candidates have cool websites that any Ron Paul fan would love.

[torchbearer]

Wow, thanks. :)

I thought--but do NOT know--that there would be speeches on Saturday night and voting on Sunday. Is that right?

WHen is the debate? will it be on c-span?

[Galileo Galilei]

WHen is the debate? will it be on c-span?

yes, it will be on C-Span.

I think the debate is on Saturday night, and the voting is on Sunday. C-Span will have almost all day coverage on Sunday.

[torchbearer]

yes, it will be on C-Span.

I think the debate is on Saturday night, and the voting is on Sunday. C-Span will have almost all day coverage on Sunday.

The debate in 2004 was really good... and this one will be even better.
In 2004, all the candidates were very similar.
This year, the candidates vary greatly.

[Grimnir Wotansvolk]

I fear that we may be witnessing an unfortunate transformation in the libertarian party. If Mary Ruwart wins, we'd have a purist with no-where near a large enough support base. If Barr wins, he'll bring along legions of disillusioned republicans, but also a long history of very unlibertarian values.

[torchbearer]

I fear that we may be witnessing an unfortunate transformation in the libertarian party. If Mary Ruwart wins, we'd have a purist with no-where near a large enough support base. If Barr wins, he'll bring along legions of disillusioned republicans, but also a long history of very unlibertarian values.

What about a coalition ticket.
There has always been two camps in the Libertarian Party.
For the longest time, the anarchist had the majority.
And the more moderate disillusioned former republicans and their caucus were minority.
In this year, with many republicans disgusted with the direction the the GOP, the numbers are changing... Not sure if they are changing fast enough for Barr to get the nomination.
a Ruwart/Barr or Barr/Ruwart woud be the two groups uniting to garner the "I can't stand my choices" group.

[crazyfingers]

I fear that we may be witnessing an unfortunate transformation in the libertarian party. If Mary Ruwart wins, we'd have a purist with no-where near a large enough support base. If Barr wins, he'll bring along legions of disillusioned republicans, but also a long history of very unlibertarian values.

Unfortunately Bob Barr's anti-libertarian values are not a thing of the past. He may have adjusted his rhetoric slightly, but he continues to support an interventionist foreign policy and using government to impose his socially conservative positions on the rest of us. Barr is a Libertarian of convenience, sort of like Mike Gravel.

[Alex Libman]

The LP has survived things much worse than Bob Barr. It will emerge stronger in 2012.

[Galileo Galilei]

I fear that we may be witnessing an unfortunate transformation in the libertarian party. If Mary Ruwart wins, we'd have a purist with no-where near a large enough support base. If Barr wins, he'll bring along legions of disillusioned republicans, but also a long history of very unlibertarian values.

I think the more candidates, the better. The delegates will pick the strongest candidate. My hope is that the VP candidate be strong as well, which means the second place candidate must be willing to be VP. The last strong VP candidate was Dr. Nancy Lord in 1992.

In 2004, Michael Badnarik, with hardly any name recogition, almost beat Nader in the general election. Ruwart has much more name recognition than Badnarik.

The LP presidential nomination has usually boiled down to only a couple strong candidates.

In 1988, it was Ron Paul and Russell Means.

In 1996, it was Harry Browne and Jacob 'Bumper' Hornberger.

In 2000, it wall all Harry Browne.

This year, there are at least seven top tier candidates.

We will see what happens. This year's nominee will be able to draw support from the Ron Paul Revolution, the Peace Movement, and maybe the 9/11 Truth Movement, plus the Internet is much bigger, which all adds up to a good year for the LP.

[Galileo Galilei]

Unfortunately Bob Barr's anti-libertarian values are not a thing of the past. He may have adjusted his rhetoric slightly, but he continues to support an interventionist foreign policy and using government to impose his socially conservative positions on the rest of us. Barr is a Libertarian of convenience, sort of like Mike Gravel.

A really good friend of mine, Stephen Gordon, is managing Barr's campaign. Gordon is real Libertarian, so I have faith in Barr. That said, I still prefer Ruwart or Kubby.

The top tier candidates who have been campaigning for the longest time period are Kubby and Phillies who have been out on the trial since early 2007. Also, Jim Burns and Christine Smith have been out campaigning for about the same length of time. The others are newer to the race.

[Galileo Galilei]

Live Feed from the Denver LP Convention
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/

Debate preview to air tonight on C-SPAN
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/05/debate-preview-to-air-tonight-on-c-span/

[ThePieSwindler]

The LP has survived things much worse than Bob Barr. It will emerge stronger in 2012.

woot, maybe theyll kick it up a few tenths of a percent in the national election!


Why does the LP even run presidential candidates? Why don't they put more resources into electing state and US reps, which is much less of a daunting task - and if they actually start building a small winning record, they might be taken a bit more seirously. Otherwise, the LP is going to be no "stronger" than any time in the last 40 years.

[Galileo Galilei]

Official Libertarian Party Presidential Predictions Thread

1. Dr. Mary Ruwart

http://www.votemary2008.com/

2. Bob Barr

http://www.bobbarr2008.com/

3. Wayne Allyn Root

http://www.rootforamerica.com/

4. Steve Kubby

http://www.kubby2008.com/

5. George Phillies

http://phillies2008.org/

6. Michael Jingozian

http://www.resetamerica.com/main.html

7. Mike Gravel

http://www.gravel2008.us/

8. Daniel Imperato

http://www.imperato2008.com/imperato2008/

9. Christine Smith

http://www.christinesmithforpresident.com/

10. Jim Burns

http://www.jimburnsforpresident.com/

11. Barry Hess

http://hess08.policlicks.com/

12. Robert Milnes

http://www.2008-presidential-election.net/lb/robertmilnes.html

13. Alden Link

http://www.link-for-pres.org/

14. John Finan

http://johnmfinan.com/

[torchbearer]

Phillies places lower. Barr and Ruwart is a toss up.