Is Barr's plan working?

[Ninja Homer]

I've been thinking about the crazy stuff Barr has done the last couple days.

He's obviously made some huge blunders. Blunders so big that you have to come to the conclusion that he's either a neocon plant, just plain stupid, or completely ignorant. From what I've heard, the CIA doesn't take many ignorant stupid people, so I'm starting to think he may be a neocon plant. It could be a lot of other things like some really bad miscommunication, some bad advice, or some corrupt advisers. For the sake of this argument, let's assume that Bob Barr is indeed a neocon plant.

As a neocon plant, Bob Barr's main objective would be to maintain the easily manipulated and corrupt 2-party system, keep down and disrupt any 3rd party movements, and screw over the Libertarian Party so it can't gain ground.

Has he accomplished that in the last couple days?

To the best of his ability, he screwed over Ron Paul's plan to popularize 3rd parties. He's created a lot of arguments and rifts among Ron Paul supporters. He's lost a lot of LP support.

I myself said that I wouldn't vote for Barr because of his recent actions. Now that I think more on it, that may be exactly what Barr wanted.

Are we falling for Barr's ploy and doing exactly what he wanted us to?

[Perium]

He as lost my vote in the last couple of days, I sent him a e-mail about it... Ill just have to wait for next year and hope the Libertarians actually pick a "good" candidate.

[Drknows]

What if Ron Paul is a neocon plant?

Ron Paul supporters like myself were apathetic democrats before Ron Paul. I would probably be voting for Obama if it wasn't for him.

OMG !!!!! it all makes sense now! anti-war Ron Paul was sent in to take way votes from Obama.:D

[Andrew-Austin]

The GOP sure isn't treating their plant very kindly, ya know by suing his pants off in every other state.

This is so tired, nothing but paranoia. And it wouldn't be so annoying if people could put these types of threads in the right sections.

[literatim]

It's not like I expected the 3rd parties to make great strides this election.

[RonpaulSupporter7777]

This is crazy. Bob Barr doesnt show up to a Ron Paul Conference and now people think he is a CIA plant??????????

[westmich4paul]

What if Ron Paul is a neocon plant?

Ron Paul supporters like myself were apathetic democrats before Ron Paul. I would probably be voting for Obama if it wasn't for him.

OMG !!!!! it all makes sense now! anti-war Ron Paul was sent in to take way votes from Obama.:D
Could definately be a possibility, I mean 30 million in squandered cash, 2-3 monthes canvassing Iowa and N.H. then leaving MI out to dry? 1.2 millionprimary votes with people screaming run third party and nope gona change the GOP. tHEN HOLD A PRESS CONF TO LET EVERYONE KNOW IT WOULD BE THE BEST THING TO VOTE THIRD PARTY?

[alaric]

exactly the opposite! When Paul made it clear he wasn't doing an independent run, most of us were split between Barr/Baldwin. Now Barr has virtually none of the RP'ers behind him. He made the choice for us!:cool:

[idiom]

Is his plan to get himself shot by a really angry Tin foiler?

Might be working then.

[Ninja Homer]

lol @ all the replies. :D

"Bob Barr is a neocon trying to destroy the LP" has been a common theme for a lot of people here for months, and multiply that by 50 for the last couple days.

My point is, if Barr is really trying to destroy the LP and disrupt and divide RP supporters, wouldn't speaking out against the LP and vowing not to vote for the LP candidate be exactly what Barr wanted and exactly what they are trying to fight?

[Ninja Homer]

This seems to be the correct answer:

http://www.nolanchart.com/article4805.html
"Why has the Barr campaign has gone so badly awry? The simple answer is that the two men running it -- Russ Verney and Shane Cory -- are not Libertarians, do not understand what motivates Libertarian activists, and have no interest in building the LP. Verney is a gun-for-hire of no discernible ideology. Cory is a Republican who left his former job at LP headquarters in disgrace, after abusing his authority prior to the Denver convention. (Just today, Verney posted a Campaign Update on the Barr '08 website, praising George W. Bush for his "leadership" during the days following the 9/11 attacks seven years ago. Any true Libertarian would have instead pointed out that Bush has USED the 9/11 attacks as an excuse to erode our civil liberties!)"

So Barr isn't a neocon plant, he just has terrible campaign managers that don't know what the hell they're doing... That sounds vaguely familiar.

[regtoday]

To me Barr always came off seeming authoritarian in his personality. Something always seemed off about him.

If there is a huge conspiracy to quell third party movements, this is how it would play out. At every opportunity Bob has proven he is playing for the other team.

We're smart folks here. It doesn't matter if Barr is an evil shill or not. The fact remains he did what he did and now we have to deal with it.

Nader/Gonzo & and the Constitutionalists for me.

[SLSteven]

No

[fr33domfightr]

If you think Barr's just a CIA plot to eliminate the 3rd party's then just vote for the guy. Get back at those CIA types.


FF

[FreedomRings]

To me Barr always came off seeming authoritarian in his personality. Something always seemed off about him.

If there is a huge conspiracy to quell third party movements, this is how it would play out. At every opportunity Bob has proven he is playing for the other team.

We're smart folks here. It doesn't matter if Barr is an evil shill or not. The fact remains he did what he did and now we have to deal with it.

QFT. From my personal experience, Barr is an authoritarian at heart and has not changed at all.

Is he running for President to advance his career, or to serve his true masters (whoever they may be)? There aren't that many other possibilities. Either way, his heart is not in it and he's certainly not doing it to "save the country" or whatever.

[Lovecraftian4Paul]

I don't really buy the Barr-as-plant theory. I just think he has such a huge ego that he thinks he doesn't need us and can crawl out of his fake libertarian skin now. He thinks he can get enough votes to make an impact purely by appealing to the mainstream Republicans unhappy with McCain. Little does he know most of those fools never strayed very far and have been reigned back in by Palin.

[RockEnds]

The Republican Party went through this same dilemma with Bush Sr.

Just sayin'.

[New York For Paul]

I hate to say it but the CIA does take in many stupid people. There are many stupid CIA contractors.

Here is a book about how dumb they are.

"we have reason to be afraid, very afraid. Mr. Jones"
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/baring-bureaucratic-hurdles-at-cia/

[kojirodensetsu]

Well, even if he was a plant, it wouldn't matter because I'm still voting for a 3rd party. I plan on voting for Baldwin.

[TER]

Neocon plant? Possible. I think its the dreaded combination of him being very full of himself and listening to bad advice.

[specsaregood]

Neocon plant? Possible. I think its the dreaded combination of him being very full of himself and listening to bad advice.

So basically you are saying that calling him a "neocon plant" or "cia plant" is giving him more credit than he deserves? I'm ok with that viewpoint.

[LibertiORDeth]

What about this: Both Barr and Paul's campaign managers and/or other staff members are planted by those not wishing our ideals to succeed. This seems much more plausible, as campaign staff members are much easier to buy then the candidates themselves.

[RickyJ]

Bob Barr's time is definitely past.

Jesse Ventura on the other hand is just getting started. :)

[RickyJ]

What about this: Both Barr and Paul's campaign managers and/or other staff members are planted by those not wishing our ideals to succeed. This seems much more plausible, as campaign staff members are much easier to buy then the candidates themselves.

I think you might be right about this, but both Barr and Paul are responsible for who they hire. If they see their campaign staff is hurting their efforts then they should fire them and replace them with more capable people.

[LibertiORDeth]

I think you might be right about this, but both Barr and Paul are responsible for who they hire. If they see their campaign staff is hurting their efforts then they should fire them and replace them with more capable people.

Agreed but it must be extremely hard to micro-manage their entire campaign. If this were to happen to McCain or Obama they would not have been able to help it either.

[freelance]

This seems to be the correct answer:

http://www.nolanchart.com/article4805.html
"Why has the Barr campaign has gone so badly awry? The simple answer is that the two men running it -- Russ Verney and Shane Cory -- are not Libertarians, do not understand what motivates Libertarian activists, and have no interest in building the LP. Verney is a gun-for-hire of no discernible ideology. Cory is a Republican who left his former job at LP headquarters in disgrace, after abusing his authority prior to the Denver convention. (Just today, Verney posted a Campaign Update on the Barr '08 website, praising George W. Bush for his "leadership" during the days following the 9/11 attacks seven years ago. Any true Libertarian would have instead pointed out that Bush has USED the 9/11 attacks as an excuse to erode our civil liberties!)"

So Barr isn't a neocon plant, he just has terrible campaign managers that don't know what the hell they're doing... That sounds vaguely familiar.

Alrighty then, just plain, vanilla neo-con.