Gary Johnson & Bob Barr: Stay in GOP or Join Libertarian Party?

[bobbyw24]

YouTube - Gary Johnson, Bob Barr on Freedom Watch 07/03/10 p.5/5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrVkTVsNMhU)

[speciallyblend]

bob barr is a joke to liberty!! bob barr has 0 credibility. the lp kissed the wrong azz and got the votes to prove it!! time to flush the lp toilet of bob barr!!! i highly doubt if i left the gop i would ever join the lp again! this coming from someone who left the lp to reclaim the failed gop!! if i ever leave the gop. i will be supporting a New 3rd Party, not the stale lp!!

[bobbyw24]

bob barr is a joke to liberty!! bob barr has 0 credibility. the lp kissed the wrong azz and got the votes to prove it!! time to flush the lp toilet of bob barr!!! i highly doubt if i left the gop i would ever join the lp again! this coming from someone who left the lp to reclaim the failed gop!! if i ever leave the gop. i will be supporting a New 3rd Party, not the stale lp!!

I agree--Barr sucks and the Libertarian Party showed that it is a JOKE when it allowed him to get the nomination in 2008

[speciallyblend]

I agree--Barr sucks and the Libertarian Party showed that it is a JOKE when it allowed him to get the nomination in 2008

the only person that gives the lp some credibility now is mary ruwart! I have lil faith in the gop but knowing the corruption level! i highly doubt republicans can win over this gop corruption but i continue to try!!

as i have said in previous threads Ron Paul or Gary Johnson are the only viable choices i have left in the gop, after that i will have to look outside of the gop and to be honest i am not even considering the lp! unless it is Ron Paul,Gary Johnson or Mary Ruwart! someone in the gop/lp leadership needs to WAKE THE F UP!! ASAP Harry Browne R.I.P. :( the lp has become one big dissapointment not that the gop is much better!

[Imaginos]

bob barr is a joke to liberty!! bob barr has 0 credibility. the lp kissed the wrong azz and got the votes to prove it!! time to flush the lp toilet of bob barr!!! i highly doubt if i left the gop i would ever join the lp again! this coming from someone who left the lp to reclaim the failed gop!! if i ever leave the gop. i will be supporting a New 3rd Party, not the stale lp!!
+1
Barr's definitely not one of us.

[Elwar]

Barr should leave the LP and go back to the Republican or Democrat party.

[specsaregood]

+1
Barr's definitely not one of us.

So people can't change?

[Imaginos]

So people can't change?
I gave him a chance in 2008.
I was not fully convinced but gave him the benefit of the doubt because sometimes people can change.
Then Bob Barr forced Ron Paul to endorse him and when Ron Paul refused to do so, Barr publicly criticized Ron Paul and said nasty things like 'Ron Paul like behavior'.
He used the term 'Ron Paul like behavior' in a negative way.
That's the last nail in the coffin for me.
He claimed to be 'pro-liberty' then bashed Ron Paul.
As I said, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and will not be fooled again.

[specsaregood]

I gave him a chance in 2008.

As I said, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and will not be fooled again.

Fair enough. I'm there with you.

[teamrican1]

So people can't change?

I gave him the benefit of the doubt too, but when he came out for Drug Prohibition I stopped listening. In a year when Ron Paul whipped up more libertarian excitement then any election year in modern history the LP decided their best move was to nominate Libertarian-lite former GOP Congressman.:confused:

[angelatc]

Stay in the GOP, and thanks for asking!

[NewFederalist]

The Libertarian Party has had more than enough time to become viable. It has existed for nearly 40 years and has just not found a way to breakthrough. The U.S. Taxpayers/Constitution Party has existed for less than half as long and still cannot manage to gain ballot access in every state which at least the Libertarians have done several times. I despise the GOP for being constitutionally gutless but I am at a total loss as to where to go next. Ron Paul Republicans... hell yes! Virtually all other Republicans... no way! They are no different than Democrats.

[ninepointfive]

The constitution party is picking up faster than I've ever seen!

And the Libertarian party is more protest than party. A collection of bitchers and bloggers who won't lift more than their blogger finger to promote liberty and advance the movement.

[Peace&Freedom]

Folks, please remember that the CP candidate got fewer votes than the LP candidate, despite Paul's endorsement. One point behind the LP's Barr nomination in 2008, as with Paul in 1988, was to show the party could field 'serious people' who had achieved major elected office as a Presidential candidate. What we have learned (again) is that regardless of the credibility of a candidate, the establishment has a highly effective system for structurally suppressing third parties. Barr started down the Damascus Road toward liberty, but has apparently has u-turned and gone back, a shame. But his lack of consistency is not the reason why the LP and the CP remain marginalized.

The breakthrough of the Paul movement was in finding a successful formula for fighting back against the MSM's forced marginalization and with it, the lack of funding that kills alternative candidacies. 1) Use the internet, DVD distribution, etc., to mobilize a grassroots activist base. 2) Run a third party principled campaign in a major party nomination race you can likely win (the media can't make you a sideshow, if you're on the main stage). 3) Run money bombs and build a mailing list to raise the serious money needed to compete (thus circumventing the MSM blackout that has traditionally chilled good fundraising efforts). It's about using the two party establishment dynamic not to hopelessly try to 'reform' one of them, but as leverage to promote an alternative agenda on the main stage.

Instead of running symbolic races as a LP or liberty GOP candidate in 95% Democratic or CFR-GOP gerrymandered districts, for example, run a Ron Paul, or at least a tea party person against the incumbent in the primary, or better, focus on open seats only, in winnable districts. This leads to more insurgent 'Medina' candidates actually winning or strongly competing, instead of getting the normal 1%, structurally suppressed third party result. Run Ron Paul Republicans for the GOP nomination in Republican districts, and Ron Paul Democrats for the Democratic nomination in Democratic districts.

Use the LP and CP as sources from which to field and vet principled pro-liberty candidates and activists. Stop beating up on the third parties, use them as part of the liberty infrastructure needed to dominate the whole political football field.

[rich34]

So people can't change?

Former CIA Bob Barr is a joke!

And if Ron Paul decides to run Gary Johnson needs to get the fuck out of the way and fall in line! I'm not to crazy about Johnson either.

[Brian Defferding]

I'm fine with Bob Barr staying in the LP, and I would much prefer if Gary Johnson joined the Libertarians and ran as the officially-endorsed candidate of the party.

[Paulitical Correctness]

Ask yourself this...

As far as progress goes, who has been more successful? The so-called "tea party" movement, of constitutionalist/libertarian-leaning republicans WITHIN the GOP...

OR the libertarian party?

The answer seems obvious.

[Brian Defferding]

Ask yourself this...

As far as progress goes, who has been more successful? The so-called "tea party" movement, of constitutionalist/libertarian-leaning republicans WITHIN the GOP...

OR the libertarian party?

The answer seems obvious.

What needs to be done to change this is a strong fight within both our states and the nation to break down election/ballot rules and limits. Unfortunately we see a lack of that every election year due to unfortunate apathy.

[surf]

What needs to be done to change this is a strong fight within both our states and the nation to break down election/ballot rules and limits. Unfortunately we see a lack of that every election year due to unfortunate apathy.

agreed. there are no problems with the LP, their platform, or their ideals. someone above wrote that libertarians don't want to be active in the political process, but this shows a lack of understanding. many LP candidates run with the concept that they would like to eliminate whatever bureaucratic position they would be elected to (such as dog catcher, lt. Gov., etc.).

the main reason libertarians can't be successsful is that the rublicrat party places severe and onerous restrictions on their ability to compete.

i've bitched about this before, but in 2000 the Washington State LP ran a full slate of candidates for statewide office. 3 or 4 of our candidates received greater than 5% of the votes in the general thus granting us "major" party status. Our "abolish the office" lt. Gov. candidate received nearly 9%. in 2004 the state passed the "Grange" or "top -2" initiative that limits the candidates in the general election to the top-2 vote totals in the primary. this basically killed the Washington State LP.

please don't piss on the lp. the lp is a beautiful thing.

[Brian4Liberty]

Bob Barr should run for Congress or Senate as a Libertarian. Gary Johnson should stay in the GOP...