Looking back over the last 20 years, the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate hasn’t cracked more than 0.5% of the popular vote. But this year, the party’s candidate has a slightly higher profile, and is more likely to cause some electoral mischief.
He has been called a spoiler. A would-be Ralph Nader. A thorn in the side of Senator John McCain and the Republican establishment.
None of it bothers Bob Barr, the former Republican congressman from Georgia turned Libertarian Party candidate for president, who gleefully recounted what he says a group of Republicans told him at a recent meeting in Washington: Don’t run.
” ‘Well, gee, you might take votes from Senator McCain,’ ” Mr. Barr said this week, mimicking one of the complainers, as he sat sipping Coca-Cola in his plush corner office, 12 stories above Atlanta. “They all said, ‘Look, we understand why you’re doing this. We agree with why you’re doing it. But please don’t do it.’ ”
But with the Libertarian nomination in hand, Mr. Barr hopes to follow in the footsteps of Ross Perot and Mr. Nader, whose third-party presidential bids wreaked general-election havoc.
The Republican establishment is putting on a brave face, but Barr is clearly making them nervous. In particular, Barr is expected to do relatively well in Alaska, Colorado, and Georgia, and in each instance, Barr’s role might help Barack Obama win these traditionally “red” states.
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) said of his home state of Georgia, “If Barr got 8 percent, and you’ve got the higher African-American turnout from Barack Obama, then you’d have a significantly close race in the state.”
Robert D. Loevy, a professor of political science at Colorado College, added, “If Bob Barr gets it up to 3, 4, 5 percent of the vote, it could definitely throw Colorado to Barack Obama.”
For Dems, this all sounds pretty encouraging. But before either side takes Barr’s role too seriously, it’s probably worth remembering that the former congressman is barely running for president at all.
In order to actually have an impact, Barr would have to be a credible candidate, running an aggressive campaign. At this point, he’s not even close. Indeed, as of now, Barr is only on the ballot in 30 states.
For that matter, Barr’s campaign coffers are practically empty; he has no campaign operation in any state; and he has very low name recognition outside Georgia.
The NYT added, “He has yet to lease a campaign headquarters, have a fund-raiser, tape a television advertisement or hold a campaign event.”
What’s more, Libertarians themselves aren’t exactly sold on Barr’s candidacy.
Even those sympathetic to the party’s beliefs complain that it is prone to infighting, fundamentally more committed to principle than electoral action and seemingly incapable of raising money or organizing supporters.
And some of its own members are asking how they ended up with Mr. Barr, who at the Libertarian Party convention in Denver last month squeaked by with the nomination only after six raucous rounds of votes.
“There certainly are still those,” Mr. Barr said, switching to the third person, “that may view Bob Barr as somewhat of a Johnny-come-lately.”
While libertarian philosophy generally bows to the rights of the individual — and against government intervention — Representative Barr voted for the USA Patriot Act; voted to authorize the war in Iraq in 2002; led the impeachment charge against President Bill Clinton in 1998; and introduced the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.
So, what are we left with? A former congressman few voters know, his own party is skeptical of, and who isn’t doing any of the things (so far) that a third-party candidate would have to do for a strong showing.
I’d be delighted to see Barr take votes away from McCain, especially in competitive states. But it’s foolish to get one’s hopes up if Barr isn’t prepared to work for it.
There’s a real potential for Barr to help undermine his former party. I’ll start taking Barr’s campaign seriously, though, just as soon as he does.