Libertarian Party - The Thread

The 2008 Libertarian Party Platform as passed by the delegates at the national convention in Denver:

http://libertarianmajority.net/2008-lp-platform

 

A very interesting first ballot in presidential nomination voting in Denver. The top four vote getters were:

Bob Barr 153 votes
Mary Ruwart 152 votes
Wayne Root 123 votes
Mike Gravel 71 votes

It should be interesting to see which candidate(s) throw their support to one of the other candidates to try to reach a majority(including those candidates who received only a few votes, such as George Phillies, Steve Kubby, and Christine Smith). Perhaps Gravel throwing his support to Barr? The key may be what happens to Root's supporters.

We'll see what happens on the second ballot. I think this will go at least four ballots. This is fun.

 

2nd ballot:

Bob Barr 188 votes
Mary Ruwart 162 votes
Wayne Root 138 votes
Mike Gravel 73 votes

The person receiving the lowest number of votes and anyone receiving less than 5% of the votes is dropped from the next ballot. So far 3 candidates have been eliminated. That leaves 5, the other one being George Phillies. He should be eliminated after the next ballot.

316 votes are needed to win the nomination.

On to the third ballot! I think this will be over after the 6th ballot. There should be only two candidates left by then.

 

3rd ballot results:

Barr 186
Ruwart 186
Root 146
Gravel 78

Phillies will be off for the 4th ballot, so only these four candidates are left. This is shaping up to be a close ballot like the 1988 nomination battle between Ron Paul and Russell Means.

 

4th ballot results:

Barr 202
Ruwart 202
Root 149
Gravel 76

Gravel is eliminated from the 5th ballot. It looks like the Root supporters will tip this to Barr or Ruwart on the 6th ballot. My guess is that this favors Barr.

 

5th ballot results:

Ruwart 229
Barr 223
Root 165

Root is eliminated. So it is Ruwart vs. Barr on the 6th ballot.

Root just endorsed Barr.

 

BOB BARR WINS!!!!

Final tally - Barr 324, Ruwart 276

The Libertarian Party just became a viable political party in the United States. The adults have taken over.

Now let's go give the Establishment the whupping in November it so richly deserves!!!! :thumbs:

 

Wayne Allyn Root, Bob Barr's choice for vice president, just won the LP's VP nomination on the second ballot. :thumbs:

 

"And that is the significance of the 2008 Libertarian Party Convention. A person with a fringe mentality didn't win either of the top two spots. So now the question to be answered in the years ahead is this: is 2008 a watershed year in which the Libertarians finally realize the futility of championing fringe people and causes and move toward their natural place in the center of the political spectrum, or was 2008 nothing more than a temporary aberration to be "corrected" in 2012?

The Democrat Party owns the Left. The Republican Party owns the Right. The only room for a major third party is the Center, and that makes sense for the Libertarian Party since it draws from both sides. The ideal role would be as watchdog over the other two parties, alerting the voters when they both step too far away from the Constitution or responsible governance. It sounds strange today: the Libertarian Party as a voice of reason!

The Barr/Root ticket is a step toward this ultimate political goal of achieving relevance and its natural place in American politics, if the Libertarians of the future want it."

- http://blog.stephenleary.com/2008/05/libertarian-party-bids-for-relevance.html

 

I agree and that it what the Libertarian Party has been doing. :thumbs:

"Around the nation there are Libertarian mayors, county executives, county council members and even a Libertarian sheriff! Libertarians also serve on school boards and in hundreds of local offices. In 2006 alone, over 13.4 million votes were cast for Libertarian candidates around the nation.

While we are most successful at the local level for now, we run candidates at all levels of government, even President of the United States."

- www.lp.org/article_85.shtml

 

There is no harm done in running a candidate for president. It brings visibility to the party, especially with all of the media attention that Bob Barr will get. Also, it helps to increase vote totals for Libertarians running for local offices.

And even a 5-6% showing in the presidential race can bring permanent ballot status in many states so that petitioning does not have to be done every two years to run for local offices. If the LP can obtain ballot status as a party after this year's election I might even run for some office myself in 2010 as a Libertarian.

 

I and my fellow Libertarians are willing to take that chance.

 

"But Congressman Barr is not into self-sabotage like so many libertarians have been for so long. He wants libertarians to win elections, and he knows you do not have to compromise principles to win, but simply be intelligent about how you campaign. He has won elections in the past, he knows how to run a winning campaign, and he believes himself to be a winner.

Finally, Bob Barr is a well-know name among Goldwater conservatives who are thoroughly disgusted with the Bush-McCain Republican Party, who do not feel like holding their noses and voting, as John McCain's mother suggested, and who have no place to go except to a newly welcoming Libertarian Party."

- http://spirituallibertarian.blogspot.com/2008/05/has-libertarian-party-decided-to-get.html