Tuesday
I just found out about this good news in Pennsylvania:
The lawsuit, filed by a Republican Party official in Cumberland County, PA, sought to remove Barr's name from the ballot—contrary to promises made by John McCain during his first bid for the presidency after then Texas Governor George Bush tried to have McCain blocked from the New York primary ballot. "I would never consider, ever consider," McCain said during his 2000 campaign, "allowing a supporter of mine to challenge [an opponent's] right to be on the ballot in all 50 states."McCain went on to call such tactics, "Stalinist politics."
"We're happy that the Pennsylvania courts recognized the absurd nature of the Republican's lawsuit," says Russell Verney, Barr's campaign manager. "It was very hypocritical of McCain to allow one of his agents to try to block a legitimate candidate like Congressman Bob Barr from the ballot. Fortunately, these hypocritical tactics of McCain's agents failed."
The court ruled that the Libertarian Party and the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania "simply took reasonable action to abide by the Election Code while furthering its legitimate interest."
This is particularly heartening to me as I vote absentee in Pennsylvania.
Dale, what happens if the absentee candidate wins? What would they do then?
Posted by nick g. at September 16, 2008 03:09 AM
the absentee would do a better job than Osama or McCain!
:)
Posted by Al at September 16, 2008 03:33 AM
I fully support L.P. candidates being allowed on the ballot - and I congratulate you on your victory Dale.
In spite of the fact that the L.P. candidate has no chance whatever of winning, and will just help the Marxist Senator Barack Obama.
Of course the cynical might say that I am influenced by the news (some weeks ago) that Senator Obama had agreed to pay the vote brokers in Philadelphia, so that even though Pennsylvania looks close in theory (only a two per cent lead for Senaot Obama), in practice he will most likely carry the place - whether an L.P. candidate is on the ballot or not.
Posted by Paul Marks at September 16, 2008 02:29 PM
Dale,
You can probably vote absentee in Chicago and Seattle too, although your chances would be better if you were dead.
Posted by SKPeterson at September 16, 2008 08:50 PM
Dale,
You can probably vote absentee in Chicago and Seattle too, although your chances would be better if you were dead.
Posted by SKPeterson at September 16, 2008 08:50 PM
I fully support L.P. candidates being allowed on the ballot - and I congratulate you on your victory Dale.In spite of the fact that the L.P. candidate has no chance whatever of winning, and will just help the Marxist Senator Barack Obama.
Although it can be argued that more Libertarian voters will be potential Fascist Senator McCain voters rather than potential Marxist Senator Obama voters, there is something much more important than whether the country spends the next 4 years on the Marxist road to hell or the Fascist road to hell.
What could be more important than choosing Hitler over Stalin, or visa-versa, one might ask?
What is more important is advancing the party toward greater public acceptance, more media attention, and automatic ballot access. This is what we have been working on for 30 years, and what we will continue to work toward, until we arrive (or the Campaign for Liberty manages to convince the Republican Party that small government is as good an idea in reality as it is in rhetoric -- one can always hope!). It has been a long hard road, but Barr, despite what I consider to be some strategic errors, is polling higher than any Libertarian candidate in history, and *is* advancing us toward our goal.
Liberty will not be achieved in one election cycle. But now, as we near our goal of being able to compete on a level playing field with the Republican and Democratic wings of the Big Government Party is not the time to surrender, it is the time to renew our committment to freedom.
Surrender is not an option.
Posted by Rich Paul at September 17, 2008 11:28 PM
I fully support L.P. candidates being allowed on the ballot - and I congratulate you on your victory Dale.In spite of the fact that the L.P. candidate has no chance whatever of winning, and will just help the Marxist Senator Barack Obama.
Although it can be argued that more Libertarian voters will be potential Fascist Senator McCain voters rather than potential Marxist Senator Obama voters, there is something much more important than whether the country spends the next 4 years on the Marxist road to hell or the Fascist road to hell.
What could be more important than choosing Hitler over Stalin, or visa-versa, one might ask?
What is more important is advancing the party toward greater public acceptance, more media attention, and automatic ballot access. This is what we have been working on for 30 years, and what we will continue to work toward, until we arrive (or the Campaign for Liberty manages to convince the Republican Party that small government is as good an idea in reality as it is in rhetoric -- one can always hope!). It has been a long hard road, but Barr, despite what I consider to be some strategic errors, is polling higher than any Libertarian candidate in history, and *is* advancing us toward our goal.
Liberty will not be achieved in one election cycle. But now, as we near our goal of being able to compete on a level playing field with the Republican and Democratic wings of the Big Government Party is not the time to surrender, it is the time to renew our committment to freedom.
Surrender is not an option.
Posted by Rich Paul at September 17, 2008 11:29 PM
