He was the first “major” presidential candidate to announce a campaign, and he made it into several Democratic debates on TV, but in the end, Mike Gravel couldn’t compete even in a small, alternative political party.
Earlier this Spring, after it became clear that Mike Gravel would not come close to winning a Democratic caucus or primary in any state, Gravel suddenly announced that he was switching political parties, and keeping his longshot presidential campaign going, but for the Libertarian Party nomination.
Today, the Libertarian Party chose its nominee, and it was not Mike Gravel. Gravel didn’t even make it to the final round, where the runner up was someone named Mary Ruwart. Gravel didn’t make it even to the second-to-last round of votes at the Libertarian presidential convention. Wayne Allyn Root beat him out to that position.
Bob Barr has become the nominee for the Libertarian Party. Although the Libertarian presidential candidate will not win the general election, unless some dramatic event like an invasion of zombie squid from outer space changes the political landscape, Barr’s position as the Libertarian nominee is politically significant. Barr is a right winger’s kind of Libertarian, so his campaign is likely to draw more votes away from John McCain than from Barack Obama. If Mike Gravel had been the Libertarian nominee, it could have been Barack Obama who lost votes.
If Barr hadn’t entered the race as a “Libertarian” only in the past couple of weeks, Gravel would have had a way stronger showing. Barr and his “posse” took over the party this weekend. They have hijacked it. I would like to state that Barr is not a “right-winger’s Libertarian”. Barr’s voting history is significantly NOT Libertarian. Barr is a plain old neocon. A Libertarian does not support government interference in our personal lives and does not support the government overstepping its bounds. Barr has a terrible voting record. He voted for the Patriot Act, was a co-author of the Defense of Marriage act, supported the Real ID act, etc. He can say now that he has seen the light, but who the hell believes him? So, yes, my hope now is that he WILL indeed syphon votes off of McCain.
For the true liberals left in this country, Obama is not the answer. It’s time once again to support Nader. If not Nader, then McKinney.
DebbieKat, if right winger Bob Barr does not represent the Libertarian Party’s attitudes, then how come Bob Barr got the majority of Libertarian votes? This doesn’t reflect well at all on the Libertarian Party’s true agenda.
It’s time once again to support Nader??? So you mean it’s time once again to support a megalomaniac and throw the country to the Republicans? Gee, no thanks.
Mike Gravel will be my guest on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com at 5 PM New York time Friday June 20.
Go to my blog, http://www.garybaumgarten.com to click on the link to join in the conversation to listen or talk to Gravel.