Barr ’08

Today, I’m sitting here in Atlanta nervously awaiting word from a trial that is taking place today to kick Bob Barr off of the ballot in the state of Pennsylvania.

Although we did everything correct to get on the ballot in Pennsylvania and compete in the election against John McCain and Barack Obama, an operative for John McCain, Victor Stabile, decided that he didn’t “like to see anything taint that process.”

. . .

While losing sleep over of the case filed against us in Pennsylvania, I’ve been on pins-and-needles waiting all week to hear the outcome of our case in West Virginia.

We are asking the West Virginia Secretary of State to count and accept the 23,000 signatures that we turned in several days past the early deadline of August 1st - nearly a month before the Republicans and Democrats would even officially nominate their candidates.

I can’t fully express to you the frustration that I feel right now.

Let me explain.

Last night, I received a response from the Texas Secretary of State’s office to my request for the certification papers submitted by the Texas Republicans and Democrats that would place Barack Obama, John McCain and their running mates on the ballot.

Their certification papers were due to the state on August 26th at 5 pm.

The law is explicit on the matter.  The names of the candidates for president and vice president are due by the deadline.

After reviewing the documents, it is clear that both the Republican and Democrat presidential tickets missed the deadlines and, according to Texas state law, should not be on the ballot in Texas.

If you want to see for yourself and download the documents, click here.

Regardless of McCain and Obama’s failure to meet the statutory deadline, the Texas Secretary of State seems poised to certify the ballot with their names on it.  They’ve even updated their official candidate listing to include McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden after we first made this public (and John McCain announced Palin as his running mate).

While Republicans and Democrats look to easily slide by in Texas regardless of the law, in both West Virginia and Maine, we are facing an opposite set of circumstances.

I’ve told you about West Virginia but we are also going through this similar battle in the state of Maine.

In Maine, a contractor for the Libertarian Party was in the process of turning in signatures and we’ve been told that the Secretary of State actually sent a letter to town clerks instructing them not to accept the petitions during what historically has been a grace period beyond the early deadline.

It’s no surprise to us that this is happening but it’s still not easy to accept.

It’s been clear that if you are running for office as a Republican or a Democrat, you are somehow above the law.

If you are a Libertarian or independent, you not only have to abide by the letter of the law but you have to be prepared when the law is twisted and turned to be used against you.

When I brought this up last week, I said that we would be taking a stand in Texas.

We’re doing that and now I ask you to stand with us.

Last night, our campaign manager, Russell Verney, submitted a very clear letter to the Texas Secretary of State.

In the letter, Russ stated:

The Democratic Party, and Mr. Obama and the Republican Party and Mr. McCain blatantly ignored the Texas statutory deadline.

Therefore, the Libertarian candidate for president, Bob Barr, as represented by his principal campaign committee, Bob Barr 2008, demands that your office keep the names of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain and Sarah Palin off the Texas general election ballot.

Failure of the Secretary of State to comply with Texas law will result in serious legal consequences.

In the event that the Secretary of State’s office in Texas does not comply with its own law, we are prepared to file suit, however this battle will just be the beginning.

On top of the additional and large legal expenses that we are likely to incur, we are going to have to divert campaign resources to deal with the media that is just starting to carry this story . . . but not in a positive manner.

Here’s the New York Times this morning painting Bob Barr as a troublemaker, interfering with the election and even the economy:

What would happen if Mr. Barr prevailed? It is very hard to see how Senator McCain could get 270 electoral votes without getting the 34 from Texas. Could we end up with a messier election than we had in 2000?

Would the Supreme Court again get to pick the man who will pick the court’s members? Would all this thoroughly alarm foreign investors, whose sales could damage stock and bond prices while the fight was on?

No, it won’t happen. At least we can hope it won’t.

It is a matter of principle that we make this stand.  It will not be easy and it may not be pleasant but it must be done.

Please join us today by supporting the Barr campaign with a donation of $50, $100, $25 or more.

I appreciate all that you do.

This evening I received a response from the Texas Secretary of State’s office to my request for the certification papers of both John McCain and Barack Obama.

The certification deadline which passed at 5 p.m. on August 26th – before the nomination of Barack Obama and even before John McCain selected a running mate – was clearly missed by both major party candidates.

Our campaign manager, Russell Verney, transmitted a letter to the Secretary of State’s office this evening after we obtained the documents which you can view here.

In the letter, we made our stance clear:

The Democratic Party, and Mr. Obama and the Republican Party and Mr. McCain blatantly ignored the Texas statutory deadline.

Therefore, the Libertarian candidate for president, Bob Barr, as represented by his principal campaign committee, Bob Barr 2008, demands that your office keep the names of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain and Sarah Palin off the Texas general election ballot.

Failure of the Secretary of State to comply with Texas law will result in serious legal consequences.

Please take a look at the attachments linked above, give us a hand in getting this story out.

Thanks to your support and the hard work of thousands of grass roots volunteers, the Bob Barr campaign for President has come a long way in a very short time.

Our support in public opinion polls indicate that voters appreciate Bob Barr’s stand on issues and they recognize his independence, intelligence and experience qualify him to serve as our next President.

So why isn’t he doing even better right now in polls? Purely and simply, this campaign hasn’t had the financial resources to buy the TV and radio ads to fully introduce Bob Barr to voters.

Sadly, many voters seem to be easily swayed by rhetoric, fluff and spin, smiling faces and slick advertising. Because of this, there is no incentive for the Obama and McCain campaigns to address the tough issues of broad and deep concern. The result is growing cynicism and an electorate that is almost totally turned off by the process.

Yet when voters get to know Bob Barr, they appreciate his fresh, honest approach to the problems of our nation. They know that Bob has thoroughly addressed every major issue with openness and integrity.

While Obama and McCain are trying to win a popularity contest, Bob plugs away on the campaign trail addressing the issues of our economy, the national debt, our energy problems, foreign policy and national defense and so many others.

The next phase of this campaign - if we are to have an impact - requires that we launch media buys to help more people become acquainted with the Bob Barr you and I know.

Today, however, that simply isn’t going to happen unless you make it happen.

That’s why I am asking you to make a major sacrifice to help us get on TV and radio.

Your gift today will empower us to tell voters they have a real choice in November.

Your contribution of $50, $100, $250, $500 or even more is urgently needed for us to ramp up this campaign.  A modest, yet I believe effective media campaign in targeted areas could drastically move Bob up in the polls. And that could be done for less than $100,000.

With that level of exposure, the news media will sit up and take notice. In turn, more attention in the newspapers and on TV and radio will increase. It would be the proverbial “snow ball” effect and it would be a positive one that will get this campaign rolling toward a major impact on Election Day.

You have already expressed your support, so I know you will give my appeal the sincerest consideration. Only Bob Barr will address the real issues, but only if we can get on TV. I thank you again for all you’ve done so far.

Over the holiday weekend, staffers from the Barr Campaign arrived in Minneapolis for the RNC Convention and other events.

Given that the nation’s media has congregated on the banks of the Mississippi for the Republican National Convention, we thought it would be a great opportunity to rally supporters and gain even more media exposure.

Yesterday, Bob hit the ground running, speaking at an event in the afternoon sponsored by Minnesotans for Limited Government and again at a campaign rally organized by the Minnesota Libertarian Party.

This morning, Bob met with supporters and will be making an appearance at the Rally for the Republic followed by a good lineup of interviews.

So far today, our candidate is scheduled to appear at 4:15 eastern on Lou Dobb’s radio show and at 9:00 p.m. eastern, he’ll appear on Your World with Neil Cavuto
on Fox News for a convention wrap-up.

Over the next few days as he makes the media rounds, Bob is going to be making his way in and out of the Xcel Energy Center where the RNC Convention is taking place.

In the meantime, back at Barr HQ in Atlanta, we’re busy as can be with our ongoing ballot access battles.

We expect to hear the resolution of our ballot access case in West Virginia sometime today.  The hearing for our Pennsylvania case (where an agent of John McCain is attempting to kick us off of the ballot) is scheduled for this Friday.

Meanwhile, in Texas . . .

Late last week we informed our supporters of the issue in Texas where it is clear that both John McCain and Barack Obama missed their filing deadlines to appear on the Texas ballot.

Deputy Campaign Manager Shane Cory had a pleasant conversation with the head of the Texas Elections Division last week, and was told that the Texas Republican and Democrat parties filed “something,” but had not necessarily completed the certification by the deadline.  He requested and was told that he would receive a copy of the “something,” but as of yet, we have not received any documents.

This morning, the Libertarian Party of Texas stepped in to help out and sent a staffer to the Elections Division to obtain the paperwork that was supposedly filed on behalf of McCain and Obama.

We’ve been told that Elections Division’s General Counsel will review whether or not the public filings can be released to the public.

If and when the paperwork is released, we’ll release it to you but do note that at least according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Web site that was updated over the weekend, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are now on the ballot in Texas.

I guess the saying is true: Membership has its privileges . . . if you’re Republican or a Democrat.

But I would like to put that statement to the test.

Over the holiday weekend, we got our ducks in a row to move forward and take a stand in Texas.

I realize that many of you are interested in exactly what we’re doing with this matter, and while I cannot go into specifics at the moment, I’ll do my best to keep you informed along the way over the next few days.

While we’re taking care of business on our end, I do need a few things from you.

The media has nearly completely ignored this story. I need you to write and call your local stations and papers to explain what’s going on - especially if you live in Texas.

To be fully armed with the facts, read Shane Cory’s update here, or click over to Ballot Access News for in-depth information.

Also, any action we pursue is going to be expensive.  Please take a minute to chip in $5 or more for this effort.

I appreciate all of your support and will provide another update as soon as the news comes in.

As it stands now, Bob Barr is the Lone Candidate in the Lone Star State.

As the filing deadline passed this week, Bob Barr was the only presidential candidate legally certified on the ballot in Texas.

The new Texas law is clear:

A political party is entitled to have the names of its nominees for president and vice-president of the United States placed on the ballot in a presidential general election if . . . before 5 p.m. of the 70th day before presidential election day, the party’s state chair signs and delivers to the secretary of state a written certification of the names of the party’s nominees for president and vice-president . . .

Given that the deadline passed on Tuesday, Senator Obama was nominated on Wednesday, and, as of Thursday, Senator McCain had not even announced his selection for Vice President, the Republican and Democrat parties in Texas were technically unable to certify their candidates by the deadline.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion that the ballot situation in Texas will magically correct itself.

Since we sent out our release Wednesday regarding Bob being the only presidential candidate certified in Texas, a spokeswoman for the Texas Secretary of State’s office stated that, “Upon further checking, both parties filed before the deadline.  We expect their amended filings after both parties finish their nominating process at the conventions.”

Upon further checking . . .

Hmmm . . .

As it turns out, upon further checking, we were able to collect 10,000 more signatures in West Virginia a few days after that early deadline passed.

Upon further checking, we found that ballot substitution is permitted in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

Also, upon further checking, we found that Maine stopped accepting our petitions a week earlier than they had done in the past.

Not to mention that, upon further checking, we do object to the state of New Hampshire insisting that two libertarian candidates for president be listed on the ballot.

Finally, upon further checking, we found that the signature thresholds in Oklahoma are a bit too high.

Will our diligence pay off for us in West Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Maine and Oklahoma where we have active interests?

Do you think that John McCain and Barack Obama’s names will eventually be printed on the ballot in Texas?

I would be willing to make an educated guess and say that we’re going to have to fight our hearts out to get on the ballot in the states above while the Republican and Democrat candidates won’t have to lift a finger to secure their place on the Texas ballot.

. . . that is unless we make a stand in Texas.

And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

This situation in Texas is a perfect opportunity to highlight the double standard that exists in our nation.

Over the past several decades, Libertarians have spent millions of dollars, filed countless numbers of lawsuits while being sued countless numbers of times over their right to be on the ballot.  Thousands of people have put in their time, energy, earnings and passion in an effort that, in the end, simply allows a voter to see a candidate’s name printed on the ballot.

Throughout every battle that we engage in each election season, we must dot every “I” and cross every “T” or face the consequences of failure for our ballot drives.

Even when we follow the letter of the law, as we did in Pennsylvania, we still face challenges that drain our financial resources and strain our staff.

Should we give Barack Obama and John McCain a pass in Texas and look the other way?  Would they do that for us?

. . . I don’t think so.

If John McCain and Barack Obama want to bend the rules to get on the ballot in Texas, they’re going to do it with the Barr Campaign and tens of thousands supporters looking on and scrutinizing their every move.

If you want to join us and support our efforts in Texas and around the nation, now is the time to do it.

Our campaign is taking off with tremendous opportunity and we’re going to need your commitment to kick it into a higher gear.

A significant gift over the holiday weekend will help us roar into September and face our challenges in Texas, Pennsylvania and many other states.

Please consider a gift of $1,000, $500, $100 or any other amount.  Also, if you can give up to the maximum, please do so soon as September 4th represents the close of our primary season.

Thank you for all that you do.

Thanks to your support for Bob Barr, his campaign for the Presidency is on solid footing and next week we shift into high gear.  Over the past few days we have received record media coverage.  In fact, today Glenn Beck has Bob on his CNN Headline News broadcast for an hour long special. (7:00 PM, 9:00 PM and 12:00AM all EDT)  I encourage you to watch it and if you would be so kind as to forward this reminder to family, friends or others who would be interested, I would appreciate it.

Of course, Bob’s combined coverage this week and next - during the Democrat and Republican Conventions - will total but a few hours compared to well more than 100 for the Obama and McCain campaigns.

As you consider that figure, ask yourself what in the way of real issues have the Democrats addressed?   And what will the Republicans have to say?

For certain, there is nothing new and the majority of the rhetoric is shrill complaints and attacks on their opponents.  It is clear that there will be nothing new, that’s what the powerful special interests want.

To the extent that they talk about specific government programs, they are always about expanding programs, departments, agencies and offices.  That means spending more money, raising taxes, and running up the national debt.

Only Bob Barr has a plan to shut down wasteful government programs, balance the federal budget, reduce the national debt and cut taxes.  Only Bob Barr has a commitment to a foreign policy that emphasizes our national defense interests exclusively.  Only Bob Barr will fix our economy, bring energy independence and put the American people’s interest first.

That’s why he is doing so well in public opinion surveys and gaining ground.

I believe that if the Barr campaign can begin a national radio and TV advertising campaign to build awareness of Bob’s stands on issues, he could double or even triple his standings in the polls.  Once that is accomplished, he will be included in every televised debate and every American will recognize that they have a real choice for change.

Bob needs your help now to launch this ad campaign.  Your gift of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or even more will equip us with the resources to elevate this campaign to the next level.

I thank you for your consideration and support.

I thought you would be very interested in the press release below that was just sent to national and local press across America.

Essentially, it appears that the Republican and Democrat parties have missed their filing deadline to submit their presidential nominees with the Texas Secretary of State.  As a result, Bob Barr is the only candidate legitimately on the ballot in Texas.

A spokesperson from the Texas Secretary of State’s office is now claiming that Senators McCain and Obama have indeed filed their nomination papers and that they will be “amended” later.  There’s a few problems with that statement.  First, Texas election law if very straightforward.  The names of the presidential and vice presidential nominees were due yesterday.  Obama was nominated by acclimation this afternoon and McCain has not even named his VP pick.

It’s interesting times folks. . .

In case you missed it, I have good news.  A new Zogby poll shows that nationally we are holding steady at 6% support from likely voters, but in several of our targeted states, we have gained ground into the double digits!

This poll silences those critics who called the first poll in early July a fluke or inaccurate.

And, as more people get to know Bob Barr and his principled stands on issues, the higher his support will grow and the more difficult it will be to deny him participation in the nationally televised debates next month and in October.

As the Democrats meet this week to officially nominate Barack Obama and Joe Biden it will become more and more apparent that when it comes to the hard issues facing our nation, they have no realistic plans for our future.  Instead, they will offer various schemes to expand numerous existing government programs, add agencies, offices and departments and generally grow the federal bureaucracy and increase our taxes.

To the extent that they even mention our federal deficit, the national debt and foreign policy, it will only be in the context of attacking George Bush and John McCain.  The biggest problems facing our nation today are being ignored in the public policy debate.

Why?  Because both the Democrats and Republicans are beholden to big-government special interests.  It’s been that way for several decades and it isn’t going to change now.

Unless . . .
Millions of voters join you and me and rise up in a civil, political revolution and demand change!

While we are certainly pleased that the Bob Barr campaign is gaining momentum and attention, I would be lying if I didn’t admit that it is a long shot for us to win.  But I ask you, does it mean we lose if we don’t get the most votes on Election Day?

No, of course not.  Bob Barr is in this race to win, but that may not mean being elected the next President of the United States.

On November 5th, politicians and pundits alike won’t just be looking at vote totals to see who won  (Because right now it is practically guaranteed that whoever wins won’t get 50% of the popular votes cast).   Every observer in the media and every elected official from the State Legislature to the White House will be seeing how many votes Bob Barr got among their respective constituencies.

Every pundit and every politician knows that those courageous patriots who took the time and energy to vote for Bob Barr are a powerful force and they are the margin between victory and defeat for the future.  Furthermore, they know that Bob Barr voters aren’t voting against someone and they aren’t swayed by some cult of personality.  Bob Barr voters support the man because of what he stands for.

It isn’t about fluff or spin.  It is pure and simple.

Thanks to you and thousands of other activists, we have a strong foundation for the future in place.  As of today, there are ten weeks until the election.  Just 70 short days.

If we win 6% of the votes on Election Day, it will be historic.  But if we can double or even triple that level it will be a result that will be noticed in every community in America.

The establishment - both Republicans and Democrats alike - want you to believe you are throwing away a vote when you cast a ballot for Bob Barr.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.

That’s the message we have to get across to our target audience - which incidentally, I believe is easily large enough to win the election outright.   A strong majority of voters have already made it clear that they want a balanced budget, a reduction in our national debt, lower taxes and smaller government.

Now we just have to convince them that they are not alone in this epic campaign.

This week, Bob is already scheduled to appear on several prominent nationally-televised news programs.  He will be able to get across the differences between him and Barack Obama.  (Please be sure to encourage your friends and neighbors to pay attention to what Bob has to say!)

Next week, he will similarly have the opportunity to contrast his positions with that of John McCain.  But after that, we are in a sprint to get to the threshold required for participation in the national debates.

To win that sprint requires us to elevate campaign activities in September to a higher level.  We will need to begin broadcast advertising to build awareness of Bob’s candidacy.

But to launch this campaign, we need to raise money.  Thanks to your support we are in a great position, but I need you to help again as we raise money to buy radio and TV ads.

Please consider sending a gift of $25, $50, $100 or more to help at this critical stage of the race.

Click here
to donate online or learn how you can mail in your generous gift.

Tomorrow, I hope to report to Bob when he calls in that we raised $10,000 today from grass-roots activists like you.  Thanks for your help.

As we head into the next few weeks that will be dominated by the RNC and DNC conventions, we assumed that we would not be able to break through the media until at least mid-September.

Thankfully, we were wrong.

- Tomorrow night, Bob Barr will appear for his second time on the Colbert Report.

- On both Wednesday and Friday mornings, Bob will be appearing on CNN.

- And on Thursday, Glenn Beck will be taping another full hour with our candidate!

Read the rest of this entry »

You can tell we are gaining momentum when the Democrats and Republicans work so hard to keep Bob Barr out of the media and off the ballot.  Over the weekend, the Saddleback Church kept Bob out of their forum in California - in what is a clear violation of McCain/Feingold campaign finance laws.

Now, a Pennsylvania Republican Party official working on behalf of John McCain has filed a lawsuit to knock Bob Barr off the ballot in the Keystone state.  This action is deplorable and we need to make sure every American knows what is going on, as this is probably just the tip of the iceberg of what is to come next.

This action is especially ironic.

Who said:

”We all know that the Berlin wall is down . . . People should be able to get
on the ballot in states . . .   Everybody knows that I am a legitimate candidate.
I should be on the ballot.”

That would be Senator John McCain who was the victim of similar shenanigans in 2000 when he was trying to get on the New York Republican Primary ballot.

Now, in a blatantly hypocritical move, he’s using the same tactics to stop Pennsylvania voters from having the chance to cast a ballot for Bob Barr.

Of course, this action doesn’t even acknowledge that for Bob Barr to get on the ballot required many more signatures than it took for McCain to get on the primary ballot, and to get on the ballot in November required McCain to turn in ZERO signatures.

I am outraged, and you should be, too. This move is one you might expect of a dictator in North Korea, Libya, China or Iran . . . not Pennsylvania.  This is not what our founding fathers would have wanted and I’m afraid that if we are not victorious in this fight, the establishment powers in both parties will be emboldened to do even more to thwart our efforts.

Today, as McCain and Obama are spending millions each week on TV advertising, our party is now confronted with having to hire a lawyer in Pennsylvania to fight back.  While we knew to expect dirty tricks to be employed against us, a national legal battle to protect our positions on voter ballots in the states was never anticipated.

As I said earlier, this is proof that we have frightened that national political establishment.  They are now willing to take the low road.  By every unbiased measure, we are certain to win in court, but the expense is something that is not cheap.

It only costs John McCain a few dollars to file a complaint but will cost us much more to defend against.  They know this hurts us and that we will not be as effective in our future advertising.

Will you help me fight back? We must do battle not only in the courts, bus also in the court of public opinion.  We must push back in the media to let John McCain know that he won’t win in Pennsylvania and can’t win in other states.

Your gift to the campaign to cover this emergency expense in any amount will help.  A contribution of $50, $100, $500 or even more would be a great boost.  Thank you so very much.
Sincerely,

Russell Verney
Campaign Manager

P.S. - I am reminded of the quote from Mohandis Ghandi:  “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” We are at stage three of this political progression, and it is strong evidence that we will win this battle.