Former congressman, Bob Barr, Libertarian Candidate for President of the United States of America is in the race to win, and this dark horse just got his first lucky break.
Bob Barr may be the lone candidate in the Lone Star State as a result of a blunder made by both major political parties-- missing the deadline to submit the names of their candidates for Texas State ballot access.
"Unless the state of Texas violates its own election laws, Congressman Barr will be the only presidential candidate on the ballot," says Russell Verney, campaign manager for the Barr Campaign and the former campaign manager for Ross Perot. "Texas law makes no exceptions for missing deadlines."
From the strategic standpoint, what's at stake is a critical block of thirty-four electoral college votes, giving Barr enough momentum to secure the needed 15% of the popular vote which would enable Barr to participate in the all-important presidential debates.
At recent campaign stop in Columbus, Ohio, Barr said to a room full of supporters, “The American people need a choice; they want a choice; they deserve a choice; and we aim to give it to them."
Bob Barr says Washington is broken and a vote for the two-party status quo is a wasted vote.
“A vote for John McCain is a vote for the establishment. It's a vote for business as usual. A vote for Barack Obama is a vote for the establishment, for business as usual. You talk about throwing away a vote. That's throwing away a vote," said Barr.
“The system is never going to change as long as we keep voting for the lesser of two evils,” he said, to which the enthusiastic Libertarians cheered.
At this point in the campaign cycle, when the American people are asking themselves if they can identify with either the Democratic or Republican candidates and both major party candidates have grown stale on the presidential candidate shelf, the Republicratic blunder of the 2008 election cycle (other than the past eight years) could catapult Barr even further toward the center of this race.
When Randy Speeg of the Libertarian Party attempted to contact the Texas Secretary of State, Esperanza “Hope” Andrade who was appointed last month by Republican Governor Rick Perry, her office reported that the Republican and Democrat submissions indeed had not been received.
Shortly after the Barr campaign issued a press release announcing the failure of both major parties, Andrade suddenly claimed that both parties had submitted an “intent to file” and would submit their candidates after their conventions.
However, Texas ballot law makes no allowance for such an “intent to file.”
Republicans and Democrats should not be allowed ballot access in Texas. After all, when a third-party misses these deadlines exceptions are never made. If we apply the same standards to the major parties who have put legislation in place to hamper the efforts of third-party candidates, Bob Barr will be the only candidate for President of the United States of America listed on the ballot in Texas.
The Texas Secretary of State Web site now shows Obama, McCain and Barr as appearing on the Texas ballots as if the major parties met the deadlines, yet if we don't apply the law to everyone fairly, we might as well be ruled by a blank piece of paper.
Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.
