skippy the bush kangaroo: raising the barr

Thursday, April 03, 2008

raising the barr

everyone's favorite throwback, bob barr, may announce a presidential bid as the libertarian candidate. washtimes:

a source familiar with mr. barr's thinking says he likely will announce his bid this weekend, at the heartland libertarian conference in kansas city, mo., where he is scheduled to speak.

mr. barr declined to say whether he would make an announcement, but told the washington times, "i will be there certainly, and will be addressing the convention."

he said he has detected "significantly deep dissatisfaction with particularly the republican party and the republican likely nominee," and that leaves an opening for someone with his views.

that ain't gonna help mclame. many conservatives are still vocally dissatisfied w/the gop candidate. washpost:

chief among his critics is longtime evangelical leader james dobson, who has made no bones about his personal dissatisfaction with this year's field of presidential candidates. in a statement sent to the laura ingraham show before the feb. 5 primary contests, dobson said: "should john mccain capture the nomination as many assume, i believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. ... if these are the nominees in november, i simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life." …

dobson elaborated today in a statement published in the wall street journal:

i have seen no evidence that sen. mccain is successfully unifying the republican party or drawing conservatives into his fold. to the contrary, he seems intent on driving them away. ... to my knowledge, he has not reached out to pro-family leaders or changed any of the positions that have troubled them. he still believes, for example, that federal money should be allocated for laboratory experiments with tiny human embryos, after which they would be killed when they are no longer useful. he continues to favor allowing each state to create its own definition of marriage, potentially giving the nation 50 different legal interpretations. it would create chaos within families. ... one of his senior advisors asserted recently on fox news that 'the right' can just go its own way, stating that mccain can win by attracting moderates and crossover democrats. that seems to be the strategy. these are not the policies and pronouncements of a man who is seeking to 'unify the party.' indeed, they appear to be fracturing an increasingly divided constituency.

we could imagine a barr candidacy syphoning off all the religious nuts and ultra-conservative nuts as well. maybe even ann coulter, speaking of nuts.

Labels: conservatives, mccain, prez campaign