Bob Barr at 7 Percent, and the Libertards Rejoice! An Essay

I just received this Press Release from the Bob Barr Exploratory Committee:

BobBarr2008.com For Immediate Release – April 11, 2008
Contact: Audrey@AdvocacyInk.com
Ph. 703-548-1160

BARR POLLS 7% IN POTENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL BID;
Numbers Boost Exploratory Committee Action

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Atlanta, GA - In a survey commissioned last week by the Bob Barr 2008 Presidential Exploratory Committee, seven percent of likely voters responded that they would vote for the former Georgia congressman for president if he were on the ballot in November. Shortly after Ross Perot announced he was re-entering the presidential race in October 1992, he polled at seven percent. Barr is considering whether to seek the nomination of the Libertarian Party for president.

According to the latest poll, Barr enjoys 36 percent name recognition. When questions were asked reminding voters about Barr's role in the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, and about the reasons why Barr left the Republican Party to join the Libertarian Party, Barr's seven percent rose to nine percent against Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain. He polled at eleven percent against Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

Russell Verney, Ross Perot's 1996 campaign manager and a volunteer with the Barr Exploratory Committee commented, "Bob Barr's name recognition and voter support are tremendous considering he has never run as a national candidate and has yet to spend any money on advertising. In the event Bob Barr officially enters the race, he will already be half way to qualifying for the fall Presidential debates.”

The telephone survey of 1,000 ‘Likely Voters’ was conducted by Pulse Opinion Research on April 3, 2008. Pulse Opinion Research, LLC is an independent public opinion research firm using automated polling methodology and procedures licensed from Rasmussen Reports, LLC. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

The Libertarian Party, America’s oldest and largest third party, formed in 1971, is on track to achieve ballot access in at least 48 states. Its nominee will be chosen at the Libertarian National Convention which will be held in Denver, CO May 22 through 26.

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Paid for by the Bob Barr 2008 Presidential Exploratory Committee
900 Circle 75 Pkwy. Suite 1280, Atlanta, GA 30339
Not printed at government expense
BobBarr2008.com


Commentary

And, just like Ross Perot, Bob Barr will elect a Democrat should he lure enough idiots to vote for him, let alone throw money away on his candidacy.

Why am I so hard on people who typically vote third party? It is because they vote in such a way that they act as spoilers...drawing votes away from the candidate who has views closer to their own candidate, and ensure the election of the candidate with views that are most diametrically opposed to their own...thus losing in the end. It is like some one who is afraid of succeeding, and subconsciously acting in such a way as to ensure they do not succeed.

The Wikipedia Duverger Article has been sabotaged by Range Voting Supporters, so I'll link to this paper in JSTORS [which they cannot alter] , which states, in part:

In cases where there are three parties operating under the simple-majority single-ballot systems the electors soon realize that their votes are wasted if they continue to give them to the third party: whence their natural tendency to transfer their vote to the less evil of its two adversaries in order to prevent the success of the greater evil. This "polarization" effect works to the detriment of a new party so long as it is the weakest party but it is turned against the less favored of its older rivals as soon as the new party outstrips it.

The American Political Science Review, Vol 91, No. 1, (1997), pp. 135-6

Now, you may hear (from time to time) of Range Voting. What Range Voting does, is to give "political welfare" to parties on the fringe of acceptance. Here is a paragraph from rangevoting.org:

So third parties who want to break out of this vicious cycle should not support plurality, IRV, or Condorcet with rank-orderings as votes. They should support Range (or perhaps Approval) voting, or the top-2-runoff (second round) system. But as you can see from tables of real-world data, Range voting leads to a lot more pro-third party votes, at least initially, than Approval. I repeat, a lot more. That is enough to get third parties off the ground. It won't be enough by itself to make them actually win (they will still be well behind the top 2 parties in terms of money, organization, experience, and present-day voter appeal), but it will level the playing field allowing them to win if they have the best candidate once they have acquired enough funds and organization – which it would then be possible for them gradually to acquire, since they would no longer be continually stomped-on.

The key phrase "it will level the playing field allowing them to win" tells you all you need to know about Range Voting. It is Political Welfare for parties who are too lazy to get out and work on attracting new supporters.

I will tell you how to build a third party movement. And I will tell you knowing full well the advice will not be heeded by the third party types...at least most of them. The way for a third party to succeed is to build it from the ground up. Run for office at the local levels...in cities and counties. Then, over the period of a decade or so...these people can move up to run for state houses and state senates, and the judiciary. A decade or so after that, they can start infiltrating the US House and the US Senate, and Governorships...and mount a serious run for President.

By running candidates for President before they are ready (think instant gratification or narcissistic personality disorder) , they only serve to marginalize themselves. After all, America loves a winner, and who wants to belong to a party that cannot garner more than 15% in a Presidential Race? People like me can paint them as loons...and get away with it because the numbers support it.