The newly elected President of the United States of America has been in office for less than three months – tomorrow marks his 3 month anniversary on the job – and already there is talk of who his challenger will be in the next election.

Of course, some of this is idle banter, such as me and Tom discussing who we’d like to see as the Libertarian in the race. (Names we’ve been discussing are mostly celebrities who are Libertarians, such as Drew Carey, Glenn Jacobs – you probably know him as Kane, Kurt Russell, and Denis Leary. Our reasoning is that the LP should focus on local level growth, and use the POTUS ticket as an attention-grabber.)

But some potential candidates are also already lining up serious backers, including Erick Erickson’s recently declared support of former Vice President Dick Cheney – a close friend – getting the GOP nomination for the race.

Also, 2008 LP Vice-Presidential nominee Wayne Allen Root was the keynote speaker at last night’s LP-Ga Convention banquet, and he readily admitted that he is already campaigning HARD to be the LP Presidential nominee in 2012. I’ll come out and say that while he was good and funny, he has a lot of work to do to convince this particular Libertarian that he should be my POTUS nominee. However, if for some weird reason he IS the LP POTUS nominee, he will have my vote because he is CLEARLY better than Obama and the GOP names I’m currently hearing being mentioned.

I’ve got to be honest here, I’m thinking it is WAY too early to start seriously thinking about the 2012 Presidential race, even for us Libertarians.

Listen here to catch up on Wednesday’s show, where we talked to former Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci and Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Wayne Root.

Join us tonight at 10pm EST for the premiere of our summer “Wednesday Filibuster” show. We’ll be joined by Libertarian Party vice presidential candidate Wayne Root. He’ll drop by to talk with the panel about the Libertarian Party’s presidential ticket. We’ll also be joined by former Massachusetts Governor and ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci. As always, the best political panel in radio will debate and discuss the week’s hottest political topics. Join the conversation or ask Wayne a question by calling in at 347-205-9993. Just bookmark this page and return here shortly before the show to listen live.

Jim Davidson writes:

The current deal with Barr that he won’t run again in 2012 and the apparent deal to anoint Wayne Root as the presidential nominee in 2012 is part of that same tradition of betraying the individual, dues-paying members of the party. Obviously, members of the LP think that they get to have meetings of their local and state committees to choose candidates and delegates to represent them on the ballot and at the national convention. There apparently is a coterie of elitists in the party who think that they own the LP. So, instead of the delegates to the national convention choosing the nominee, the process is corrupted by back room dealing, by elitists making deals with other elitists, and by similar sleaze and filth.

This kind of thing has to end. It has to be exposed for the cesspool of indecency and corruption that it is.

Obviously, many people who voted for Mary Ruwart went to the national convention of the LP thinking that their votes mattered. And, to a considerable extent, right up until the fifth ballot when she was the leading vote recipient, they did. But, the sleaze and filth determined that it was in their best interests to have Barr the nominee this year, to have Root the VP this year and the nominee in 2012, and they cut a deal.

It isn’t right that this kind of deal be used to determine who the nominee is. It isn’t ethical to disenfranchise the members of the party in this way. And it is not just me that thinks it stinks to high heaven.

Root removed himself from the presidential ticket and endorsed Barr (barf) because the Reform (retard) Caucus was worried Ruwart was going to win. In exchange, Root was guaranteed that Barf would not run again in 2012 when, it appears, he will be the nominee. After watching it live on C-SPAN, I am convinced this was all pre-planned way before the convention.

Could the ‘Ron Paul bubble’ strike again?

With Barr’s victory in the Libertarian Party nomination it is interesting to consider whether the bubble that saw Ron Paul’s price hit a peak of 25 in the New Hampshire primary, could ever be repeated. Certainly, Barr doesn’t have the appeal to the antiwar fringe that Ron Paul did, and indeed his running mate Wayne Root actually donated money to Joe Lieberman, but could even a diminished coalition of paleoconservatives, libertarians and crazies move the third party betting price from 1.4 on Intrade.com to something higher? Although I am not suggesting that Barr has any chances, and a objective point of view would suggest there is more chance of Elvis being found alive than a President Barr, but given the stupidity of those who bet on Ron Paul, maybe there will be a new set of ‘greater fools’ emerging. Of course there is always the microscopic possibility that a more plausible third party bid might emerge.

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

(post by Paulie; graphic by Anonymous)

The Libertarian National Party has a new program, Liberty Decides ‘08 designed “to promote our pre-nomination presidential candidates as they engage in a competitive process. To participate in the program, candidates must cross three thresholds: meet the LP bylaws requirements; file with the FEC; and raise at least $5,000 for the LP or LP state parties for ballot access.

Once qualified, candidates will be ranked by the funds they have raised for the program and promoted through the Internet, mail and LP publications.”

40% of all donations to this program will be set aside in a special fund to be used for expenditures coordinated with the candidate who does eventually win the LP nomination in convention. The remainder of the funds will be used to help the LP move forward with core issues such as media, ballot access and member recruitment.

One candidate has declined to participate, noting that the money does not go to help the candidates now, when they need help the most, and only 40% will go to the eventual nominee – whoever that may be – not necessarily the candidate that the donors click on to contribute in the name of.

Further controversy ensued when, in an early version of Liberty Decides, this candidate was included without his consent, and a silhouette of Ron Paul was used as a “Future/Unannounced Candidate.” The silhouette was removed, as was the objecting candidate, but in a controversial and widely talked about move, the LNC voted unanimously to invite Ron Paul to seek the LP nomination for President if he does not get the Republican nomination.

Some candidates are more positive about Liberty Decides.

Some other Libertarian activists have criticized Liberty Decides, notably Susan Hogarth, who wrote:

It would be a much more useful tool for Libertarian activists and likely convention delegates (you know, the folks who actually select the LP nominee) with two simple additions, which I mentioned yesterday:

1) some indication of how many individual donors each candidate has (and, ideally, how many of them are Party members).

2) some indication (other than a link to their websites) of positions.

Susan shares her thoughts about Liberty Decides here, here,
here, and
here.

Despite the criticism, the LNC expressed support for Executive Director Shane Cory and Liberty Decides at its recent meeting in Charleston.

The Libertarian National Party has a new program, Liberty Decides ‘08 designed “to promote our pre-nomination presidential candidates as they engage in a competitive process. To participate in the program, candidates must cross three thresholds: meet the LP bylaws requirements; file with the FEC; and raise at least $5,000 for the LP or LP state parties for ballot access.

Once qualified, candidates will be ranked by the funds they have raised for the program and promoted through the Internet, mail and LP publications.”

40% of all donations to this program will be set aside in a special fund to be used for expenditures coordinated with the candidate who does eventually win the LP nomination in convention. The remainder of the funds will be used to help the LP move forward with core issues such as media, ballot access and member recruitment.

One candidate has declined to participate, noting that the money does not go to help the candidates now, when they need help the most, and only 40% will go to the eventual nominee – whoever that may be – not necessarily the candidate that the donors click on to contribute in the name of.

Further controversy ensued when, in an early version of Liberty Decides, this candidate was included without his consent, and a silhouette of Ron Paul was used as a “Future/Unannounced Candidate.” The silhouette was removed, as was the objecting candidate, but in a controversial and widely talked about move, the LNC voted unanimously to invite Ron Paul to seek the LP nomination for President if he does not get the Republican nomination.

Some candidates are more positive about Liberty Decides.

Some other Libertarian activists have criticized Liberty Decides, notably Susan Hogarth, who wrote:

It would be a much more useful tool for Libertarian activists and likely convention delegates (you know, the folks who actually select the LP nominee) with two simple additions, which I mentioned yesterday:

1) some indication of how many individual donors each candidate has (and, ideally, how many of them are Party members).

2) some indication (other than a link to their websites) of positions.

Susan shares her thoughts about Liberty Decides here, here,
here, and
here.

Despite the criticism, the LNC expressed support for Executive Director Shane Cory and Liberty Decides at its recent meeting in Charleston.

Since the Libertarian Convention back in May on C-SPAN, I’ve been following the Libertarian ticket very closely. Barr has been picking up some mainstream media coverage as of late: talk of him on CNN’s “The Situation Room”, his interview tomorrow on O’Reilly’s radio show, and his rumored appearance on ABC’s “This Week With An Ex-Clinton Staffer” this Sunday. A recent Insider Advantage poll shows Barr receiving 6% in Georgia, making McCain’s lead over Obama only a point. So far his coverage has only been as a potential “spoiler”, but we’ll see if this press translates into rising poll numbers and eventual votes. The Libertarian Party is doing a great job on ballot access, already on in thirty states. And as third parties know, getting on the ballot is half the battle. 

Just a note: we’re going to be joined by Libertarian Party Vice Presidential Nominee Wayne Root on tomorrow night’s show at 10pm. We’ll be taking your calls as well.