Sunday, August 31, 2008

Ron Paul and the rump of the Short Bus Republicans

are making a weary last stand at their own counter-convention this week in Saint Paul. Between hurricane Gustav and Palin-palooza one doubts they will make much of an impression on the GOP platform. They could bolt, former congressman Bob Barr looks to get something started on the libertarian ticket...but then who would notice?
Alas though, Barr suffers from the same slap-happy provincialism that has dogged all the other third parties in America since the glory days of Eugene V. Debs, by that I mean an inexplicable tendency towards bizarre vice presidential nominees. If you think Sarah Palin is obscure and weird wait til you get a load of Bob Barr's nominal running mate Wayne A. Root a cable tv host of no parrticular notoriety.
If the libertarians were smart they'd exploit the GOP's weakness with a high profile VP nominee or someone with some gravitas...but that is the only thing that will peel votes away from the republicans and expand the libertarian's base beyond weedy book store clerks and thrashers who just read "Atlas Shrugged".

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