LEGENDmag

Libertarian Presidential Hopefuls Bob Barr and Wayne Allen Root Want Your Vote in ‘08

As independent thinkers and voters, we need to have a look at ALL the candidates in the Leader-of-the-Free-World contest. The candidates, in the duopoly controlled presidential race, make themselves out to be Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood on an American Idol stage full of William Hungs (not that I know who these people are, of course). But that’s simply not the case! There’s a litany of political parties that are as diverse as the 300 million Americans they want to serve.

One of these, is the Libertarian Party, which is a party that is economically and socially liberal (Want to get an idea of where you stand? See the Political Compass post). Founded in 1971, it’s one of the largest of our nation’s “third parties.” In fact, the Libertarians have more people in office than all the other third parties, combined. Most are local officials, as this party is very grassroots oriented. Though, there is a trend taking hold in higher seats of government. Some hold libertarian ideals, while a member of the duopoly, like Former Senator Mike Gravel (D-AK) and, of course, Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX).  They use Big Party money to spread Libertarian grassroots ideas. The more popular these type of Trojan-horse politicians become, the more accepted the Libertarian platform will become.

As former a Republican Congressman from Georgia, Bob Barr also fits in that category.  During his eight years in Congress, Barr championed Libertarian views and state’s rights.  But not all of his views were parallel to his current party.  In 1998, he became a member of the Speaker’s Task Force for a Drug-Free America.  Alongside then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), he was going to win the war on drugs by 2002, stating, “There is no legitimate use whatsoever for marijuana. This is not medicine. This is bogus witchcraft. It has no place in medicine, no place in pain relief”

Ten years later, he’s changed his tune, retracting and apologizing for previous statements and views by saying, “There might be legitimate medical uses of marijuana and we ought not have this knee-jerk reaction against it, and people ought to be allowed to explore” and ” Regarding the drug war, I’ve been there, done that, and know firsthand our current strategy is not working. Continuing to have the federal government run roughshod over the states, even if the citizens of a state decide they wish to legalize medicinal marijuana, for example, is wrong” (Hmmmm…)

Here are the Libertarian Nominees for President of the United States…

Come back to LEGENDmag Blog, for posts on other Third party candidates.