The Ron Paul campaign knows that there
has been Internet traffic on the issue of Ron Paul getting involved
with Libertarian Party politics from the beginning of the r3VOLution.
My being an LP National Chair candidate in 2006 obligated me to make
it very clear to the Ron Paul campaign as we began the Ron Paul
Revolution in Phoenix, AZ that we had absolutely no expectation or
desire for Ron Paul to get involved in Libertarian Party politics.
Dr. Paul knows first hand what most libertarian activists know, that
the Libertarian Party is just as prone to internal party politics as
the R's and D's and that the r3VOLution is about the freeing of as
many individual minds as possible.
Individuals have their own goals and no
one in the r3VOLution felt that they were able to control the actions
of other r3VOLutionaries or had a desire to be controlled, but know
that support of Dr. Paul's libertarian message through the Republican
convention process is a very rational decision for many.
There are many libertarian
r3VOLutionaries that understood the opportunity that Ron Paul's
campaign provided in the spreading of the libertarian message but
they are not limited to Republican politics. The May 23rd
- 26th 2008 Libertarian National Convention in Denver is
known to all libertarians paying attention as the convention that
will determine the future of the Libertarian Party and its future
viability.
Without boring non-libertarians with
too much detail I can sum up the divide as being between those that
'Oppose an all Powerful Government' and those that want 'Their Turn
Being in Charge of an all Powerful Government'.
Former Republican congressman Bob Barr
was recruited, placed on the Libertarian National Committee and
promoted as a possible Libertarian Party candidate by LP insiders as
someone that might spark the activism experienced by Ron Paul. But
Bob Barr's initial support of such things like the PATRIOT Act and
his current endorsement of the Flat Tax has proven to be a larger
handicap than his supporters anticipated. When compared to Ron Paul
it is clear why so many libertarians are supportive of a sitting
Republican congressman.
I am of the opinion that Bob Barr's
presidential hopes has come up against a fast approaching deadline
and something must be done now for him to be considered by the
Libertarians in Denver this May. He must have a campaign, and those
supporting his effort are not the 'volunteer' types that work for
free. Substantial sums of money must be raised immediately or there
will be no Bob Barr campaign and the carefully woven plans of well
placed insiders will disappear. So a month and a half from the
nomination something must be done to save the effort.
All across the Internet there has been
'reported' rumors, insider information and wishful thinking that has
elevated the issue of a Ron Paul endorsement to the point that the
Ron Paul campaign has to get involved. If every thread of discussion
on Internet Forums and Blogs concerning Dr. Paul were to be responded
to by Paul's campaign they wouldn't be doing anything else. But his
silence has elevated this rumor to a point that it must be addressed.
It's not going happen, and never
was. Ron Paul is running for President of the United States, he's
a sitting and just re-elected Republican congressman, his positions
on several issues are very much different from Bob Barr's, Dr. Paul
and many of his supporters have seen the workings of the LP from the
inside and know many of the players personally, they know how the
media would react and now I expect a statement from the Ron Paul
presidential campaign to be imminent. And that he will make it very
clear that while he is still running for president (all the way
through the Republican National Convention) he will not be endorsing
another candidate for President,... DUH!
I have made it very clear that I will
have nothing to say about the selection of the Libertarian Party
nominee. As a candidate for National Chair of the Libertarian Party
at the 2008 Denver convention I don't think it appropriate. Bob Barr
has every opportunity to present himself to libertarians and has done
so several times across the country as a guest speaker at LP state
conventions. But he has chosen not to announce his candidacy and has
not participated in any of the debates with other LP candidates for
President. However, just this last weekend he did announce his
creation of an exploratory committee.
Ernest Hancock
Publisher FreedomsPhoenix.com
Candidate for Libertarian Party
National Chairman
