I have been hearing a lot from many LP Members about concerns over Bob Barr not attending Ron Paul’s press conference.
However, before you form an opinion, perhaps you may want to consider the facts and not rely on blogs for your news.
First, the Barr campaign met with Ron Paul’s staffers yesterday afternoon to deliver the offer of the LP’s VP slot to Ron Paul and to discuss the details of the event that Bob Barr was invited to attend. More details were to be submitted to the Barr campaign but did not arrive until nearly 3 a.m. the morning of the event. At 9 a.m. Barr’s campaign manager, Russell Verney, informed the Paul campaign that Bob would not be attending however he would still give his backing of the four principles highlighted by Dr. Paul.
Second, read the press release by the Barr Campaign you will see why Bob’s own press conference (attended by many members of the press) was so significant:
http://campaign.blog.bobbarr2008.com/2008/09/10/bob-barr-shows-leadership-to-unify-liberty-movement/
Third, as CNN and others reported, Ron Paul’s press conference was more about him not endorsing McCain and less about Dr. Paul’s non-sanctioning of other candidates running for president.
The Barr campaign chose not to attend in order to make a very valid point, which was expressed, in their following press conference. Bold leadership is needed right now! Scattering support for the liberty agenda to the four winds as Dr. Paul is proposing will not serve liberty.
Ron Paul deserves respect and credit for what he has done over the last year in rejuvenating so many people across this nation, however either him or possibly his staff have made the bland decision to remain ambiguous with their intent and direction for liberty.
Personally, I will say that I do not appreciate the treatment that LP personnel received today by Ron Paul’s staff and the games they have attempted to play over the past year. This morning, our volunteer coordinator was rudely ejected from the press conference before it even started. This was followed by Ron Paul staffers and supporters close to the staff disrupting Barr’s press conference.
This pattern is something that we never wanted to disclose but holds true to previous treatment where staff members for Paul’s campaign tried on more than one occasion to have Bob Barr uninvited from events, including Bob’s gracious introduction of Ron Paul at last year’s CPAC conference.
I do doubt that Dr. Paul was aware of these antics.
I hope this answers some of your concerns and questions. Our staff, volunteers and the Barr/Root campaign are totally psyched up and ready to work very hard for all Libertarians through November and beyond – including ballot access, in as many states as possible, which will benefit all Libertarian Candidates!
We hope you too will continue to support those candidates that support your views, even if just on a local or state level. Please fill out the volunteer form here if you are: https://www.lp.org/action/volunteer.shtml and please do not forget to donate so we can continue to “send a message” between now and November: https://www.lp.org/contribute.
In Liberty!
Robert Kraus
Acting Executive Director
