We know Ron Paul, and Bob Barr is no Ron Paul

Ron Paul he is not.

We're talking about Bob Barr, who won -- if that's the word for for it -- the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination.

He's following in the renegade footsteps of Rep. Paul of Texas, the onetime Libertarian and now disaffected Republican congressman who ran such a successful fundraising campaign this political season, raising nearly $35 million

According to The Times' Dan Morain, our chief campaign finance guru, Barr, a former GOP congressman from Georgia, reported raising a lousy $196,400 last month to give him a grand campaign-long total of $384,864.

Last month he reported spending $180,770, pushing his total outlays to $312,483. Let's see, that leaves him $72,381 to carry him through to election day Nov. 4, unless he raises some more money.

Paul, who ran as a determined small-government, antiwar Republican and came up something around 1,000 delegates short of the nomination, reported ending July with only 649,625.70 in the bank. Last we heard he had several million left over from his unsuccessful presidential run.

But Paul has since transferred $10,000 to his nonprofit organization and a hefty $3.5 million of that money into his congressional campaign, which might seem unnecessary to some because he has no Democratic (or Libertarian) opponent in the November general election for his 11th House term.

In one sense, Barr may be taking a page from Paul. He ended the month with a tiny $1,000 in debt. Paul ended his campaign with zero debt, as the fiscal conservative has consistently done in every reporting month.

Maybe Barr just needs his own campaign blimp.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Photo credit: Eric Thayer / Getty Images

Comments

[Jason]

As a Ron Paul supporter and Libertarian leaning Republican I was excited to have an option in this year's presidential election after Ron Paul gave up, but evey time Bob Barr speaks to the media that option is slowly fading away. His latest support of a Freddie Mac / Fannie Mae bailout may be the last straw for me. Is Chuck Baldwin all I have left?

[Anonymous]

Jason, Bob Barr never supported a Fannie/Freddie bailout. He was cornered in an interview and said that Congress should restructure these mortgage fictions that they themselves created, and shouldn't simply do nothing.

The next day Bob Barr's detractors had pounced on this statement, but it required putting words into his mouth. It also required them to ignore the press release Barr issued at the same time (July 15 Bob Barr Says Privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, End Government Subsidies) which advocated, unambiguously, the full privatization of Fannie/Freddie along with the removal of all government support for them..

Your news is coming from biased sources, Jason.

[Grizzle Griz]

And while you're at it, John McCain and Barack Obama ain't no Ron Pauls either.

Come on Andrew, razz those betrayed Obama supporters like you did to us all last year. Our guy opposed FISA while prettyboy didn't even wait for the nomination to surrender his soul.

[ginger]

Just to clarify: are you stating that the money that has been sent to Ron Paul during the money bombs has been diverted to his congressional campaign - away from the presidential campaign - in other words ... out of one pot into another ?

[ginger]

Just to clarify: are you stating that the money that has been sent to Ron Paul during the money bombs has been diverted to his congressional campaign - away from the presidential campaign - in other words ... out of one pot into another ?

[Anonymous]

it should be understood, Mr. Malcolm, that Ron Paul's campaign benefited greatly from his appearances in nationally-televised primary debates. The real metric of Bob Barr's success as a Libertarian candidate, under the circumstances, should be his campaign's financing compared to previous Libertarian presidential campaigns. So far he's well on his way to exceeding the totals of all previous Libertarian presidential campaigns.

[dave]

write in RON PAUL?

[Jeffrey]

I agree with Jason- and the title of this article.
Baldwin and Barr may only live up to "lessers of the evil", yet still more appealing than the frontrunners.
The focus on fund-raising instead of the critical issues our nation is facing shows the trivial mindset of the media and much of the public on this election.
Fist-bumps, cartoons, flagpins... I'm still undecided on who will get my vote, but my decision will not be based on these.

[Mike]

Article states Barr made a "lousy" $196,400 last month. To the writer, he made more in a month than you will make all year. How is that amount of money lousy???

[Furious Fork]

As the financial roof is caving in on top of us, Ron Paul is still viewed as the 'renegade.' The one man who has consistently advocated sound money and fiscal responsibility, accurately predicting financial calamity if the govt doesn't change its ways...he's the quirky one.

American politics is a criminal enterprise. The upcoming 'election' race between Dumb and Dumber is worse than a reality show. I might take up video games as a way to participate in some substantive activity since there isn't anything else going on.

[Zak Carter]

Since Bob Barr had his epiphany ( I took the red pill myself just a year ago when hearing Ron Paul speak)- he hasnt just said hes become libertarian, hes actually been doing the work too, and he has been working hard to correct those things he now sees as mistakes - unlike some Republicans who have come to criticize President Bush on the Iraq war only since the 2006 midterm election, Barr has been a constant critic of the president in the face of strident party loyalty - in fact his critisism of the administration played into his losing his seat in the house. The American Civil Liberties Union calls the former Republican a 'friend.' Last year, Barr joined Democrats trying to roll back Patriot Act provisions. Currently, he is lobbying for the Marijuana Policy Project. Ron Paul himself calls Mr. Barr a friend.
In 2004 he endorsed the Libertarian candidate and has been actively involved with Libertarian party leadership since 2006, and this year tried to convince Ron Paul to run on the LP ticket before running himself - If the freedom movement is to grow, you have to allow those of us who have "seen the light" work along with you.
If Barr isnt in the debates, who will argue against FISA and so many other issues we care about in the presidential dabates?
I say we give liberty a voice.

[Vincent]

There is only one Ron Paul, but BJ Lawson, running for congress in my district comes closer than many others.

I'm thinking that the number one problem that Barr, Baldwin, Nader, and McKinney have is the fact that they get, when compared to the Republicratic candidates, virtually no coverage, and they are all excluded from any possible debates with McSame and O'bummer. Ron Paul's spark for this election cycle was in the argument with Guiliani, and, unfortunately, the third party candidates simply aren't going to be able to get into a position like that without some deux ex machina.

[Rhys]

well, Chuck Baldwin gets a RP endorsement, it could change things.

[ECS]

If Mr. Malcolm is looking to goad stalwart Libertarians who might come to Mr. Barr's defense like others did to RP under similarly styled pieces, he may be disappointed.

The reality is that the hope and fanfare reserved for Paul still had to come under the aegis of the Red & Blue hegemony. Thus the earnest flock that would descend onto these types of reports will be relatively non-existent, much like the fund raising that Mr. Barr will not share with RP according to AM.

There is a undercurrent of disappointment from the hardcore within the LP who feel that this candidacy misses a lot of what was previously niche politics and protest. The attempt to go 'mainstream' will not be sufficient with this crowd. Indeed, given past LP experiences which have raised in excess of 1 million dollars in Presidential cycles, this may even reflect a large defection in these ardent ranks.

Do a gestalt test on occasion Mr. Malcom, it might prove enlightening.

[Jason]

To Annonymous,

I know exactly what Bob Barr said. I heard the whole intervie, heard subsequent interviews and follow him diligently. I have donated to his campaign and know his positions very well.

I do not favor doing anything - let them both fail! The market needs to fully correct itself. Barr if principled would have to adopt this position. He obvioulsy has no foundation. His inconsistencies make him unpredictable.

[Fazsha]

I'm a huge RP supporter, but here's what I wish the next RP candidate would do. Ignore abortion & drugs, and if anyone brings it up say that for a presidential candidate to spend one minute talking about those issues wastes a minute of time which could be spent talking about cutting government spending. Do not get dragged into the hot button issues where they knife you. Stay focused on the war and the budget.

[Boston]

Just based on his voting record, I don't trust Bob Barr for a second.

[Chris]

To Ginger,
Yes I noticed that same mistake on Andrew's part; it is not permissible to transfer the money earned from the presidential campaign into a congressional one ...I have no idea of the place from where Andrew pulled out that one.

[belle]

Again, we have few good choices without Ron Paul. I would never vote for McCain or Obama. Barr and Baldwin are better so either one may get my vote.

There is, however, a long way to go until Election Day and anything could happen. Every day in politics is a lifetime. Stay tuned.

[J. McCrackan]

Now that Paul's out, none of the candidates--not even those of the third, fourth, and fifth parties--agree with me on half the issues, according to VoteMatch (http://www.speakout.com/). As a green libertarian, my closest match is Cynthia McKinney, and that's grim news indeed.

[dave]

ron paul was as concise and clear on those issues as he could be - this is exactly why they could not 'knife' him on those issues either. had he simply declined to talk about them they'd have made a big fuss over it and pretended he had some hidden agenda, or couldn't make up his mind. maybe it would have added 'wishy-washy' to the collection of words they used to denigrate him. some people are still in denial and prefer to believe the treatment RON PAUL receives by the media has anything to do with his haircut, the way he presents himself, how elequently he words his message, or which issues he addresses most. the issue is as much with the complacent brain washed people as it is with the corrupt and censoring media. there is a lopsided mutual dependency that is devestating to the people. here's the legitimate and qualified presidential candidate, presented as 'kook-and-loony-who-even-somehow-managed-to-have-a-blimp-to-get-his-name-out-and-collect-some-money,' there's the phony sell-out egomaniac without a backbone or clue flying around in his boeing, hailed as some prodigy, no matter how hard he tries to show everyone he's fake. and why even comment on that other would-be-candidate. the propaganda is ubiquitous, it has infiltrated all institutions, (de)forming people's thinking and perception. it's a major part of their 'education.' amazingly, many people will wake up anyway - and better late than never?

[Jason]

Honestly I'd probably vote for the next person that started off a sentence with "The Constitution doesn't allow me as President to (insert your favorite abuse of presidential authority here).

[Joe Lawson]

If I remember correctly John McCain was broke in the primaries - (Ron Paul smoked him in contributions) and then McCain illegally accepted Federal Campaign money in order to get a loan to continue his campaign. Thats what we need in the White House a scammer!!

In my opinion, while Barr is not Ron Paul - who is? Barr far outperforms Obama or McCain, and as for the idiot who claims that Barr wants to bail out Fannie Mae - ummmm....I guess you missed the rest of the story because Barr said that would be a disaster.

[Robert Mayer]

Writing in "Ron Paul" will be a complete waste of time. In Texas, the election commission has already stated they will not be tabulating write-ins. Even Ron himself has discouraged such a futile endeavor.

Barr and Baldwin are the only alternatives that even come close and it's been hard for me to get excited about either one of them.

[Jason]

To Joe Lawson,

When a politician such as Bob Barr refrains from giving specific details when he says "I think, because the government has caused this problem, similar to the savings and loan problem that the government caused a generation ago, it has to do something." he's obvioulsy attempting to mask his temporary departure from free market policy.

One can only conclude that doing "something" means government assistance which however you want to put it is a bailout. Any action taken by the government to help Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac is government intervention in the free market.

But I'm just an idiot so take it for what its worth.