Opinion: As Saddleback preps for presidential forum, big Bob Barr’s unhappy he wasn’t invited

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Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr feels left out. Poor Bob.

John McCain and Barack Obama are gearing up for their appearance at Saddleback Church in Orange County on Saturday, and the former Republican representative from Georgia thinks he should be there, too.

Shades of Rep. Ron Paul being dumped from a national Fox News debate of Republicans last winter in New Hampshire.

So Barr’s campaign went to court on Friday to ask a federal judge to stop the event, which it says violates campaign finance laws. As of 8 p.m. Friday, the judge was still deliberating, according to Barr spokesman Steve Sinton. (UPDATE: Barr’s court challenge was rejected Friday night, and the program with McCain and Obama will proceed as planned Saturday evening.)

Barr wasn’t invited to the Saddleback forum. In the injunction filed against the church, Barr’s campaign said that because Obama and McCain stand to benefit from the event’s media exposure, it should be considered a non-monetary campaign contribution. That, Barr’s lawyers said, is an illegal in-kind contribution.

The Ticket will be live-blogging Saturday’s event with an analysis of the candidate’s conversations with pastor Rick Warren and coverage of the anticipated protests outside.

CNN, Fox News and MSNBC also plan to cover it live. But they don’t have our attitude.

--Kate Linthicum