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Saturday, May 24, 2008
Consensus on gay marriage
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - All seven candidates on the stage have found agreement on one key point of the Libertarian philosophy: Government should not be in the business of defining marriage.
All agreed that gays and lesbians should be free to marry. For Bob Barr, the issue is particularly important as he was the author in Congress of the Defense of Marriage Act, which sought to ban gay marriage.
Barr stood from his stool to answer the question for two reasons, he said.
“One, because my rear end is killing me,” he said, with a smile.
But he said he also was standing “to tell you, eye to eye, and face to face,” that he has wholeheartedly changed his position on the issue, after speaking to a group of gay Libertarians.
“As I promised them then and I promise you now, I will work to repeal that provision of law,” Barr said.
The best line on this question, however, again came from Steve Kubby.
“I’m actually perplexed by how it is that government feels it has the authority to look up skirts and trousers and decide who gets to get married and who doesn’t,” Kubby said.
Aaron Gould Sheinin
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Gravel calls judges ‘papists’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - Mike Gravel, answering a questions about judges, said term limits should be implemented for federal judges, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
“They’re appointed for life,” Gravel said. “They’re papists. They’re papists.”
Aaron Gould Sheinin
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That didn’t take long
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - So maybe the gloves are coming off, after all.
The moderator just asked the candidates how they would deal with the Patriot Act and the Real ID Act, two major policy initiatives that are anathema to Libertarians.
Mary Ruwart indirectly hit Bob Barr on his support for the Patriot Act while in Congress. Barr now says he regrets that vote and opposes the Act. Steve Kubby, however, hit Barr square on over it.
Ruwart said “from day one” there were a few people who understood what the Patriot Act would do. “One was Ron Paul,” Ruwart said. “And one was myself. And most Libertarians.”
But Kubby made clear that Barr was supported the Patriot Act. “I’m not really clear what Bob Barr’s position is on the Patriot Act now and on Real ID,” Kubby said. “I know as Libertarians we recognize these are determined, rather cynical ways to track us and control us.”
When Barr’s turn came, however, he didn’t respond in kind. He said both bills are “another manifestation in Washington when fear becomes the driving force behind all public policy,” he said.
But he added that he’s spent the past five years working to overturn the Patriot Act.
He said he’s been “working to take the USA Patriot Act, drive a stake through its heart, burn it, shoot it, burn it again …”
Aaron Gould Sheinin
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A word about format
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - The format of this Libertarian debate is much different than those used in the televised debates of Democratic and Republican candidates.
For one, these questions are all about policy. There’s none of the silliness that sometimes pervades the major-party debates.
On one hand, that’s good, because it keeps the focus on policy and candidates’ positions. On the other, it limits a candidate’s ability to tee off on another in the hopes of weakening a stronger opponent or delivering a killing, albeit rhetorical, blow to a weaker candidate.
That said, at some point don’t be surprised if one candidate still takes a shot toward the top, and that’s most likely to be a shot at Bob Barr.
Aaron Gould Sheinin
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Barr, too: Bring ‘em home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - Bob Barr, too, advocated for bringing American troops home from far flung bases around the world.
“We have a department of defense. We have a national defense policy. What’s missing is an emphasis on the word ‘defense,’” Barr said. “It is not a defensive policy. It is not defending the United States of America to do what candidate George Bush said we should not do, and that’s occupy foreign nations.”
Barr said U.S. troops should be removed from bases in Japan, Korea, Australia, “you name it.”
But, Barr said, woe unto those who bring the fight to America.
“Somebody attacks us, by go,d we go after them and we attack them, but we do not use those tax dollars offensively, because it is, offensive.”
Aaron Gould Sheinin
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Boots on the ground, in the U.S.A.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - Mike Gravel, George Phillies and Mary Ruwart all advocate for bringing the troops home - all of the troops, not just those in Iraq. Gravel said he’d close down American bases overseas and bring those troops home.
Aaron Gould Sheinin
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The great debate has begun
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - The seven Libertarian candidates have taken the stage at the Sheraton Hotel here for the presidential debate. C-SPAN is in the house, carrying it live, if you’re inclined to watch.
You can also watch online at C-SPAN’s site or at Bob Barr’s site.
We’ll update periodically as the two-hour event goes on. Highlight so far: candidate Steve Kubby saying he his doctors say he has six months to live, because of cancer, but that they’ve been saying it for years.
Aaron Gould Sheinin
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A token conclusion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - The tokens have all been collected and accounted for, and seven Libertarian candidates for president received enough to participate in tonight’s debate and to give nominating speeches on Sunday. Former Georgia congressman Bob Barr tied for the most tokens with 94. Also turning in 94 were Vegas odds maker Wayne Allyn Root and Texas business consultant Mary Ruwart. Joining those three in tonight’s debate will be: - Mike Gravel (67 tokens) - Mike Jingozian (63 tokens) - George Phillies (62 tokens) - and Steve Kubby (60 tokens).
Each of the more than 560 delegates to the convention were given a token, really a ticket, to award to one of the 14 candidates running for president. A candidate had to collect 10 percent, or 56, tokens to participate in the debate and 30 tokens to give a speech on Sunday.
* - Aaron Gould Sheinin*
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A token conclusion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - The tokens have all been collected and accounted for, and seven Libertarian candidates for president received enough to participate in tonight’s debate and to give nominating speeches on Sunday. Former Georgia congressman Bob Barr tied for the most tokens with 94. Also turning in 94 were Vegas odds maker Wayne Allyn Root and Texas business consultant Mary Ruwart. Joining those three in tonight’s debate will be: - Mike Gravel (67 tokens) - Mike Jingozian (63 tokens) - George Phillies (62 tokens) - and Steve Kubby (60 tokens).
Each of the more than 560 delegates to the convention were given a token, really a ticket, to award to one of the 14 candidates running for president. A candidate had to collect 10 percent, or 56, tokens to participate in the debate and 30 tokens to give a speech on Sunday.
- Aaron Gould Sheinin
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Last Democratic delegates for Denver picked
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Democratic state committee on Saturday picked the final 32 Georgia delegates to the party’s national convention in Denver, most of them from a pre-approved list dictated by the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
The “right of refusal” invoked by the presidential candidates resulted in the rejection of many Democratic activists eager to become part of the 102-member state delegation to the historic gathering in August.
The bulk of delegates were selected in April in elections by congressional districts. The Saturday vote added 21 Obama supporters and 11 Clinton backers.
“I know a lot of people are disappointed. And I’ve talked to most of them,” state Democratic party chairman Jane Kidd.
The party chairman attributed the decision by the Clinton and Obama campaigns to the fact that the contest remains undecided.
“[The two campaigns] felt like it was necessary to make sure that they knew who these delegates would be, that they were people who from the very beginning supported their candidate, whom they could trust to get to the convention — if [the unsettled contest] comes to the convention,” Kidd said.
“They wanted to make sure their delegates were true blue delegates committed to their candidates,” she said.
With the two slates already picked by the presidential campaigns, the only suspense was whether enough state committee members would show up on a Memorial Day weekend to form a quorum. In the end, 138 committee members showed up — 14 more than necessary.
Click here for the entire list of Denver delegates.
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Meet Starchild
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - Pictured here is Starchild, a San Francisco masseur and icon of the California Libertarian Party.
Here he is made up as the Statue of Liberty. But Starchild’s sash reads, “I Miss America.”
Starchild has run for office as a Libertarian a number of times in San Francisco and is, according to Libertarian Party communications director Andrew Davis, “a brilliant and thoughtful Libertarian.”
- Aaron Gould Sheinin
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It’s all about the tokens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - There is a twist to this year’s Libertarian National Convention that truly makes it stand out from other political conventions.
Each of the 500-plus delegates were given a token when they arrived at the Sheraton.
The tokens are, well, gold for the presidential candidates here. They’re not really gold, of course, and they’re not even really tokens. They’re more like tickets, or as a fellow reporter described them, “They’re like Willy Wonka tickets.”
But they are awfully important for the candidates. To participate in tonight’s debate, which will be carried live on C-SPAN from 9 to 11 p.m. back in Atlanta, a candidate must collect 10 percent of all tokens by noon local time today (that’s 2 p.m. back in Georgia).
Candidates can narrow the field for the debate by collecting more than 10 percent, thereby denying other candidates the ability to get 10 percent.
More importantly, they must collect at least 30 tokens to be allowed to give a nominating speech Sunday before the actual vote.
Georgia’s Bob Barr, who is seeking the LP nomination, won’t say whether he has enough tokens yet, but he and his advisers indicate they think they’ll make it.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
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Breakfast with Barr
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - Georgia’s Bob Barr hosted reporters for coffee and pastry this morning in his suite at the Sheraton and said if he wins the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination on Sunday, he’ll fight for every vote he can get.
He particularly has his eyes on those Libertarians who thus far have been backing Ron Paul’s bid for the Republican nomination. Paul, the U.S. congressman from Texas, was the 1988 Libertarian Party nominee for president, and many of those voting for him in the GOP primaries can safely be described as Libertarian. As proof, many of the Georgians here this weekend as Libertarian delegates were campaigning for Paul in the Feb. 5 Georgia presidential primary.
Paul has already lost the Republican nomination to John McCain, but has refused to drop out and refused to endorse McCain. Barr believes Paul’s backers will come to him.
“The people he has realize, the many millions, I don’t think those people if there is a candidate out there, it’s highly likely they would be attracted to my candidacy,” Barr said.
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
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Big man at the convention
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Denver - At the 2008 Libertarian National Convention here, one man stands above the rest.
Glenn Jacobs is known among his fellow Libertarians as an intelligent, articulate supporter of the LP ideals. To millions of other Americans, he’s known as Kane, a professional wrestler in the WWE, the nation’s top pro wrestling circuit.
And when we say he stands above the rest, we’re serious. His official bio on the WWE site says he’s 7 feet tall and weighs 326 pounds. Check out his site here.
He spoke with reporters at the convention and emphasized his support for ending the war on drugs, a popular position for many Libertarians.
“I’m for ending the drug war,” Kane said, “but I’m not for drug use. Those are two different things.”
With the party’s nomination for president still up in the air, Jacobs said he’s yet to pick a candidate.
“I’m going to have to watch the debate (tonight). It will tell a lot about the direction the LP will go,” he said.
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