Neither are conservative per se. Barr has always been libertarian in his ideology. McCain is a moderate who is conservative on some issues and liberal on some issues. A vote for Barr is a vote for far-left liberalism (Obama).

Barr won't be a spoiler.
Republicans tend to eventually vote more or less lock-step out of hatred for the Democratic candidate, even if they dislike their own candidate.
Democrats tend to be far more likely to break with their party over little things and not show up or vote for someone else.

And I think the Nader-factor was largely exaggerated in 2000. There is no proof that the Nader-supporters would have bothered showing up to vote for Gore.

Barre's goal is to run a Perot-style campaign (he's even hired some of Perot's people). That's really the only way to go.
He'll need to steal independents and disaffects from both parties to win... and frankly I don't think he's mainstream enough to get away with it... particularly with ideas like universal healthcare GAINING mainstream appeal.
He'll need a libertarian alternative.
*cricket* *cricket*

Maybe some other year, but not this one.

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"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

WTF are you talking about? Barr is not conservative because he is a libertarian? You can vote for a "moderate" if you wish...

If Obama is a far-left liberal than according to your definitions (which I find dumb because you obviously have no idea what a far-left liberal is), than Barr is a far-right conservative.

I'll vote based on my political ideology. Maybe I will vote Republican if they started putting up conservative candidates again. Until then I will continue to support the conservatives in this country and NOT SETTLE.

Perhaps if Obama wins because of idiotic candidates like McCain, the GOP will get its butt in gear and start realizing that conservatives are not willing to compromise their ideology.

"The very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism."

- Ronald Reagan

He has not. He's a hard-core conservative. Here are some examples of his positions; none of which are libertarian in the least.

I stand corrected. I just remember him from before on television taking many libertarian positions, but clearly he has not always taken a straight libertarian line. Do you happen to know if he continues to embrace conservative positions that are contrary to libertarianism now that he is their candidate?

like i said the party needs rebuilding to prevent mccain from happenning to them again. i don't think many of the republicans expect mccain to win. i believe he's being set up to fail actually.

repubs will hope obama has a bad first term and try to win it back in 2012. if obama has a a great term though the repubs are going to be waiting for a long time.

I have no idea if he's denounced his conservative principles in favor of libertarianism. All I know is that he has a conservative record out there and I don't trust him. Has he changed his spots? Time will tell.

Being a member of the Libertarian Party no more makes one a libertarian anymore than being a member of the Republican Party makes one a conservative.

Early polling usually shows surges by third party candidates so I'm not sure why this year would be any different. When it comes down to just the voter and the ballot box though, many people fear they're wasting their vote, especially in highly contingent states.

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