A Vote for Bob Barr Is Not a "Wasted" Vote

You'll hear talking heads like Sean Hannity try to tell you that as a Republican you'd be wasting your vote to vote for Bob Barr. Courtesy of the Libertarian Republican Blog, here's a rebuttal that hits the nail on the head. John McCain is a waste of your vote, not Bob Barr:

"BOB BARR IS NOT A WASTED VOTE
BY SAM FINLEY

You will hear these words a lot for the next few months. Many Republicans will tell you that voting for any candidate other than John McCain is a wasted vote. But in the case of Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, I’m here to tell you these folks have it dead wrong.

If anything, the real wasted vote in this election is John McCain. A vote for McCain is an approval of the continued “talk small government, but enact big government” policies that the GOP has pursued for years. It is a validation of that they can get away with slighting conservatives and libertarians’ wishes for lower taxes, lower spending, and more individual freedom, because they think we have nowhere else to go.

However, by voting for the former Republican Congressman from Georgia, we can send a clear message to the GOP establishment that their abandonment of limited government principles will no longer be tolerated.

It is a chance to tell them that if they want our vote in future elections, then they need to start getting behind ideas that Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan would applaud…rather than backing issues that must have them spinning in their graves.

Having said that, there is the argument that a vote for Barr over McCain is a vote for Barack Obama. But considering that McCain supports many of the same socialist policies as the Democrat from Illinois, then those of us who love freedom need to ask ourselves this question: If McCain wins this election, what do we win? Not much if you ask me.

The fact is that Bob Barr will be the only legitimate pro-liberty candidate on the ballot this November…and he deserves the support of any Republican who is tired of watching the GOP continue its wayward decline to irrelevance. A vote for anyone else is merely wasted.

*Note - Sam Finley is a sportscaster and writer in Oregon. He is a longtime RLC member. He is one of the original Co-Founders of Libertarians for Bush in 2004."