This makes me angry. But I am not surprised.Dear pbwalker,
As it stands now, Bob Barr is the Lone Candidate in the Lone Star State.
As the filing deadline passed this week, Bob Barr was the only presidential candidate legally certified on the ballot in Texas.
The new Texas law is clear:
A political party is entitled to have the names of its nominees for president and vice-president of the United States placed on the ballot in a presidential general election if . . . before 5 p.m. of the 70th day before presidential election day, the party's state chair signs and delivers to the secretary of state a written certification of the names of the party's nominees for president and vice-president . . .
Given that the deadline passed on Tuesday, Senator Obama was nominated on Wednesday, and Senator McCain has not even announced his selection for Vice President, the Republican and Democrat parties in Texas were technically unable to certify their candidates by the deadline.
However, I have a sneaking suspicion that the ballot situation in Texas will magically correct itself.
Since we sent out our release yesterday regarding Bob being the only presidential candidate certified in Texas, a spokeswoman for the Texas Secretary of State's office stated that, "Upon further checking, both parties filed before the deadline. We expect their amended filings after both parties finish their nominating process at the conventions."
Upon further checking . . .
Hmmm . . .
As it turns out, upon further checking , we were able to collect 10,000 more signatures in West Virginia a few days after that early deadline passed.
Upon further checking, we found that ballot substitution is permitted in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
Also, upon further checking, we found that Maine stopped accepting our petitions a week earlier than they had done in the past.
Not to mention that, upon further checking, we do object to the state of New Hampshire insisting that two libertarian candidates for president be listed on the ballot.
Finally, upon further checking, we found that the signature thresholds in Oklahoma are a bit too high.
Will our diligence pay off for us in West Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Maine and Oklahoma where we have active interests?
Do you think that John McCain and Barack Obama's names will eventually be printed on the ballot in Texas?
I would be willing to make an educated guess and say that we're going to have to fight our hearts out to get on the ballot in the states above while the Republican and Democrat candidates won't have to lift a finger to secure their place on the Texas ballot.
. . . that is unless we make a stand in Texas.
And that's exactly what we're going to do.
This situation in Texas is a perfect opportunity to highlight the double standard that exists in our nation.
Over the past several decades, Libertarians have spent millions of dollars, filed countless numbers of lawsuits while being sued countless numbers of times over their right to be on the ballot. Thousands of people have put in their time, energy, earnings and passion in an effort that, in the end, simply allows a voter to see a candidate's name printed on the ballot.
Throughout every battle that we engage in each election season, we must dot every "I" and cross every "T" or face the consequences of failure for our ballot drives.
Even when we follow the letter of the law, as we did in Pennsylvania, we still face challenges that drain our financial resources and strain our staff.
Should we give Barack Obama and John McCain a pass in Texas and look the other way? Would they do that for us?
. . . I don't think so.
If John McCain and Barack Obama want to bend the rules to get on the ballot in Texas, they're going to do it with the Barr Campaign and tens of thousands supporters looking on and scrutinizing their every move.
**removing request for $$$**
Thank you for all that you do.
In Liberty,
Shane Cory
Deputy Campaign Manager
Bob Barr for President
P.S. A reporter called last night about Texas and asked, "Do you think you're blowing this out of proportion?" I literally bit my tongue. Voters need to know about the double standard that exists within our political system and this case in Texas is the perfect way to get that message out. Please help us today with your most generous gift.
