Over at Pajamas Media, there’s an article asking, “Will Barr Have an Impact on Presidential Race?”

It’s an article that combines a description of Barr’s views with an assessment of his likely impact. Here’s the impact assessment:

The campaign seems under no illusions about their chance of victory, describing it to me as “a long, hard hill to climb,” but continues to insist they are in this race to win. In terms of ballot access, Barr has already defied some early expectations. With a recent court victory in Ohio they are now on track to appear on the ballots of 49 states and the District of Columbia, with only Oklahoma leaving Bob out in the cold. In state by state surveys he has managed to score as high as 5% in a few places, including his home stomping grounds of Georgia. While victory may currently appear out of reach, many states are shaping up to be a photo finish between Obama and McCain. Bob Barr may well have more of an impact on the 2008 presidential election than many would have suspected or desired.

That’s probably as accurate a prediction as one could make in mid-August.

Here’s an August 11th press release from the Barr Campaign, on a bungled police raid in Maryland, about which I posted earlier tonight:

Atlanta, GA — “We typically make fun of bungled police operations by saying they were conducted by the gang that couldn’t shoot straight,” notes Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president. “In this case they could shoot straight—as a result, they killed a family’s two dogs in the midst of a misguided drug raid.

In the case in Berwyn Heights, Maryland, county police raided the mayor’s home, in a case in which he appears to have been victimized by drug smugglers, who shipped marijuana to the addresses of a half-dozen unsuspecting families. “Rather than carefully checking the facts, including talking to the local police department, the county authorities acted rashly, illustrating how the drug war threatens the liberties of all Americans,” notes Barr, a former U.S. Attorney. The police broke down the door rather than knocking and charged in with guns drawn. They killed the couple’s two Labradors, one while it was running away. Mayor Cheye Calvo spent two hours in hand-cuffs while in his boxer shorts; his mother-in-law was hand-cuffed in another room, left beside one of the dead dogs.

“Absent exigent circumstances, not present here, so-called no-knock raids are an affront to the Constitution,” explains Barr. “So is a shoot first, ask questions later philosophy by the police. Yet the Prince George’s police have done this before—last fall they invaded a house at the wrong address and shot the family dog. All Americans are at risk when the police behave this way. Just ask yourself what might happen if a suspicious package is delivered to your home and the cops bust in,” says Barr

“But there is an even larger point. Law enforcement agencies have become more arrogant and less accountable in cases other than those involving drugs. Most people are aware of well-publicized examples like Waco and Ruby Ridge, but similar abuses are common across the country, though they usually receive little or no public notice,” notes Barr. “We all want police to do their jobs well, but part of doing their job well is respecting the people’s constitutional liberties.”

“As president I will ensure that federal law enforcement agencies set a good example for the rest of the country,” says Barr. “In a Barr administration, government officials will never forget that it is a free people they are protecting.”

Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, where he served as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services. Prior to his congressional career, Barr was appointed by President Reagan to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and also served as an official with the CIA. Since leaving Congress, Barr has been practicing law and has teamed up with groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the American Conservative Union to actively advocate every American citizens’ right to privacy and other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Along with this, Bob is committed to helping elect leaders who will strive for smaller government, lower taxes and abundant individual freedom.

Here’s a video with Libertarian candidate for president Bob Barr explaining the serious problems with a national ID, called a “Real ID” in federal legislation.

Over at Reason, Kerry Howley offers additional arguments against this jump in federal power, in her article, “Hiding From REAL ID: Why Honest People Might Run from a National ID Card“: more >>

I have added a website called Third Party Watch to my blog roll.

The site does a good job reporting on smaller political party news.