Yesterday, Bob Barr, former Republican representative from Georgia, announced his candidacy (after earlier establishing an exploratory committee) for the Libertarian Party (LP) nomination. The nomination will be decided in the next week. Barr faces, among others, a collection of longstanding LP candidates and party members.
I do not have a preferred candidate in the 2008 presidential race.
Real Clear Politics has a story from Ben Evans on the impact that Barr might have, should he win the LP nomination. Ordinarily, the LP candidate does poorly, and in 2004 Michael Badnarik (unknown to most) received less than 1% of the national vote.
David Weigel has a libertarian’s perspective on Barr’s possible impact. Evans thinks Barr would make a difference in close states in the fall; Weigel attributes this in part to Barr’s ability to attract national press attention.