1. Barr was a right of center choice, with prosecutorial and congressional experience. He’s a nominee that left-of-center libertarians did not trust. They still don’t.
2. Some leading LP members backed Barr because they believed he could increase the historical LP share of the vote from around 1% nationally to far higher, especially in a few critical states.
3. Barr was expected to raise as much as 20 million dollars for his campaign – he’s only raised around one million.
4. Ron Paul’s insurgent run within the GOP primaries gave leaders of the LP confidence that Barr would play a similar role in the general election.
5. Barr has not captured the enthusiasm Paul generated, and has spurned Paul in ways that some LP members have found counter-productive. (Note: I was never a Paul supporter – the newsletter that went out under his name contained far too many objectionable views. Anyone who’s been part of our movement knew about the content, and many sensible, serious libertarians kept Paul at arm’s length.)
6. There is a huge difference between being a libertarian (millions, in all walks of life) and a member of the LP. Many libertarians are wary of the small and idiosyncratic internal politics of the LP, no matter how fascinating from a distance. Often it’s not a ready-for-primetime party.
7. The LP’s vice-presidential nominee, Wayne Allyn Root, is eccentric, and prone to odd gaffes. Some of those gaffes have been noted most by libertarians at Cato and Reason – much to their credit. Cato and Reason have been honest about the limitations of the LP, and willing to point them out. They are libertarians rather than Libertarians, as they should be. The LP calls itself the party of principle, but sometimes principle and party don’t mix.
8. Right-of-center Barr was strongest – as one would expect – when McCain was weakest, in the summer. Now that McCain seems down again, will Barr siphon off votes from those who see no hope for the Republican candidate? I don’t know – more money for October would have helped Barr.