Wayne Allyn Root Marches On
It's a hot topic in the left-libertarian blogging community: What happened to Wayne Allyn Root? Since clinching the Libertarian Party's vice presidential nomination in May, Root appeared with Barr on one Fox Business interview and then slipped out of the national media gaze. That, and the fact that Barr's campaign site barely acknowledged Root, set tongues wagging about Root's role on the ticket.
Well, never mind. The Barr campaign is relaunching its site to feature Root more prominently, leading off with this video:
Root e-mailed me to explain what he's up to. "The miracle of modern media allows me to campaign across the counry from my home offices in either Vegas or Park City, Utah," he wrote. "Today—through the magic of radio—I was in San Francisco, New Mexico, Connecticut and Buffalo. I do 3 to 5 radio interviews a day, plus web interviews and blogs."
Root's also fundraising for the LP and planning for the San Francisco pride parade, where he'll be "waving to the crowd from a convertible."
I asked Root what he thought of the Obama campaign buying ads in Nevada, Montana, and Alaska—states that almost never vote Democratic, but where the LP vote is strong. "The Barr/Root campaign thinks we can make it a close three-way horse race in many Mountain West states—add Wyoming, Idaho and Colorado to that list. I think many other states are 'in play,' too." But Nevada is definetly "ground zero" for our campaign. I will be literally living in the Mountain West states nonstop this Fall, once voters attention turns from summer days at the beach to the Presidential election."
Meanwhile, the latest poll out of Georgia shows Obama and McCain in a statistical dead heat, with Barr pulling 6 percent of the vote.
You can check out reason's panel with Barr, Root, defeated LP candidate Mike Gravel, and Ron Paul Republican Vern McKinley, right here.