Badnar-ock the Vote!

Michael Badnarik is quasi-ditching the LP* to endorse Ron Paul's Republican presidential run:

"My short term goal for the next two years is to make sure that Ron Paul is elected president in 2008," Badnarik said Friday night at the New Hampshire Liberty Forum, a pro-liberty conference hosted by the Free State Project.
…
Badnarik also urged the Libertarian Party to nominate Ron Paul as well. "I hope the Libertarian Party is smart enough to say, 'Oh ho, somebody we can trust!' and nominate Ron Paul as our nominee," he said. "We should set the Republican, Democrat, Libertarian labels aside, and vote for Ron Paul the person."

There are actually a few states where this is possible, like New York, which also has a history of losing candidates staying on the ballot to irritate the main party in November (see Mario Cuomo's Liberal run against Ed Koch in 1977). Paul's bid certainly complicates the party's presidential gameplan; I'm hoping it inspires them to concentrate more on small, winnable races.

I interviewed Bob Barr on this subject; Brian Doherty recently interviewed Rep. Paul.

*Link fixed.