Well, two nominations are finished...

The Constitution Party about a month ago at their convention nominated pastor Chuck Baldwin as their candidate for president, and today the Libertarian Party nominated Bob Barr as their candidate. The Republican Party isn't done yet, and the Democratic Party isn't done yet... but it is always weird to hear the media report only on one of those four. It is like they have already decided the way this primary season will go, and report it as if it is going that way.

Barr/(possibly Root), Libertarian Party

So Bob Barr... an interesting guy... formerly a Republican in the house, most well known for his efforts to impeach Clinton... and now he is part of the Libertarian Party. This is unusual for a lot of reasons, mostly his stance on the War on Drugs that he supports still in spite of the LP view that it is unnecessary, costly, and ineffective. He is pro-life (although his wife had an abortion) while the LP is very much pro-choice, or at least against a federal law for or against it. He also seems to be a lot bigger government and taxing and spending than the 0 of both that most of the LP stands for. But he is pretty well known and will definitely get more notoriety than Mary Ruwart or Wayne Root would have gotten. And another plus, he has a cool mustache.

Baldwin/Castle, Constitution Party

And Chuck Baldwin... I really can't say anything bad about this guy. He is definitely a small government believer. He brings with him a ton of the potential conservative support that McCain can lose this November, and as a pastor is a great speaker. I think it will be very interesting to see if the media will actually give Chuck Baldwin a public voice, because if most conservatives actually hear his positions and are able to research his significantly more "clean" record than any of the other potential nominees, then a huge chunk of the historically Republican voters would throw their support to him instead of McCain.

And here is a quote from Baldwin back in December before he even considered trying for the nomination...

"Unfortunately, it has been the Christian Right's blind support for President Bush in particular and the Republican Party in general that has precipitated a glaring and perhaps fatal defect: the Christian Right cannot, or will not, honestly face the real danger confronting these United States. The reason for this blindness is due, in part, to political partisanship or personal aggrandizement. Regardless, the Christian Right is currently devoid of genuine sagacity. On the whole, they fail to understand the issues that are critical to our nation's--and their own--survival."

Ideologically I match up closest to Ron Paul out of anyone currently still involved in the presidential run, which is why I keep getting more and more disgusted with the Republican Party and the way they are shutting out delegates from the national convention. In Lousiana, Nevada, Hawaii, Missouri, and others, party delegates that support anyone other than McCain are being disqualified and ignored. The convention process is being completely derailed to prevent any Ron Paul delegates from being able to show up in St. Paul to make their voice heard at the national convention. It just blows my mind to think that state GOP organizers would choose to (Nevada) completely halt their convention and not reconvene, disqualifying them from having any delegates at the national convention, rather than allow a few Ron Paul delegates to go. Ron Paul beat McCain in Nevada... but what does that matter.

So, my vote in November will most likely be going to Baldwin/Castle... but we will see what happens before then. Plenty of time for an Independent to come up and get some support...