Libertarians Name Barr-Root Ticket

Bob Barr, the former Republican congressman from Georgia, today won the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nomination on the sixth ballot. He defeated Mary Ruwart of Texas, 324 to 276, at the party's convention in Denver.

Wayne Allyn Root, Barr's choice for vice president, won that nomination on the second ballot, beating Steve Kubby of California, 289 to 255. Kubby, a crusader for medical marijuana, had also sought the presidential nomination and endorsed Ruwart when he was eliminated from that race. Root had run for the top spot as well, and he endorsed Barr when he was eliminated, indicating that he hoped to be the Georgian's running mate.

In her remarks following her loss, Ruwart did not mention Barr. Barr, in contrast, was complimentary toward her and her campaign.

Root, also a former Republican, pointed out the difference between Washington, D. C., and his hometown of Las Vegas. He said that the drunks in Las Vegas gambled with their own money.

Barr, a former federal prosecutor, was a member of the famed Republican U. S. House class of 1994. In 1992, he had narrowly lost Georgia's Republican primary for U. S. senator to the late Paul Coverdell, who went on to unseat the incumbent Democrat, Wyche Fowler.