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Barr's status as a latecomer and his conservative record during four terms in Congress fueled opposition from many hard-core Libertarians, who rallied around Ruwart and other presidential hopefuls, including California marijuana activist Steve Kubby, Massachusetts physicist George Phillies, and Internet entrepreneur Michael Jingozian.

Those candidates had spent months campaigning for the LP nomination, as had Root. An ex-Republican -- he quit the party in 2006 after the GOP-controlled Congress passed a law banning online gambling -- Root has a telegenic presence that had made him an early favorite of the Libertarian Party's Reform Caucus.

The differences between the Reform Caucus and other Libertarians are less ideological than strategic, as one Barr supporter explained during the Denver convention. "I'm not sure if [Barr's opponents in the LP] appreciate the fact that we actually have a candidate who can get elected because he's been elected, as opposed to someone who wants to run just to get attention," said David Chastain, a delegate from Georgia. "I think that's where we're really split, is you have people who want to be the Libertarian Party of education and some of us want to be the Libertarian Party of making political progress."

The late entry of Barr threatened to divide the votes of pragmatists who had previously been united behind Root. The LP presidential contest got another wild card when former Democratic Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska announced in April that he, too, would seek the Libertarian nomination.

AS IT PLAYED out in Sunday's voting, Barr barely led on the first ballot, with 153 votes to Ruwart's 152, with Root trailing at 123 and Gravel at 71. Jingozian was eliminated in the first round and endorsed Gravel (to the consternation of Ruwart, who'd lent support to Jingozian to help him qualify for Saturday night's televised debate).

Barr's one-vote lead on the first ballot caused "a lot of angst," one of his floor leaders said afterwards. Or, as one of his Alabama supporters said in the heat of the moment, "Oh, God, it's a dogfight."

Barr's backers cheered when the second-ballot results were announced, and he had increased his lead to 16 votes, but he and Ruwart were tied on the third and fourth ballots.

Kubby, Phillies and Gravel had been eliminated before the fifth ballot, when Ruwart pulled ahead 229 to 223 over Barr. That lead, however, was illusory.

Root was eliminated by his third-place finish (165 votes), and in his concession speech told his supporters, "I would like to be part of a Barr-Root ticket in 2008."

That some 50 of Root's delegates voted for Ruwart on the sixth and decisive ballot indicates the depth of internal hostility to Barr among some LP regulars. Yet the hard-fought win was enough for Barr, and apparently satisfied LP donors, who contributed a record $64,000 at the party's presidential banquet Sunday evening -- more than twice the amount of donations at the 2004 Atlanta convention.

AT A PRIVATE reception later Sunday night, Barr campaign manager Russ Verney solicited donations from delegates and the candidate gave a short speech mentioning $40 million as his fundraising target.

Verney managed Ross Perot's 1992 and '96 presidential campaigns, and it remains to be seen whether Barr's campaign can have a Perot-like impact in 2008. Also unknown is whether Barr can get the kind of online fundraising and grassroots support that sparked the Ron Paul campaign.

Just surviving the "dogfight" of the Libertarian convention was a major victory for Barr supporters like Jennifer Chambrin, a Georgia delegate who did a little dance on the sidewalk outside the Sheraton after Sunday's voting was done.

"We won! We won! We won!" Chambrin said in a singsong voice, then reflected: "Can you imagine after all this, if we had come this far and lost?"

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