NEW YORK -- When Stephen Colbert introduced the Libertarian
Party presidential candidate last night, the audience for "The
Colbert Report" cracked up when the studio monitors showed a
picture of Babar, the elephant protagonist of children's
storybooks.
The host of the popular Comedy Central mock-news program told
his audience, "Full disclosure, folks: I myself am a Libertarian. I
don't want big government to infringe on my right to tell other
people how to think."
Jokes aside, Colbert's interview with the Libertarian nominee,
former Rep. Bob Barr (not Babar), was surprisingly respectful. He
gave Barr plenty of softball questions and allowed the candidate to
answer at length.
Libertarians "are a big swing vote this time because Americans
are finally realizing, at long last, that the current two-party
system, the Democrats and the Republicans, have failed and failed
miserably, and will simply give them more of the same," Barr
said.
"A lot of people, particularly a lot of younger people, are
completely fed up with the system, they've seen the corruption of
the system that has given us bigger government no matter which
party's in charge, they see the future as fairly bleak under the
current system, and they're ready to vote Libertarian for the first
time," said Barr, the four-term Georgia congressman who left the
Republicans for the Libertarian Party in 2006.
Barr's mention of younger voters was tailor-made for Colbert's
cable-TV audience, which skews young -- more than two-thirds of his
half-million or so nightly viewers are under 35. And the
Libertarian message has strong appeal to young voters, who are
generally less influenced by the Republicans' social-conservative
and national-security messages that resonate with older voters.
Barr's trip to New York also included an appearance on Glenn
Beck's CNN Headline News program, but the Colbert appearance might
be more important. Colbert boasts that his program -- a spin-off of
Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" -- gives candidates "the Colbert
bump," a boost in polling and contributions that has been the
subject of an academic study by James Fowler, a University of
California political scientist.
Whether or not the "bump" has a scientifically verifiable
impact, an appearance on the Colbert show confers a certain
legitimacy (and a patina of hipness) to the Barr campaign. Only one
major candidate has so far refused to appear on "The Colbert
Report," and he is the subject of a placard on the show's set:
"McCain '08: The Luck Stops Here."
Sen. John McCain has not yet deigned to notice the challenge
posed by the ex-Republican Barr, but much of the media attention to
the Libertarian nominee is focused on his potential to cause
problems for the GOP candidate.
WHAT KIND OF PROBLEMS could Barr's candidacy create for McCain?
Recent polls have shown Barr at 8 percent in Georgia and 6 percent
in North Carolina -- states that President Bush won in 2004 with 58
percent and 56 percent, respectively.
In head-to-head matchups with Barack Obama, polls show McCain
leading by about 5 points in North Carolina and 14 points in
Georgia. Add Barr to the formula, and its 43-40 in North Carolina,
45-35 in Georgia.
If Barr's campaign catches fire, it could "throw a monkey wrench
in Republican plans in states people otherwise take for granted as
Republican states," pollster Matt Towery told the Washington
Times this week.
"It's our plan to do a lot more than to throw a monkey wrench,"
Barr said in the green room of the Upper West Side theater where
the Colbert show is taped. "We aim to make it a three-way race
between equals."
Whether or not such high hopes are fulfilled, Barr could expand
the number of "battleground" states to include what would otherwise
be solid "Red" states. That would force Team McCain to spread thin
its campaign resources -- in a year when Democrats are expected to
enjoy a significant fundraising advantage.
Win, lose or draw, Barr's clearly enjoying himself these days.
"Libertarians do have more fun," he said last night.
Getting "the Colbert bump" could help Barr have the last laugh
against his old party.
topics:
John McCain, Barack Obama, Books
