CENTENNIAL — Restricting the presidential debates to the two major-party candidates has trivialized the campaign by focusing on Joe the Plumber and hockey moms rather than broader issues of the Constitution and government’s role in the economy and education, Libertarian candidate Bob Barr said Friday.
Getting into the debates is a Catch-22, Barr told supporters during a campaign stop at the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce.
Third-party candidates normally must prove they have at least 15 percent support from voters — an impossible task because major polls don’t take third-party candidates seriously, he said.
Barr, a one-time Republican who served as a Georgia congressman, launched his presidential bid at the Libertarian Party’s national convention in Denver in May. Wayne Allyn Root, a businessman, professional sports handicapper and TV producer from Las Vegas, is his running mate.
Barr said Barack Obama and John McCain spend more time on sound bites than addressing the serious issues.
They use catchwords like “maverick” or “change” that they think voters want to hear, he said.
Government should be run the way it was intended and enforce existing laws, Barr argued, adding that government should spend its resources prosecuting those responsible for the financial crisis rather than bailing institutions out.
