2008 Libertarian National Convention

The 2008 Libertarian National Convention was held from May 22 to May 26, 2008 at the Sheraton Hotel (formerly the Adam's Mark Hotel)[1] in Denver, Colorado. The delegates at the convention, on behalf of the U.S. Libertarian Party, nominated Bob Barr for president and Wayne Allyn Root for vice president in the 2008 presidential election. The convention was televised nationally on C-SPAN.[2]

2008 Libertarian National Convention
2008 presidential election
Nominees
Barr and Root
Convention
Date(s)May 22–26, 2008
CityDenver, Colorado
VenueSheraton Hotel
ChairBill Redpath
Notable speakersDr. Mary Ruwart
Candidates
Presidential nomineeBob Barr of Georgia
Vice presidential nomineeWayne Allyn Root of Nevada
Other candidatesMary Ruwart of Texas
Mike Gravel of Alaska
Steve Kubby of California, activist
George Phillies of Massachusetts
2008 Libertarian National Convention is located in the United States
Denver
Denver
Saint Paul
Saint Paul
Kansas City
Kansas City
Chicago
Chicago
Sites of the 2008 national presidential nominating conventions

Libertarians hold a national convention every two years to vote on party bylaws, platform and resolutions and elect national party officers and a judicial committee. Every four years it nominates presidential and vice presidential candidates.[3]

The theme of this convention was A Better Choice for America.[4]

Two non-binding primaries preceded the convention.

Platform

Sheraton Hotel, where convention was held

In 2006 the self-styled Libertarian Party "reformers" at the National Convention in Portland, Oregon took out 46 platform planks detailing party positions, leaving just fifteen. In 2008 more "radical" libertarians attempted to restore that platform. They did not succeed, but they narrowly prevented the reformers from softening the language of the non-aggression principle in the party's “Statement of Principles”.[5] The revised platform did replace the plank on secession,[6] deleted in 2006, with a definition of self-determination drawn from the Declaration of Independence: "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of individual liberty, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to agree to such new governance as to them shall seem most likely to protect their liberty."[7]

Presidential candidates

Libertarian Party presidential candidates, 2008
Candidate Home state Profession Campaign
Bob Barr Georgia Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 7th district
(1995–2003)

(CampaignPositionsWebsite)
Mike Gravel Alaska U.S. Senator from Alaska
(1969–1981)
(CampaignPositionsWebsite)
Daniel Imperato Florida Businessman
Mike Jingozian Oregon Software developer
Steve Kubby California Libertarian activist (Campaign)
Robert Milnes New Jersey Activist
George Phillies Massachusetts Professor of Physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Wayne Allyn Root Nevada Businessman, media personality, author, TV producer (Campaign)
Mary Ruwart Texas Retired biomedical researcher; Libertarian speaker, writer, and activist (Campaign)
Christine Smith Colorado Humanitarian activist, and writer

Voting for presidential nomination

First ballot

After the first round, six of the eight candidates running moved on to the second round of voting. Mike Jingozian and Christine Smith were both eliminated due to their small percentage of votes. Jingozian endorsed former Senator Mike Gravel, and Smith presented a speech attacking Bob Barr after the results were announced.

2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 1
Candidate Total votes cast Percent of votes cast
Bob Barr15324.3%
Mary Ruwart15224.1%
Wayne Allyn Root12319.5%
Mike Gravel7111.3%
George Phillies497.8%
Steve Kubby416.5%
Mike Jingozian233.7%
Christine Smith61.0%
Ron Paul (write-in)61.0%
Penn Jillette (write-in)30.5%
NOTA20.3%
Daniel Imperato (write-in)10.2%
Stephen Colbert (write-in)10.2%
Color key: 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place 5th place 6th place 7th place

Second ballot

After the second round, five of the six candidates running moved on to the third ballot. Steve Kubby, after receiving only 5% of the total vote, dropped out of the race and endorsed Dr. Mary Ruwart.

2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 2
Candidate Total votes cast Percent of votes cast
Bob Barr18829.8%
Mary Ruwart16225.7%
Wayne Allyn Root13821.9%
Mike Gravel7311.6%
George Phillies365.7%
Steve Kubby325.1%
NOTA10.2%
Stephen Colbert (write-in)10.2%
Color key: 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place 5th place 6th place (tied)

Third ballot

After the third round of voting, four of the five remaining candidates moved on to the fourth ballot. Dr. George Phillies was eliminated after receiving approximately 5% of the vote.

2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 3
Candidate Total votes cast Percent of votes cast
Bob Barr18629.6%
Mary Ruwart18629.6%
Wayne Allyn Root14623.3%
Mike Gravel7812.4%
George Phillies314.9%
Ron Paul (write-in)10.2%
Color key: 1st place (tied) 2nd place 3rd place 4th place

Fourth ballot

After the fourth vote, three of the four candidates went on to the fifth round of voting. Fmr. Sen. Mike Gravel was eliminated after not getting a sufficient number of votes, and subsequently announced that his political career was over.

2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 4
Candidate Total votes cast Percent of votes cast
Bob Barr20232.0%
Mary Ruwart20232.0%
Wayne Allyn Root14923.6%
Mike Gravel7612.0%
NOTA30.5%
Color key: 1st place (tied) 2nd place 3rd place

Fifth ballot

After the fifth ballot, the final two of three candidates continued on to the sixth ballot. Wayne Allyn Root was therefore eliminated, and after the vote, he made a speech endorsing Barr and stating that he would like to be Barr's candidate for vice-president. Barr and Root then stated that they would run together.

2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 5
Candidate Total votes cast Percent of votes cast
Mary Ruwart22936.8%
Bob Barr22335.8%
Wayne Allyn Root16526.5%
NOTA61.0%
Color key: 1st place 2nd place 3rd place

Sixth ballot

With only Barr and Ruwart remaining on the ballot, Barr received 324 votes to Ruwart's 276 and 26 NOTA. Barr thus won the nomination with 51.8% of the final vote.[8]

Ruwart made a concession speech following the announcement of the results with her campaign staff on the stage.

2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 6
Candidate Total votes cast Percent of votes cast
Bob Barr32451.8%
Mary Ruwart27644.1%
NOTA264.2%
Color key: 1st place 2nd place

Voting for vice presidential nomination

A separate vote was held for the vice presidential nomination. Presidential nominee Barr endorsed Root, while Presidential runner-up Ruwart endorsed Kubby.

First ballot

After the first ballot, three of the six active candidates running moved on to the second ballot.

2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 1
Candidate Total votes cast Percent of votes cast
Wayne Allyn Root26947.7%
Steve Kubby20937.1%
Daniel Williams407.1%
Jim Burns274.8%
Gail Lightfoot142.5%
NOTA20.4%
Mike Ferguson (write-in)10.2%
Mary Ruwart (write-in)10.2%
Leonard Schwartz10.2%
Color key: 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place

Second ballot

After the second ballot, Wayne Allyn Root was nominated as the vice presidential candidate, prevailing by a difference of 30 votes over Steve Kubby, and 279 votes over Daniel Williams.

2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 2
Candidate Total votes cast Percent of votes cast
Wayne Allyn Root28951.0%
Steve Kubby25945.7%
Daniel Williams101.8%
NOTA61.1%
Unknown Richard (write-in)10.2%
Mike Ferguson (write-in)10.2%
Mary Ruwart (write-in)10.2%
Color key: 1st place 2nd place 3rd place (tied)

See also

References

  1. Richard L. Johnson. "Starwood to Re-brand and Renovate Former Adams Mark Hotels as Sheraton Dallas Hotel and Sheraton Denver Hotel / February 2008". Hotel-online.com. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  2. "Database Error". Archived from the original on 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  3. "Libertarian Party Bylaws". Lp.org. Archived from the original on 2008-06-05. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  4. LibertyWillWin.com (cited 12 February 2016).
  5. David Weigel, Who Isn't Trying to Take Over the Libertarian Party? Scenes from the LP's most newsworthy convention in years, Reason Magazine, May 23, 2008; Matt Simon, Libertarians Nominate Ex-Republican Barr, Huffington Post, May 26, 2008.
  6. "2004 Libertarian Party Platform". Lpedia.org. 2012-05-06. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  7. National Platform of the Libertarian Party Archived May 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Adopted in Convention, May 2008, Denver, Colorado.
  8. "Press Releases: Presidential and VP Vote Totals – Updated Live!". LP.org. 2008-05-25. Archived from the original on 2008-05-28. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
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