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2008 Libertarian National Convention

{{Short description|United States political event}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{More citations needed|date=November 2019}}

{{Infobox National Political Convention

| year = 2008

| party = Libertarian

| logo = 2008 Libertarian Party Convention.svg

| logo_size=150px

| image = Bob Barr Denver Convention 135 (cropped).jpg

| image_size = 250

| caption = Nominees
Barr and Root

| date = May 22–26, 2008

| venue = Sheraton Hotel

| city = Denver, Colorado

| chair = Bill Redpath

| keynote_speaker =

| speakers = Dr. Mary Ruwart

| presidential_nominee = Bob Barr of Georgia

| vice_presidential_nominee = Wayne Allyn Root of Nevada

| othercandidates = Mary Ruwart of Texas
Mike Gravel of Alaska
Steve Kubby of California, activist
George Phillies of Massachusetts

| totaldelegates =

| votesneeded =

| presidenttotals =

| vicepresidenttotals =

| previous_year = 2006

| next_year = 2010

}}

{{US 2008 presidential elections series}}

{{Location map+|USA|width=400|float=right|caption=Sites of the 2008 national presidential nominating conventions|places=

{{Location map~|USA|mark=blue-gold pog.svg|marksize=14|lat_deg=39.739167|lon_deg=-104.984722|position=bottom|background=#FFFFFF|label=Denver}}

{{Location map~|USA|mark=red pog.svg|lat_deg=44.9441|lon_deg=-93.0852|position=top|background=#FFFFFF|label=Saint Paul}}

{{Location map~|USA|mark=purple pog.svg|lat_deg=39.1|lon_deg=-94.58|position=bottom|background=#FFFFFF|label=Kansas City}}

{{Location map~|USA|mark=green pog.svg|lat_deg=41.836944|lon_deg=-87.684444|position=bottom|background=#FFFFFF|label=Chicago}}

}}

The 2008 Libertarian National Convention was held from May 22 to May 26, 2008, at the Sheraton Hotel (formerly the Adam's Mark Hotel){{cite web|author=Richard L. Johnson |url=http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2008_1st/Feb08_WhitehallSheraton.html |title=Starwood to Re-brand and Renovate Former Adams Mark Hotels as Sheraton Dallas Hotel and Sheraton Denver Hotel / February 2008 |publisher=Hotel-online.com |access-date=2012-06-27}} 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.{{Cite web |url=http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/cspan.csp?command=dprogram&record=202093789 |title=Database Error |access-date=2008-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604132444/http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/cspan.csp?command=dprogram |archive-date=2008-06-04 |url-status=dead }}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.lp.org/organization/bylaws.shtml |title=Libertarian Party Bylaws |publisher=Lp.org |access-date=2012-06-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605025750/http://www.lp.org/organization/bylaws.shtml |archive-date=2008-06-05 }}

The theme of this convention was A Better Choice for America.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120509083125/http://www.libertywillwin.com/ LibertyWillWin.com] (cited 12 February 2016).

Two non-binding primaries preceded the convention.

Platform

Image:Denver-sheraton.jpg

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”.David Weigel, [http://www.reason.com/news/show/126633.html 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, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-simon/liberatarians-nominate-ex_b_103552.html Libertarians Nominate Ex-Republican Barr], Huffington Post, May 26, 2008. The revised platform did replace the plank on secession,{{cite web|url=http://www.lpedia.org/index.php?title=2004_Libertarian_Party_Platform&redirect=no |title=2004 Libertarian Party Platform |work=Lpedia.org |date=2012-05-06 |access-date=2012-06-27}} 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."[http://www.lp.org/issues/platform_all.shtml National Platform of the Libertarian Party] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528182629/http://www.lp.org/issues/platform_all.shtml |date=May 28, 2008 }}, Adopted in Convention, May 2008, Denver, Colorado.

Presidential candidates

{{main|Third-party and independent candidates for the 2008 United States presidential election#Libertarian Party}}

class="sortable wikitable"
colspan="5" | Libertarian Party presidential candidates, 2008
class="unsortable"|

! width:120px; |Candidate

! Home state

! style="width:300px;" class="unsortable"|Profession

! class="unsortable"|Campaign

align=center|100px

!data-sort-value="Barr, Bob"|Bob Barr

|Georgia

!align=center|Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 7th district
(1995–2003)

|150px
(Campaign • Positions • [https://web.archive.org/web/20080526204634/http://www.bobbar2008.com/ Website])

align=center|100px

!data-sort-value="Gravel, Mike"|Mike Gravel

| Alaska

!align=center|U.S. Senator from Alaska
(1969–1981)

|(Campaign • Positions • [https://web.archive.org/web/20160402040331/http://www.gravel2008.us/ Website])

align=center|100px

!data-sort-value="Imperato, Daniel"|Daniel Imperato

| Florida

!align=center|Businessman

|

align=center|100px

!data-sort-value="Jingozian, Mike"|Mike Jingozian

| Oregon

!align=center|Software developer

|

align=center|100px

!data-sort-value="Kubby, Steven Wynn"|Steve Kubby

| California

!align=center|Libertarian activist

|(Campaign)

align=center|100px

!data-sort-value="Milnes, Robert"|Robert Milnes

| New Jersey

!align=center|Activist

|

align=center|100px

!data-sort-value="Phillies, George"|George Phillies

| Massachusetts

!align=center|Professor of Physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

|

align=center|100px

!data-sort-value="first, last"|Wayne Allyn Root

| Nevada

!align=center|Businessman, media personality, author, TV producer

|(Campaign)

align=center|100px

!data-sort-value="Ruwart, Mary"|Mary Ruwart

| Texas

!align=center|Retired biomedical researcher; Libertarian speaker, writer, and activist

|(Campaign)

align=center|100px

!data-sort-value="Smith, Christine"|Christine Smith

| Colorado

!align=center|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.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 1

Candidate

! Total votes cast

! Percent of votes cast

style="background:Goldenrod;"

| Bob Barr

style="background:Goldenrod;"| 15324.3%
style="background:Gold;"

| Mary Ruwart

style="background:Gold;"| 15224.1%
style="background:Yellow;"

| Wayne Allyn Root

style="background:Yellow;"| 12319.5%
style="background:#ff6;"

| Mike Gravel

style="background:#ff6;"| 7111.3%
style="background:#ffc;"

| George Phillies

style="background:#ffc;"| 497.8%
style="background:LightYellow;"

| Steve Kubby

style="background:LightYellow;"| 416.5%
style="background:White"

| Mike Jingozian

style="background:White;"| 233.7%
style="background:White"

| Christine Smith

style="background:White;"| 61.0%
style="background:White;"

| Ron Paul (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 61.0%
style="background:White;"

| Penn Jillette (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 30.5%
style="background:White;"

| NOTA

style="background:White;"| 20.3%
style="background:White;"

| Daniel Imperato (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:White;"
style="background:#fff;"ground:White;"

| Stephen Colbert (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:#fff;"

|

|colspan="5"|

{| style="float:left;"

Color key:

|

|bgcolor="Goldenrod"| 1st place

|bgcolor="Gold"| 2nd place

|bgcolor="Yellow"| 3rd place

|bgcolor="#FFFF66"| 4th place

|bgcolor="#FFFFCC"| 5th place

|bgcolor="LightYellow"| 6th place

|bgcolor="White"| 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.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 2

Candidate

! Total votes cast

! Percent of votes cast

style="background:Goldenrod;"

| Bob Barr

style="background:Goldenrod;"| 18829.8%
style="background:Gold;"

| Mary Ruwart

style="background:Gold;"| 16225.7%
style="background:Yellow;"

| Wayne Allyn Root

style="background:Yellow;"| 13821.9%
style="background:#ff6;"

| Mike Gravel

style="background:#ff6;"| 7311.6%
style="background:#ffc;"

| George Phillies

style="background:#ffc;"| 365.7%
style="background:White;"

| Steve Kubby

style="background:White;"| 325.1%
style="background:White;"

| NOTA

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:White;"

| Stephen Colbert (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:#fff;"

|

|colspan="5"|

{| style="float:left;"

Color key:

|

| style="background:Goldenrod;"| 1st place

| style="background:Gold;"| 2nd place

| style="background:Yellow;"| 3rd place

| style="background:#ff6;"| 4th place

| style="background:#ffc;"| 5th place

| style="background:White;"| 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.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 3

Candidate

! Total votes cast

! Percent of votes cast

style="background:Goldenrod;"

| Bob Barr

style="background:Goldenrod;"| 18629.6%
style="background:Goldenrod;"

| Mary Ruwart

style="background:Goldenrod;"| 18629.6%
style="background:Gold;"

| Wayne Allyn Root

style="background:Gold;"| 14623.3%
style="background:Yellow;"

| Mike Gravel

style="background:Yellow;"| 7812.4%
style="background:White;"

| George Phillies

style="background:White;"| 314.9%
style="background:White;"

| Ron Paul (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:#fff;"

|

|colspan="5"|

{| style="float:left;"

Color key:

|

| style="background:Goldenrod;"| 1st place (tied)

| style="background:Gold;"| 2nd place

| style="background:Yellow;"| 3rd place

| style="background:White;"| 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.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 4

Candidate

! Total votes cast

! Percent of votes cast

style="background:Goldenrod;"

| Bob Barr

style="background:Goldenrod;"| 20232.0%
style="background:Goldenrod;"

| Mary Ruwart

style="background:Goldenrod;"| 20232.0%
style="background:Gold;"

| Wayne Allyn Root

style="background:Gold;"| 14923.6%
style="background:White;"

| Mike Gravel

style="background:White;"| 7612.0%
style="background:White;"

| NOTA

style="background:White;"| 30.5%
style="background:#fff;"

|

|colspan="5"|

{| style="float:left;"

Color key:

|

| style="background:Goldenrod;"| 1st place (tied)

| style="background:Gold;"| 2nd place

| style="background:White;"| 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.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 5

Candidate

! Total votes cast

! Percent of votes cast

style="background:Goldenrod;"

| Mary Ruwart

style="background:Goldenrod;"| 22936.8%
style="background:Gold;"

| Bob Barr

style="background:Gold;"| 22335.8%
style="background:White;"

| Wayne Allyn Root

style="background:White;"| 16526.5%
style="background:White;"

| NOTA

style="background:White;"| 61.0%
style="background:#fff;"

|

|colspan="5"|

{| style="float:left;"

Color key:

|

| style="background:Goldenrod;"| 1st place

| style="background:Gold;"| 2nd place

| style="background:White;"| 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.lp.org/media/printer_588.shtml |title=Press Releases: Presidential and VP Vote Totals – Updated Live! |publisher=LP.org |date=2008-05-25 |access-date=2008-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528033121/http://www.lp.org/media/printer_588.shtml |archive-date=2008-05-28 |url-status=dead }}

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

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 6

Candidate

! Total votes cast

! Percent of votes cast

style="background:Goldenrod;"

| Bob Barr

style="background:Goldenrod;"| 32451.8%
style="background:Gold;"

| Mary Ruwart

style="background:Gold;"| 27644.1%
style="background:White;"

| NOTA

style="background:White;"| 264.2%
style="background:#fff;"

|

|colspan="5"|

{| style="float:left;"

Color key:

|

| style="background:Goldenrod;"| 1st place

| style="background:Gold;"| 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.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 1

Candidate

! Total votes cast

! Percent of votes cast

style="background:Goldenrod;"

| Wayne Allyn Root

style="background:Goldenrod;"| 26947.7%
style="background:Gold;"

| Steve Kubby

style="background:Gold;"| 20937.1%
style="background:Yellow;"

| Daniel Williams

style="background:Yellow;"| 407.1%
style="background:White;"

| Jim Burns

style="background:White;"| 274.8%
style="background:White;"

| Gail Lightfoot

style="background:White;"| 142.5%
style="background:White;"

| NOTA

style="background:White;"| 20.4%
style="background:White;"

| Mike Ferguson (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:White;"

| Mary Ruwart (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:White;"

| Leonard Schwartz

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:#fff;"

|

|colspan="5"|

{| style="float:left;"

Color key:

|

| style="background:Goldenrod;"| 1st place

| style="background:Gold;"| 2nd place

| style="background:Yellow;"| 3rd place

| style="background:White;"| 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.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention total vote count: Round 2

Candidate

! Total votes cast

! Percent of votes cast

style="background:Goldenrod;"

| Wayne Allyn Root

style="background:Goldenrod;"| 28951.0%
style="background:Gold;"

| Steve Kubby

style="background:Gold;"| 25945.7%
style="background:White;"

| Daniel Williams

style="background:White;"| 101.8%
style="background:White;"

| NOTA

style="background:White;"| 61.1%
style="background:White;"

| Unknown Richard (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:White;"

| Mike Ferguson (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:White;"

| Mary Ruwart (write-in)

style="background:White;"| 10.2%
style="background:#fff;"

|

|colspan="5"|

{| style="float:left;"

Color key:

|

| style="background:Goldenrod;"| 1st place

| style="background:Gold;"| 2nd place

| style="background:White;"| 3rd place (tied)

|}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Wikinews|Bob Barr wins the Libertarian Party presidential nomination}}

  • {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730184030/http://www.lpconvention.org/ |date=July 30, 2008 |title=Official convention website}}
  • [https://www.lp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/LP-News-January-2007-Final-V2-web.pdf LP News] (January 2007)
  • {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080520030733/http://www.denverlpcon.com/ |date=Maay 20, 2008 |title=Official convention guide}}
  • "[https://newrepublic.com/article/61909/freedom-freaks Freedom Freaks]" published by The New Republic

{{Libertarian Party (United States)}}

{{2008 United States presidential election}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Libertarian Party (United States) National Conventions

Category:2008 United States presidential election

Libertarian National Convention

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Category:Conventions in Colorado

Category:Political events in Colorado

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