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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Barr Files Suit To Remove Obama And McCain From Texas Ballot

By Scott Shepard | Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 07:27 PM

Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr’s campaign filed suit Tuesday seeking to remove Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama from the ballot in Texas, alleging that the two major candidates missed the deadline for officially filing to be on the ballot.

The lawsuit by the former Republican congressman from Georgia claims that neither McCain nor Obama met the requirement of Texas law that all candidates provide “written certification” of their nomination “before 5 p.m. on the 70th day before election day” because neither had been formally nominated by their respective parties in time.

That would have been Aug. 25. Obama did not accept his party’s nomination until Aug. 28, McCain his on Sept. 4.

The lawsuit states: “The hubris of the major parties has risen to such a level that they do not believe that the election laws of the State of Texas apply to them.”

Pat Dixon, chairman of the Texas Libertarian Party, issued a statement saying, “Libertarian principles require personal responsibility for your acts and failures. Obama and McCain failed to meet the deadlines. They must follow the law like everyone else.”

Barr first raised the issue in a press release earlier this month. Ashley Burton, a spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State’s office, responded at that time, saying, “Both parties made filings with our office before the deadline, supplemented their filings and will be on the November ballot.”

Barr plans to hold a news conference at the Texas Supreme Court on Thursday.

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Bush goes mum on economy

By Ken Herman | Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 04:58 PM

A day after making a Rose Garden statement on the economy, President Bush opted not to comment today.

Prior to Bush’s session today with his working group on financial markets (a panel that includes the chairs of the Federal Reserve Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission), spokesman Tony Fratto said, “We decided it would be best to limit public comment about markets today, and so there will not be press coverage of the president’s working group meeting this afternoon. The president looks forward to the briefing by the working group.”

After the meeting, this from White House Press Secretary Dana Perino: “The president was briefed this afternoon by his working group on financial markets. He appreciates their work to strengthen and stabilize the markets.”

Wall Street reaction to the day’s events: The Dow closed up about 140 points.

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Rove: McCain now leads in electoral votes

By Ken Herman | Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 12:16 PM

Karl Rove says Republican John McCain now leads Democrat Barack Obama in electoral votes for the first time since early June. It’s a one-vote edge — 227-226 — with 85 still in the toss-up column, according to Rove.

The former longtime Bush adviser comes upon his numbers by calculating “the average of all public telephone polls taken within 14 days of the most recent poll available in each state.”

McCain took the lead as a result of polls that put Florida’s 27 electoral votes in his column, according to Rove’s math. He also noted that McCain is within striking distance of moving Minnesota (10 electoral votes) and Washington (11 EVs) out of Obama’s column and into the toss-up category.

A Roverian caveat: “McCain’s lead may be a result of his convention bounce or it may be a sign of real progress — only time will tell.”

See Rove’s map here

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