My Countdown diary has received a wonderful endorsement (of a sort)! How was I fortunate enough to get this "endorsement"? Well, a kind generous F.O.O. got this for me at NN08. If this "copy & paste" works, I'll be "outing" my first name, but that's OK with me. So, cross fingers & toes that this will work; the result will be well worth it!

http://www.dropshots.com/...

Now, on to the "Thank Jeebus It's Friday" edition of my Countdown diary!

There is action you can take right now, today, that will help cement an Obama victory. Help Bob Barr get on the ballot in West Virginia (and everywhere else).

It's time, once again, for me to write about my time at the convention, taking in all the important parts of the convention but emphasizing myself.

It's a harrowing tale. Join me as I relive my time spent with my good libertarian friend Bob Barr, some LaRouchies, quite a few great candidates many, many many great bloggers, and quite a lot of refreshing beverages.

Hats were stolen, hearts were broken, and I even found a protege to indoctrinate.

And yes, the Squirmy Rooter and Rick Astley were involved.

Join me below the fold.

Sadie and I are back in the saddle today, recovering from our six-day stint in Austin with Chun Yang and her nine-year-old son, Tai -- and my first order of business is thanking Cali Scribe and Chun Yang again for their extraordinary generosity. Were it not for them, we would have watched longingly from the sidelines -- something I can't even fathom because we had such a terrific time!

By way of thanks to both, I offer up this photo diary of Sadie Lady's experiences and her impressions of Netroots Nation/Austin, the Kossacks she met, and the politicians she encountered.

More below:  

You may know that Bob Barr has arrived at Netroots Nation.  He bought a one-day pass and decided to mingle with the assembled conventioneers.  And he drew a crowd.  I first spied him when Kate Sheppard of Grist was interviewing him about his environmental policies (a lot of "we don't know if man is causing global warming, we need further study, etc).  All of us wanted to talk to him, but we didn't quite know what to ask.  But after a couple of minutes it hit me, and my good buddy clammyc lent me his voice recorder and I sidled up to Barr to ask my first question.

Me: Rep. Barr, do you believe the impeachment of President Clinton was a good deterrent to the expansion of executive power and the establishment of the rule of law for the executive branch?

answer on the flip...

Bad news for John McSame's campaign in the Buckeye State...an Ohio Court has ruled that Libertarian candidate Bob Barr must be included on the November ballot:

Ohio must include the Libertarian Party's nominees on its ballot in November, a federal court has ruled, complicating Sen. John McCain's effort to win conservative votes in a hotly contested state.

More after the jump...

Guess who's just been sighted at Netroots Nations?

So why is he here?

"I'm here to build a broader coalition of Republicans and Democrats disanchanted with government, and to reach out to young people"

"Barack Obama and John McCain both represent Big Government"

He also said that he heard that John McCain hates bloggers, and that's why he's here: not everybody hates bloggers.

(quotes and pictures with the help of Shockwave)

It seems we should all be contributing to Bob Barr's campaign. Especially we should be making sure he gets on the ballot in as many "battleground" states as possible.

A donation to the Bob Barr for President campaign.  Some of you will consider this to be dishonest and others will say "no thanks, Ill donate to Obama thank you".  But the numbers dont lie.

According to the latest Reuters poll, in a two way race:
Obama 47
McCain 40

In a four way race
Obama 46
McCain 36
Barr 3
Nader 3

Now, at first you may think, who is Bob Barr and why. Bob Barr is running for President on the  Libertarian  Party Ticket. Some have you may have had already maxed it in your donations to the Obama Campaign and should donate to Bob Barr here.

A genius part of the Bush Campaign in 2000 and 2004 is that they encouraged Republican  fundraisers to donate money to the Nader Campaign because Nader was likely to snatch crucial votes from Al Gore and John Kerry. Note Nader's vote total in 2000 in New Hampshire and Florida would have changed the results  in both states.

Click below the fold for more details

There is no clearer example of how the right wing agenda leads the traditional national media around by the nose than in the presidential polling of 2008.

Specifically, Bob Barr.

Barr is a former republican planning to launch a major third party candidacy in 2008.  Given John McCain has a tenuous relationship with many conservatives, there is a good chance Bob Barr will pull between 2-3% of the national vote.  Most of it, from McCain.

Our corrupt national media, however, is completely ignoring Bob Barr.  

He is absent from the network reporting of polls.  He is absent from national discussions.  He is absent from visual graphics.  

John Zogby may not be the most reliable of pollsters, and his "interactive" poll of this week is probably skewed toward internet junkies who are more likely to include Libertarians and disappointed Ron Paul supporters.

Zogby's poll has Bob Barr in high single digits in a number of states, not just the "quirky" places like Oregon, Minnesota, and his home state of Georgia.  And some of the other more conservative polls have Barr pulling in what would otherwise presumably be GOP voters in states like Colorado and Arizona.

But are Libertarian-leaning voters really turning away from McCain?  Why?
Because McCain is not close enough to Bush?  Give me a break!

As something of a Libertarian myself, I think Obama has some appeal to those who now may say they support Barr.  On several important issues, Barr is closer to Obama than to McCain.  This is especially true in matters of civil liberties and Presidential powers.

The reasons why we should advocate on Barr’s behalf are obvious and compelling:
• Disguised as Democrats, Republicans trolled with a vengeance on Hillary’s behalf (led by goon’s such as Rush Limbaugh)
• Posing as pro-Hillary dead-enders, they’re still causing mischief on the internets via  blogs and comment threads
• Bob Barr’s success is directly related to Obama’s
• The magic of seeing Obama’s head, on CNN’s election night coverage, juxtaposed with the state of Georgia and a big blue checkmark
• Ralph Nadar

How to Barrvocate across the fold...

Bob Barr made the cover of today's Times. He's officially adopted the Ralph Nader position on electoral mayhem: He doesn't care what his candidacy might do as long as he scorches some earth in the process.

He's also got only $300K in the bank and a completely dysfunctional Libertarian Party organization who can't lift a finger to help.

I'm gonna drop $100 today on a candidate. Who should it be? Obama's got millions and his organization is solid. Barr's got no money, less name recognition, and can easily break 5% in Alaska, Georgia, Montana with ads aimed at pissed-off conservatives. I want to win fair, but I also want to win. If Bush did it with Nader, so we can do it with Barr.

Bob Barr candidacy helps Obama.

Donate to his campaign!http://www.bobbarr2008.com/...

Copyright Eyesonobama.com

By Chasing America from Eyes on Obama:

Bob Barr has a record littered with his support of issues that could carry immense appeal with the disillusioned conservative values base of the Republican Party. Barr supported gun rights at every turn and was opposed to lax drug laws. So, Barr has a lot of magnets to attract the Republican voter away from John McCain in November.

The great thing about having so many states in play is that even in the ones Obama loses Mccain is going to have to spend some of his precious money to defend them.
And in addition  to Obama's 50 state strategy helping down ticket dems--Obama will be helped by downticket races, and/or  Mccain is going to be hurt by unpopular republicans down ticket.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe outlined several alternatives to reaching the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House that runs counter to the conventional wisdom of recent elections.Plouffe and his aides are weighing where to contest, and where chances are too slim to marshal a large effort. A win in Virginia (13 electoral votes) or Georgia (15 votes) could give Obama a shot if he, like Kerry, loses Ohio or Florida.