WKYC has asked 11 NEO (North-East Ohio) bloggers back to their studios to cover the election results as the come in.  I’m privileged to be among those asked.  WKYC has posted some raw video from their prep work in which you can see some of my fellow bloggers. Have a look see: http://bit.ly/13bXPR

I plan to start blogging at 7pm or shortly their after.

Post from: EveryJoe

Live Election 2008 coverage from NBC’s WKYC Cleveland’s studios

Do you think he should be included, or should he be excluded?

Vote in the poll we have in our side bar!

Post from: EveryJoe

New Poll: Bob Barr’s Participation

Bob Barr’s name will be on the ballot in all fifty states, come November. To say that Barr is a viable third party candidate is putting the situation mildly.

Ralph Nader was accused of ’spoiling’ John Kerry’s run for president in 2004. Nader was only on the ballot in 34 states.

I won’t argue that Barr has come near to either Barack Obama or John McCain’s numbers. But I think that his candidacy is already having a significant affect on this presidential campaign. The margin between Obama and McCain remains narrow enough that both candidates have to seriously consider the chance that Barr might have a Nader effect.

Conservatives who feel that McCain is too moderate like Barr — his voting record during his tenure as the representative from Georgia’s 7th congressional district makes that clear. He’s undergone something of a transformation to become the Libertarian Presidential candidate, but many of his actual stances remain the same. The real change is that Barr has come to the conclusion that issues like same-sex marriages should be a decision made at the state level, rather than the federal.

But because Barr believes that marriage is not a federal issue, quite a few Democrats feel comfortable with him as a candidate. There are more than a few Democrats who haven’t committed to Obama, from reasons as varied as his defeat of Clinton and his relative youth. I have a feeling that Barr could pick up a few of those votes as well.

The way that Barr is running his campaign is also worth a look. Obama has gotten a lot of praise for his use of social media, but Barr has committed himself to making connections through sites beyond the usual suspects (Facebook, MySpace, etc.). Despite having less ‘real world’ name recognition, Barr has hundreds of online friends even on Digg.

This race is close enough that I’m willing to bet that Obama and McCain’s staffs are keeping tabs on Barr, and I think the rest of us should do the same.

Thanks to Brian Layman for a head’s up on recent Barr developments.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Bob Barr Option

Image details: Prominient Conservatives Criticize Patriot Act served by picapp.com

Bob Barr may be starting a serious bid for the presidency as a Libertarian, following up on the exploratory committee he formed last month. The Libertarian party seems to be considering him a frontrunner for the party’s nomination, which will be decided at the Libertarian convention on May 22. He’s even got a site up for his run.

Barr’s political history is an interesting one. While a member of the House of Representatives — Barr represented Georgia’s 7th District from 1995 to 2003 — he lead the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. During that time, Barr was a member of the Republican Party, but left the party in the middle of the 2004 presidential campaign and endorsed the Libertarian candidate. He’s split with the Republican Party on a whole list of issues.

Personally, I’d be excited to see Barr’s name on the ticket. Whether or not I agree with all of his positions, he does clearly articulate them. Furthermore, a strong 3rd party candidate will definitely keep things interesting, especially while we have to sit around waiting for the Democratic convention to make up their minds in August.

Post from: EveryJoe

Another hat in the presidential ring: Bob Barr