Patrick,

Admittedly, I don’t follow libertarian politics very closely, but I too find some of the recent developments within the party rather interesting.

For one, it will be interesting to see how the apparent agreement between Bob Barr and long-time conservative fundraiser Richard Viguerie will impact the LP both at its convention this week, and long into the future. Viguerie recently purchased the popular blog ThirdPartyWatch from Barr campaign associate Steve Gordon.*

But the question on everyone’s minds is ‘why is Viguerie getting involved in LP politics in the first place?’ David Nolan recently asked whether Viguerie is trying to “buy the Libertarian party” (and he’s not the only one who thinks so). Nolan states:

Clearly, Barr and Viguerie are attempting to gain control of the LP so that Barr can campaign on a conservative/libertarian hybrid platform and Viguerie can extend his fundraising empire into the libertarian quadrant of the political universe.

Based on my experience at the Ron Paul campaign, I would be inclined to agree. It’s clear how Barr stands to benefit from the agreement, but Viguerie’s intentions may not be as obvious.

While I was not involved directly in the discussions and don’t remember the exact terms of the deal, Richard Viguerie offered to “help” the Ron Paul campaign similarly to how he is “helping” Bob Barr. For a huge cut of the money he raised, Viguerie was willing to support Ron Paul. We did not accept what amounted to an absurd offer, and likewise — despite all the talk of Mr. Viguerie’s “conservative credentials” — he did not endorse Ron Paul for president.

Instead, as many are aware, he set up a shadow Ron Paul site (”Ultimate Ron Paul”) to capture email addresses and expand his fundraising network. I think RP campaign manager Lew Moore put it best when he said in an interview:

Richard Vigeurie is a fundraiser, he has made a tremendous amount of money raising money for different candidates. He’s just capturing names to raise money off of them.

He has never supported this campaign, he has certainly not been a part of our campaign this cycle. He one time approached our campaign to raise money for us, for a large amount of money. But we didn’t need the services of a very high priced beltway insider, and that is what Mr. Viguerie is.

I caution your listeners that when you register on that website he’s going to take your name and do things like this with it.

Obviously we have great supporters who want to do what’s right, but they need to be very careful. I mean, Richard Viguerie is a salesman, my message to your listeners is - buyer beware - he’s selling something.

So do I believe that Viguerie is attempting to take over the LP? Well, in so much as he cares about lining his own pockets and increasing his fundraising prowess (or what’s left of it). But make no mistake, Viguerie does not care about libertarianism, whether at the LP or inside of the Republican party.

Bob Barr needs all the fundraising help he can get (as his website ticker shows every day), and I encourage him to do whatever he needs to. For Mr. Viguerie, this is just icing on the cake.

UPDATE: Due to this report, I would like to clarify that - to my knowledge - Mr. Viguerie did not offer to “sell” his endorsement to the Ron Paul campaign. Mr. Viguerie offered to fundraise for the Paul campaign. That offer was turned down because of the illogical sum of money that Mr. Viguerie required for his services. At no point did Mr. Viguerie endorse Ron Paul for president, neither before this proposal nor after. Of course, that did not stop Mr. Viguerie from attempting to build his email list at UltimateRonPaul.com.

*This post originally stated that “Viguerie is Barr’s finance chair.” I have been informed that this statement was inaccurate and that Mr. Viguerie does not have an official role with the presidential campaign. The post above has been corrected to reflect this fact.