Bob Barr for President

While John McCain clearly moves to the center. Actually, scratch that. He's always been at the center, there's not much movement necessary. There is a gaping ideological hole on the right side of the political spectrum in 2008. Bob Barr wants to fill that hole. And at this point, given that I can't stand either of the two Democrats or John McCain, I have to say that voting for the Libertarian or the Constitution party is very, very tempting:

Bob Barr, former GOP congressman from Georgia, is an all-but-announced presidential candidate - as a Libertarian.

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A run by Barr could be to John McCain "what Ralph Nader was to Al Gore - ruinous," wrote George Will in Newsweek. Some party experts believe Barr could siphon off essential conservative votes from Sen. John McCain, about whom many rightward voters have been less than enthusiastic.

I don't think that Barr will get the support of Limbaugh, other talk radio or mainstream conservative venues. While these are more or less dismayed by the outcome of the 2008 Republican nomination race, I don't think they are ready to chuck the GOP. Not yet. Maybe after four years of John McCain. Still, in a 50-50 nation. John McCain cannot afford to lose two or three percentage points from his base. And if he doesn't remember this, he should talk to Al Gore.

Perhaps, in the best case scenario, Mr. Barr will keep McCain from straying too far from the conservative roots of the GOP. When McCain asks the conservatives who else they might vote for, they might have an answer.