American politics is just so interesting, innit?

Former US congressman Bob Barr has announced plans to run for president on the Libertarian Party’s ticket, in a move some analysts say could hurt Republican presumptive nominee John McCain.

This is bad news for McCain. As pointed out in the article, Barr will steal those conservative votes that McCain desperately needs and is relying on, votes from conservatives who aren’t too happy with the Republican nominee for various reasons.

Barr, who has hired Ross Perot’s former campaign manager, acknowledged that some Republicans have tried to discourage him from running. But he said he’s getting in the race to win, not to play spoiler or to make a point.

It would take a miracle for Barr and the Libertarian Party to win. Highly unlikely, and I’m sure he knows it. So, he’s not in it to win, he’s in it to spoil or make a point. Has to be. Don’t lie, Barr.

However,

“I’ve heard from Americans from all walks of life … they want a choice,” he said at a news conference in Washington. “They believe that America has more and better to offer than what the current political situation is serving up to us.”

Admirable in trying to give Americans a choice. Democracy and all that, of which the US in the past 8 years has been trying to spread to other parts of the world, not always with much success.

So, does this look good for Obama (or Hillary)?

Well, not really. Bob Barr could just as likely steal those votes from Obama (or Hillary), not just from McCain. There are also still a lot of American voters pining for the other libertarian, Republican Ron Paul, who is still campaigning (I had to check, I’m shocked he’s still going; you certainly rarely hear anything about him campaigning in the primaries), so it would be interesting to see just how disastrous Bob Barr may be for both the Republicans and the Democrats.

Still, if it did come down to a McCain vs Obama battle,  as seems most likely, Obama should be wary by the latest poll showing that McCain is still a strong candidate despite the lack of support for Bush (and, effectively, the Republican Party).

In hypothetical general election head-to-heads, Obama leads McCain by slim 51 to 44 percent margin, with the public split 49 percent for Clinton to McCain’s 46 percent.

Can I just say, COME ON OBAMA!

Oh, and bring on the election already.