Former Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr has endorsed presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney for president. His Facebook posting below:

Eleven days ago Barr, a former Libertarian National Committee member, wrote glowingly about the 2012 LP ticket of Gary Johnson and Jim Gray

Still, the ticket is a strong one, especially in the current political climate in which tea party and other activists are demanding candidates who are genuinely committed to shrinking the size, scope, cost and power of government — the agenda at the heart of the Libertarian Party since its formation in 1971. ...

If in fact the Libertarian Party candidates somehow work their way into the presidential and vice-presidential debates this year, the election will generate an even higher degree of interest and voter participation than it already promises to deliver. Even in the absence of such an event, however, the Johnson-Gray ticket brings a degree of substance and a new perspective that all voters and media pundits should not only welcome, but embrace.

The completely ridiculous and vaguely big government third party movement known as Americans Elect has failed to find a presidential candidate to run for them. This effectively ends their attempt at running a national ticket in the 2012 election. Their statement below:

There is a desire among Delegates and millions of Americans who have supported Americans Elect to see a credible candidate emerge from this process.

However, the rules, as developed in consultation with the Americans Elect Delegates, are clear. As of this week, no candidate achieved the national support threshold required to enter the Americans Elect Online Convention in June. The primary process for the Americans Elect nomination has come to an end.

Americans Elect, from the outset, has been a rules-based process, with the rules publicly available and open to debate by the Delegates. Our key priorities have been to: 1) honor the trust Americans Elect has built with the Delegates and American public; 2) require candidates to earn the nomination by building support among the Americans Elect Delegate community and American voters; and 3) create a basis for a solid future for the Americans Elect movement.

This decision honors these priorities.

Through the efforts of thousands of staffers, volunteers, and leadership, Americans Elect has achieved its operational goals, including:

• Creating a pathway for nationwide ballot access for a balanced presidential ticket unaffiliated with the nominating process of either major party to compete in the 2012 race;
• Building the technological platform for the first nonpartisan secure national online primary at AmericansElect.org;
• Attracting a significant base of more than 4 million supporters, including Delegates, petition signers and volunteers;
• Educating the national and local media on the Americans Elect mission; and
• Finishing an extensive candidate briefing program involving more than 100 potential candidates

.

As always, we thank everyone who has helped build this organization and are grateful for the work, efforts, and trust so many people have placed in Americans Elect. We are continuing the Americans Elect mission of creating more choice in our political system, giving candidates unaffiliated with the nominating process of either major party an authentic way to run for office and giving the American people a greater voice in our political process.

This $35 million operation was doomed to fail from the beginning. How can you run a serious political organization aimed at winning elections without any kind of guiding ideology or real local organization? You can't.

These guys, like so many compassless folks in politics, seriously misread the American electorate and recent third party history. Third parties do not work without a guiding ideology, be it left, right, libertarian, statist, whatever. These guys stood for something a thousand times worse than the bitter hyperpartisanship they whined about: a wish-washy just do something attitude towards governance rooted in the pipe dreams of "radical centrists."

The entire concept of Americans Elect sounded like something bored political consultants drew up as a joke on the back of a napkin after a few drinks at a bar. It is astounding that they raised as much money as they did and attained ballot access in 29 states.

A couple hours after it was announced that WFNX was sold to Clear Channel Boston Phoenix editor Carly Carioli posted this photo to his Twitter account:

That poster sums up why the station mattered but, as Donna Halper writes, it was not enough to save the station from struggling financially.

I was getting my car repaired, and I got into a conversation with the 20-something guy who was waiting on me. I told him I had written a book about Boston radio, and I asked him what his favorite station was.

“I never listen to radio,” he said, “but my mother still does.”

I’d like to say I was shocked, but it’s a comment I’ve heard from other young adults, including many of my students at Lesley University. Today, they can easily download their favorite songs without having to sit through endless commercial interruptions. Few of these kids have any emotional connection to radio.

Why would Halper be shocked? Music radio has been debased to the point where my generation barely listens to it anymore. We've grown to accept the fact that commercial stations are pretty much the same in every city and are devoid of any local or unique personality. So we tune out and listen to our iPods, Pandora, and whatever else provides music tailor-made for the listener, often commercial free.

WFNX was an exception to that uniform mediocrity as they were locally owned and operated, they fought the good fight to put out a decent product that stood out in an industry known for cranking out cookie cutter ear bleeding garbage but, by 2012, so many of us were already off the radio dial that hardly anyone noticed.

Here's Gary Johnson first campaign ad as the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee. It features an exploding watermelon but, sadly, no Gallagher.

Hey, third party candidates need to grab your attention and this is certainly one way to do it. A standard "Hi, I'm such and such, here's why I am awesome and running on this third party line" with nice music and probably shot in a kitchen doesn't exactly pull you in.

First WBCN, now WFNX.

All the rock stations I listened to as a kid are either dead or a shell of what they once were. Sign of the times though as more people listen to iPods, SiriusXM, and streaming radio than ever before minimizing the once massive impact that local rock radio had.

WFNX was a station that was worth taking your earbuds out to listen to. When I was in high school, when MP3s were just taking off, I always felt like FNX, as it was affectionately known, was the cool station when compared to WAAF or WBCN. (Even their call letters were cool. F! N! X!) They had a hipper vibe even though their signal was total garbage. They were the first station I heard The Killers on and they were how I found out about Arcade Fire. Plus, you could always count on WFNX to organize some of the coolest rock shows in town.

WFNX's likely departure from the Boston airwaves is a blow to local music fans as it is the only remaining commercial alternative rock station in the city that has real live DJs. Yeah, DJs may be annoying to some but I always liked it when Julie Kramer would dish some background on the song she just played.

They played their share of predictable 90s hits that many of us are tired of but they managed to sprinkle in plenty of local and current tunes. For every overplayed Red Hot Chili Peppers song they played as much, if not more, from Passion Pit and Airborn Toxic Event. Their programming was always ahead of the curve because they were an independent rock station that answered to nobody. Playing new, unheard music does not lead to ratings though and they suffered because of it.

In recent years the station seemed scatterbrained in the wake of WBCN's shuttering. The cancellation of their popular morning show, The Sandbox, angered many loyal listeners and even led to a Facebook campaign to bring the show back. When WFNX started intermittently hosting Freeform Fridays where DJs could play anything (anything!) they wanted on air during their shifts I thought the station was finally steadying itself again but now this.

Thanks for the memories, 101.7.

Full disclosure: I host a show on Saturday, and occasionally fill-in during the week, at Entercom owned WRKO. Entercom owns WAAF.

Ron Paul may be curtailing his bid for president but that does not mean it will lead to the end of his rabid supporters or their involvement in the Republican Party. Since running in 2008 Paul has steadily developed the infrastructure to support a national movement devoted to spreading his libertarianish ideas. In places where the formal Paul apparatus did not develop, supporters built one on their own and connected through the internet with the help of social networking tools. Paul has built a movement that, in many ways, will survive well beyond his presidential campaign.

One of the problems this movement presents for Paul, though, is that it is decentralized and often difficult to direct. There are all kinds of hints coming from the Paul camp that their move to end formal campaigning was driven by their displeasure with the activity they were seeing at state conventions around the country.

Paul is doing this in part to protect his brand and, most importantly, gain more control over it. If he continues collecting delegates to the convention in Tampa at the same steady pace he will walk in there with a couple hundred delegates pledged to him, easy. This gives him some weight to throw around on things like the party platform but it creates opportunities for him, and his infrastructure, to be humiliated, too. If Paul supporters get out of hand or do something extremely disruptive it will just feed into this idea that they are rude cultists willing to do anything to get their guy elected, further damaging the reputation of not only Paul but his son, Rand.

Libertarians, particularly of the Rothbardian/Ron Paul wing of the movement, are already strongly disliked by the heavy hitters in the GOP and their ideological consistency is extremely frustrating to the rank and file as well. A major commotion on the floor of the convention would only further alienate them while potentially crippling their ability to advancing their agenda. Paul knows this and he is trying to get out in front of it.

The most striking thing about President Obama's flip-flop evolution reversal on gay marriage was how weakly the likely Republican standard bearer, Mitt Romney, has gone after him for it.

Shortly after the Obama's change of heart went public Romney addresed it at press conference in Oklahoma. Watch here as he gives a mostly tempered response when asked about his views on gay marriage.

Not only did Romney answer that question with no passion but he repeatedly called his position on the issue "his preference". At first glance it seems hard to understand why his campaign would not capitalize on this potential gift, particularly after a rocky primary showed he has problems with Christian evangelicals. Obama's support for gay marriage is just the type of thing Romney needs to energize an unmotivated evangelical base to man phones, knock on doors, and go to the polls.

Then this memo from a top GOP pollster dropped.

Support for same sex marriage has been growing and in the last few years support has grown at an accelerated rate with no sign of slowing down. A review of public polling shows that up to 2009 support for gay marriage increased at a rate of 1% a year. Starting in 2010 the change in the level of support accelerated to 5% a year. The most recent public polling shows supporters of gay marriage outnumber opponents by a margin of roughly 10% (for instance: NBC / WSJ poll in February / March: support 49%, oppose 40%).

The increase in support is taking place among all partisan groups. While more Democrats support gay marriage than Republicans, support levels among Republicans are increasing over time. The same is true of age: younger people support same sex marriage more often than older people, but the trends show that Hall age groups are rethinking their position.

Polling conducted among Republicans show that majorities of Republicans and Republican leaning voters support extending basic legal protections to gays and lesbians. These include majority Republican support for:

Protecting gays and lesbians against being fired for reasons of sexual orientation
Protections against bullying and harassment
Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
Right to visit partners in hospitals
Protecting partners against loss of home in case of severe medical emergencies or death
Legal protection in some form for gay couples whether it be same sex marriage or domestic partnership (only 29% of Republicans oppose legal recognition in any form).

This new data from one of their own should give Republicans, including Romney, pause when it comes to how they address gay marriage. Romney has already only passively addressed gay marriage but now that the president has changed his tune it will be interesting to see if he continues to tread softly on the issue or go full Culture Warrior like he did as governor during the constitutional amendment fight over it in 2006.

LAS VEGAS - The Libertarian Party selected former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and Judge Jim Gray of California as their 2012 standard bearers at their national convention today. Both candidates were elected by large majorities in the first round of voting. Johnson and Gray both defeated party activist and publisher one Lee Wrights for their nomination.

Later in the day the convention turned from predictable to wild when the party struggled to elect a new national committee chair. Party rules allow delegates to vote for None Of The Above, or NOTA, when voting at the convention. This quirk put the party in the awkward position of having one of the candidates for national chair, Mark Rutherford, lose to NOTA on the second ballot.

I am covering the convention for Reason Magazine and you can find all of my dispatches from the convention here.

The success of Ron Paul backers at the Massachusetts Republican Party caucuses this weekend is more indicative of establishment laziness and the ability of well organized Paul folks to take over small events than it is of a threat to the candidacy of Mitt Romney. Sure, there might be some awkward moments for Romney at the convention if enough Paul folks get elected around the country but there is no chance that he will be the Republican Party nominee in 2012.

None.

Zero point zero.

Paul's people may have some impact on the writing of a relatively meaningless party platform but their only attainable goal, at this point, is getting Paul a primetime speaking slot at the convention. If Paul goes in there with a couple hundred delegates he will have a decent bargaining chip to get a speaking slot but it's pretty much impossible for him to upset Romney's coronation.

The other upside for the Paul folks is that the Tampa convention will be another opportunity for them to network and continue to build their libertarian movement in the Republican Party. At the moment though it does not appear that they will have their own large scale venue to do that at. When I interviewed Paul during a campaign appearance in Rhode Island he told me that his campaign has no plans to organize a shadow convention like they did in 2008.

Why the state Republican Party let this happen is anybody's guess. Perhaps it was obliviousness to this happening in states across the country. Perhaps it was taking Romney's overwhelming Super Tuesday win here for granted. Perhaps it was just indifference because all the delegates are required to vote for Romney on the first ballot anyway. Still, it's an embarasment for Romney and his Massachusetts supporters.

So now that the House has approved their version of the FY 2013 budget what have we learned?

• The House leadership likes to speed through these proceedings and do most of the heavy lifting in private.
• There are as many progressive Democrats, or at least those who oppose EBT reform, as there are Republicans: 33.
• There will be almost certainly be no new taxes (or tax cuts) in the budget when it reaches Governor Patrick's desk.
• Water and non-carbonated beverage will continue to be exempt from the five cent deposit placed on other beverages as the "bottle bill" did not make it through the amendment process..

The Senate will take up the budget sometime in late May or Early June.

Daily Caller columnist Matt Lewis went digging through the roll call votes on judicial nominees while researching a post on Indiana Senator Richard Lugar. Lugar is facing a primary challenge for the first time since he was elected in 1976.

Lewis found that Lugar voted for all but six of a possible 98 appointments by President Obama, meaning he voted for the nominee 94% of the time.

Senator Scott Brown, another guy who is in the fight of his political life, voted for all but five of a possible 77 appointments that he was present for, meaning he voted for the nominee at the same rate as Lugar after being elected in early 2010. According to this account, Brown has the second most moderate voting record among Republicans when it comes to Obama appointees.

One of Brown's "no" votes was for the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan.

When Speaker Robert DeLeo put his foot down and said there would be no tax hikes in 2012 he was not joking. Out of the hundreds of proposed amendments to the FY 2013 budget only 36 are in the revenue category, according to a State House News Service review. The majority of amendments in the revenue category are, actually, proposals to reduce taxes and they have as much chance as passing as the proposals to raise revenues: none.

So far the majority of amendments addressing taxes and revenue have been either rejected or withdrawn.

The one tax proposal I am watching and that I think has a snowballs chance is the Meals Tax Holiday. If enacted it would suspend the meals tax for a week in October. Again, it is a longshot, but this legislature under DeLeo has shown support for holidays on voluntary taxes.

On Saturday I interviewed current Libertarian Party presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson on my WRKO Saturday show. Johnson, a former Republican, is no sure thing at the LP convention in May. In 2008 another former Republican, Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, had to fight through six rounds of voting before securing the nomination.

Johnson has a much stronger libertarian record than Barr but, as you'll hear in my interview, he still holds some positions that will make small 'l' and big 'L' libertarians uncomfortable.

Architects and city planners will gather in South Hadley Falls to brainstorm how to revitalize the area. Plans to redevelop the area have been in the works for years but what makes this gathering different is the involvement of the American Institute of Architects.

The visiting professionals will take part in tours and meetings with town officials, as well as a public hearing on April 23 and a public presentation on April 25, both at Town Hall at 6 p.m. As Fantini describes it, they will use every minute they have in South Hadley.

More here.

While in Washington for the playoff series with the Capitals Bruins goalie Tim Thomas dropped by the headquarters of the fiscally conservative group Freedom Works . Thomas, an outspoken critic of President Obama, made waves in January when he declined for political reasons to go to the White House with the rest of the Bruins to be honored for their Stanley Cup title.

Thomas has expressed libertarian leanings on his Facebook page but has never explicitly stated what his political ideology is. This photo of him, along with FreedomWorks staffer Julie Borowksi and a Ron Paul bumper sticker, just adds to a series of libertarian statements by the goalie.

In 1959 legendary newsman Mike Wallace sat down to interview libertarian icon Ayn Rand on his program The Mike Wallace Interview.

This was Rand's first major interview on television and came two years after the release of her most prominent work, Atlas Shrugged.

Part 2
Part 3

Wallace died Saturday evening in Connecticut. He was 93.

Rand died in 1982.

Throughout the 2012 primary the Ron Paul campaign has touted the large crowds at their campaign events across the country. Days before elections the crowds have been billed by his campaign as "remarkable”, “giant”, and “incredible”. Pro-Paul blogs post videos and pictures showing thousands of Paul backers gathered to hear their leader preach his brand of libertarianism. The bloggers write something to the effect of, “These rallies show that Paul is winning the hearts and minds of young Americans.”

Unfortunately for Paul these large crowds have not led to success at the ballot box as Paul has amassed less than 100 delegates according to various estimates. But how can that be with Paul repeatedly drawing thousands to see him around the country?

Nia-Malika Henderson explains:

Even though Paul has had a superior ground game in many smaller caucus states and has raised nearly $40 million, he has been unable to grab a victory in any state and has tallied about 1.1 million votes, half Newt Gingrich’s haul and a quarter of Mitt Romney’s.

The problem is this: Although Paul is running to lead a party that looks like him — older, whiter, Southern — his crowds are younger, war-weary, more diverse and less likely to identify with one party or to vote.

The same independent streak that leads the young and the restless to Paul’s libertarian philosophy seems to make it more unlikely that these supporters will pick a side and a party, which is a requirement for many of the primary and caucus contests.”

The other problem Paul faces is that a chunk of his small but devoted base travels to see him everywhere he goes so his events are not always an accurate reflection of the local voter base. Paul's campaign is spreading the libertarian gospel unlike anybody since Ayn Rand but it still is not translating into electoral or policy wins.

Even if Paul’s much talked about delegate strategy is working it will be nearly impossible for him to win the Republican nomination. A little known rule may prevent Paul’s name from being nominated on the convention floor in Tampa this summer.

Still, that is not ending rumors that Paul will use his delegates to negotiate for a primetime speaking spot at the convention for himself or his son, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

Shortly after the news broke about the indictment of former state Treasurer Timothy Cahill political junkies across the Commonwealth started rehashing the outcome of the 2010 gubernatorial election. Twitter was abuzz with snark about how the Lottery ads that the Cahill campaign allegedly orchestrated did not help him or the Lottery. Talk radio was outrage central, as usual, but the focus of its wrath expanded to include Attorney General Martha Coakley.

One of the stranger arguments I heard was that Cahill was being “punished” for challenging Massachusetts Democrats while at the same time playing the role of spoiler for Republican gubernatorial nominee Charlie Baker. There are two problems with this political conspiracy theory.

First, the idea that Cahill is being “punished” by Coakley for his dust ups with the Democrats takes the concept of political payback to a new level in this state. Sometimes pols who cross the powers that be have their offices moved, are tossed from committees, or, in Cahill’s case, left out of major party activities but a full court press to indict you for what some are calling business as usual would be unprecedented.

Second, Cahill did not spoil the race for Baker. Here, look at the data.
Cahill voters were evenly almost evenly split between Governor Patrick and Baker immediately before the election. His presence in the race did change the dynamic, particularly early on but he began to fade after the Republican Governors Association blew him out of the water. Would he have faded naturally? Probably.

Cahill did not have the fundraising capabilities of the major party candidates and was, in the end, a mostly weak regional candidate. Republicans, remembering the gubernatorial race in New Jersey just a year earlier, were very concerned about Cahill but in hindsight their concern was overblown and their candidate suffered because of it.

Mayor Menino has, arguably, the best political operation in the Commonwealth but in a presidential year its turnout impact may be diminished. Menino may change his tune down the road but right now this comment is a quiet vote of no confidence in fellow Democrat Elizabeth Warren.

Bill Kirk of the Lawrence Eagle Tribune has a short list of possible candidates that may run for Steven Baddour's soon-to-be open seat:

Among the names thrown out there as possible candidates on the Democratic side: Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini, former Methuen Mayor Bill Manzi, Methuen City Councilor Sean Fountain, and Baddour's predecessor Jim Jajuga of Methuen, who is the outgoing president of the Haverhill Chamber of Commerce.

On the Republican side, former Congressional candidate Sam Meas of Haverhill said he may run and people are wondering if Al DiNuccio, who ran unsuccessfully for Methuen mayor twice, will throw his hat into the ring.

Whole thing here.

The deadline to make the ballot is May 1 but only 300 signatures are required to get on the ballot. To avoid challenges candidates will probably have to gather 400-500 just to be safe.

Baddour announced his resignation from the State Senate yesterday.

Baddour joins fellow State Senators Frederick Berry and Susan Fargo in not seeking reelection this November.

When Geraldo Rivera is not busy opening Capone's vault he saying hooded sweatshirts will get you killed.

Stay classy, Geraldo.

In a press release sent out this morning the Ron Paul campaign announced a new web ad where they attack Mitt Romney strategist Eric Fehrnstrom for his Etch-A-Sketch comments.

Here's the ad:

Sorry, but this ad does not focus on Romney nearly enough to squash any of the Romney-Paul rumors nor is it that effective. Yeah, poking fun at the Etch-A-Sketch nonsense gets through but the dramatic music and slick Lucasfilm style graphics in this ad are borderline comical.

Paul has made several ads styled like this but this one just swings and misses.

The chattering rose and navy classes are up in arms about how today's indictments are, well, disappointing but we have to remember it is only March and this could be just the beginning of a wave of indictments that will roll out over the months to come. No need to jump to conclusions that this is it. As US Attorney Carmen Ortiz said during her press conference today, "this is just one step in an ongoing investigation."

Remember, The Ware Report is over 300 pages long and it contains many names.

Elizabeth Warren has one less opponent in the Democratic primary for US Senate: Jim King.

King is pledging his support for consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic Party's bid to defeat Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who won the seat in a 2010 special election following the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Edward Kennendy.

King said that although he holds a "great deal of respect and admiration" for Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Marisa DeFranco, Warren has the name recognition and party support to go head-to-head with Brown.

Warren's clearing of the Democratic field is very impressive for a candidate that has never run for elective office at any level. The only significant candidate remaining in the primary is DeFranco but she has little backing financially or from party heavyweights. DeFranco, an immigration attorney, has positioned herself to the left of Warren, particularly in the early debates where she frequently sparred with her.

She has stated that she intends to stay in the race but she may do better by running on the Green Rainbow Party ticket. While many people have pulled papers to run as independents nobody has to run as a Green. The signature threshold of 10,000 is low enough that the Greens meager statewide operation could easily surpass it. Plus, if DeFranco runs as a Green she could get a spot next to Warren and Brown in the debates to further advance her progressive views.

DeFranco could not be reached for comment.

We have not reached the end of the race for the 2012 Republican nomination but we are approaching turn three after Mitt Romney's decisive victory in Illinois. Here are three takeaways from tonight's predictable contest:

• It really is coming to an end and that means people will start jumping ship. No, really. Romney's win in Illinois will lead to increase chatter from the conservative pundit class and blogosphere for his opponents to drop out. Even the most ardent Romney opponents will start to fall in line behind the guy because no matter how much they cannot stand the "Massachusetts Moderate" they detest President Obama even more.
• A contested convention is the only real path to the nomination for anybody not named Romney. The current delegate math makes it very difficult for Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich to win the nomination before the convention in Tampa. A two-man race between either of them and Romney may actually hurt them more because it splits the vote two ways instead of three. Ron Paul will not be the Republican nominee, sorry.
  
• Gingrich's last stand is probably this Saturday in Louisiana. Look, Gingrich just does not have the funds to go all the way to the convention. Unless he gets another SuperPAC shot in the arm after this weekend it is hard to see how his campaign can continue to function at a national level.