Wayne Allyn Root, July 20, 1961 (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) -
VP candidate for Libertarian Party (2008)
Running mate with nominee: Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (b. 1948)
Popular vote: 523,515 (0.40%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
About two weeks prior to the 2008 Libertarian Party convention, former Rep. Bob Barr announced he was running for the nomination. Barr had previously served as a Republican from Georgia in the US House and had joined the LP in 2006. His conservative voting credentials included a very un-Libertarian track record especially in regard to supporting the War on Drugs, he authored the anti-Gay Defense of Marriage Act, he voted for the Patriot Act, voted for the Iraq Resolution, and once attempted to ban Wiccans from the military. Although the candidate had claimed to have changed his stripes, many Libertarians were not convinced, considered him a carpetbagger, and decided to walk away after Barr obtained the nomination following six ballots.
Two significant refugee groups included a faction led by George Phillies, a candidate defeated by Barr who went on to be on the ballot as an alternate Libertarian in New Hampshire, and the Boston Tea Party.
Barr's running-mate was another recent Republican convert to the LP, conservative talking head Wayne Allyn Root. Root had also tried for the Presidential nomination but was eliminated after the 5th ballot.
Like many other conservative pundits, Root had learned that there is no such thing as bad publicity and the more outrageous the claim the better the self-promotion. It is difficult to ascertain if he really believed the multitude of conspiracy theories he promoted throughout the years, before and after 2008 such as--
-The Obama "birther" claims.
-Las Vegas sniper Stephen Paddock was part of a "Clearly coordinated Muslim terror attack."
-When a Neo-Nazi killed a protestor in Charlottesville, Root tweeted, "Probably paid actors & infiltrators hired by Soros. No conservative I’ve ever met commits violence. EVER."
-The murder of Seth Rich: "He was murdered because he was the guy that gave all the DNC files to Julian Assange and Wikileaks ... They just killed him for no reason and nobody seems to be interested in finding the killer. And it sure seems to me to point to leading Democrats—Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DNC, the Clintons, Hillary Clinton, all the above, Donna Brazile, all the above, seem to be mixed up in this, they all had a motive to kill this guy."
-Obama is a Gay Manchurian candidate and a "Marxist, anti-American, anti-Israel, globalist, middle class-hating, Muslim sympathizer."
-"All liberal men are gay" and "All liberal women are ugly."
-Hillary Clinton was bribed and handed over 20% of US uranium stockpiles to Russia so she should be executed for treason.
-Obama "didn't come in to help us end the specter of racism, he brought it back ... Obama needs ‘division.’ Race warfare. Class warfare. Anger. Resentment. Civil war ... the perfect opportunity to divide the nation, to incite unrest and violence across America ... use spreading unrest to declare martial law."
-"Democratic voters across this country are voting four times, five times, 10 times each for the Democrats."
-Chief Justice Roberts is being blackmailed. How else to explain some of his decisions?
-While warming up a rally for Trump in 2016, fantasized about the death of Hillary Clinton and aide Huma Abedin to a cheering crowd, "We all get our wish. The ending is like 'Thelma and Louise.'"
-"We need to hire an attack dog ... We need to hire former CIA or NSA or FBI or Navy Seals that have been involved in counter-insurgency operations all over the world, that have killed people, that understand how to fight; that don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, that bring a gun to a gunfight, preferably a shoulder-fired missile to a gunfight, preferably a nuclear weapon to a gunfight! ...It is time to go after the left as viciously as they go after us ... These people are mentally insane … and I will tell you right now, they would burn books if they could ... They would love to burn the Bible, because we all know they hate God ... And you know they hate the country."
-"Never in all my years in politics have I seen ever anything like the way the gates of hell have been unleashed on Donald Trump ... This isn’t just an old-fashioned attack, it isn’t random. This is a coordinated conspiracy to destroy Trump. This is a high-tech lynching. This is a crucifixion! ... And that’s why we must all support President Trump ... If we don’t back Trump now, if you don’t back Trump now, it’s all lost forever. It’s time to fight like a cornered wolverine. It’s time to fight like it’s the end of America, because it is. We can’t go back in time and save Sir William Wallace. We can’t go back and save Jesus Christ from being nailed to that cross. But we can change the future course of history today. There is still time to stand with Donald Trump against the forces of evil."
-"Find me a woman who is a feminist and a liberal and likes cats and I will find you someone who ought to be in an insane asylum every single time ... Hey guys, if any of you out there are single and you ever meet a woman who admits to being a liberal and hating Trump and when you get to her house, she’s got cats, run for your life. Run, run, run. Like those ads in Britain, run and hide and tell other men to run and hide ... No man can ever live with a liberal woman with cats ... She’ll cut your pee-pee off, I promise you. Liberals are mentally unstable and mentally insane. They're unhinged."
-"No doubt in my mind Dems are paid off by Mexican drug cartels to oppose [Trump's] wall. Their answers are so bizarre. They have no reasonable reason for opposition. They sound like idiots or little children. Guarantee u they’re getting paid off by hundreds of millions."
-"Pretty simple- if you hate @realDonaldTrump or vote Democrat on Tuesday [2018] you're either commie or freaking idiot."
-"I continue to believe that the left stole the election ... The left stole the 2018 midterm elections in so many states around the country."
-"Isn’t it funny how the liberal mainstream media loves to throw the term 'conspiracy theorist' at any conservative who tells raw truth and asks lots of good questions about the biggest stories in the news?"
Root has been a regular in the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch, earned a place in The Encyclopedia of American Loons, and has a long description in his Wikipedia entry entitled "Promotion of conspiracy theories and falsehoods," as well his legal transgressions.
It was apparently obvious very quickly that Root was major liability on the ticket. The Barr campaign website had an interesting item on Sept. 10, 2008 where the Presidential candidate offered the VP position to Ron Paul--
While you declined my offer to seek the Libertarian presidential nomination many months ago, I ask that you seriously consider this final offer as an opportunity to show true, lasting leadership beyond party politics.
Root also endorsed the idea--
As the Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee, I believe in one thing above all else—principle. There can be no compromise on the ideals of limited government, lower taxes, lower spending, and more freedom for the American people. Those are the principles to which I’ve dedicated my life. The GOP and Democratic candidates only give lip service—at best—to these ideals and principles. It is only an act at election time every four years.
I want to end the charade once and for all. I am willing to sacrifice anything to advance the cause of liberty, freedom, smaller government and to enable the American taxpayer to keep more of their own money and property. Understanding Dr. Ron Paul's reputation and name recognition in the freedom movement, I am willing to step aside as Libertarian vice presidential candidate if he would be willing to take my place. I will pledge to work day and night, just as I have as the vice presidential nominee, to support Dr. Paul. I believe this is a wonderful opportunity for the Libertarian and freedom movements. I encourage Dr. Paul to accept Congressman Barr's offer. The campaign is making this offer because we believe there is no sacrifice too large when it comes to improving the lives of the American people and American taxpayers.
Some pundits felt the failure of the Barr/Root ticket to attract an endorsement from Ron Paul (he endorsed Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party) coupled with Sen. McCain's selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running-mate took some of the wind out the sails of the Libertarian campaign in spite of Barr's energetic electioneering.
The Barr/Root ticket had ballot access in 45 states plus two write-ins. Nationally they placed 4th, following Ralph Nader's independent bid. They achieved third place in Indiana (1.06%), Georgia (0.73%), Texas (0.69%), North Carolina (0.60%), Arizona (0.55%), and South Carolina (0.38%). It could be argued they were spoilers in North Carolina, handing the state to Obama. Other states where they fiinshed with their highest percentages were Utah (0.73%), Wyoming (0.63%), Idaho (0.56%), Kansas (0.54%), and California (0.50%). Notably missing from this list is Alaska, no doubt due to Palin's place in the Republican ticket drawing away votes from Barr/Root.
Confirming the charges that both nominees were carpetbaggers, Barr and Root had returned to the Republican Party by the next Presidential election.
Election history:
1983 - Westchester County Board of Legislators, N.Y. (Republican) - defeated
2008 - Libertarian Party nomination for US President - defeated
2016 - U.S. Senate (Nev.) (Republican) - withdrew
Other occupations: radio host, author, columnist, TV producer, board member of Wealth Masters International
Notes:
Endorsed Romney in 2012.
"I am a Jew turned evangelical Christian. I am also a passionate supporter of Donald Trump. I have a message for Christians who don’t like Donald Trump: 'YOU’RE MISSING THE BOAT.' Christians have Trump all wrong. God sends messages in many forms. You’re just not listening. God is talking, but you’re [sic] eyes and ears are closed."--Wayne Root, 2016.
