Below The Beltway

As I noted earlier this week, Bob Barr is out West and will be in California tomorrow during the Saddleback Forum.

Apparently, Pastor Rick Warren and those running the forum have decided not to invite Barr to the event.

Which prompted the following in an email from Russ Verney, Barr’s Campaign Manager:

This Saturday, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain will take the national stage for their first combined national event.

It will take place at Saddleback Church in Orange County, California.

For the past several weeks, we have put in requests and phone calls to the church’s pastor, Rick Warren, who was quoted this week in Time Magazine as saying, “I want what’s good for everybody, not just what’s good for me. Who’s the best for the nation right now?”

Unfortunately, Pastor Rick Warren doesn’t care to know the true answer to that question as he has willingly excluded Bob Barr and other candidates from his forum on Saturday.

After weeks of negotiations and calls to Saddleback Church from leaders from every corner of the political spectrum supporting Bob Bar’s inclusion, we’ve been left out in the cold.

The only people getting into the event are Obama, McCain and those who reportedly paid $500 to $2,000 to the church to sit in the audience.

Yesterday, I reported to former Congressman Barr that we’ve exhausted every avenue.  I told him, “We’ve had calls placed to Pastor Warren from very powerful leaders from the left and the right, we sent in our personal request, and placed numerous phone calls that have not been returned.  You are not going to be included.

“Our only option left is to threaten to file an temporary injunction as our attorney’s believe they are in violation of the law.”

Bob responded by saying, “No, don’t threaten to do that . . .  Just do it.”

As you read this, our attorneys are filing an injunction against Saddleback Church to include Bob Barr in their forum this Saturday.

You are the first to hear about this.

The complaint is based upon a violation of McCain/Feingold campaign finance legislation.

While we’re no fans of that legislation.  However, we don’t write the rules, we’re just forced to play by them.  In this case, we’re using McCain/Feingold to our advantage.

The reason I am disclosing so much to you is because this is just the beginning.

At every way you look at it, we’re at a disadvantage.

-    We are being blocked from the national stage by the media, debate commissions and now even groups like Saddleback Church.
-    Both the campaign and our party have put most of its manpower and money into getting on the ballot in every state.
-    And we have our hands tied behind our backs by laws like McCain Feingold that benefit the two major parties.

But none of that matters.

We have a candidate who is worth fighting for and that’s is exactly what we’re going to do.

One way or another, Bob is going to get his message of liberty out to our nation.

The campaign has also issued a press release:

Atlanta, GA – Bob Barr’s presidential campaign will file for a preliminary injunction against Saddleback Church in Federal District Court in California on Friday, Aug. 15.  The church, pastored by Rick Warren, intends to host a candidate forum with only presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain on Saturday, Aug. 16—an event the Barr campaign alleges runs afoul of campaign contribution laws.

“It is our opinion that the Saddleback Church forum failed to publish any pre-established, objective criteria for inviting candidates to the event,” says Russell Verney, Barr’s campaign manager. “Because of Saddleback’s apparent failure to comply with campaign finance laws, the exclusion of Bob Barr appears to be an illegal, corporate, in-kind contribution to Senators Obama and McCain.”

Federal election laws stipulate that an event such as the one Saddleback Church is hosting must provide pre-established and objective criteria for inviting candidates.  A failure to do so can be considered an illegal campaign contribution.

“It is to our understanding that Pastor Warren simply contacted Senators McCain and Obama to invite them to participate in this forum,” says Verney. “We feel that the addition of Congressman Bob Barr to this event will expand the debate on issues and benefit those who watch and learn from the forum.  The dialogue between the three main candidates in this election will educate and inform voters more so than a forum that restricts the discussion to the frequently heard talking points of Senators Obama and McCain.”

The injunction will be filed by attorney Robert Karwin, of the law offices of Robert P. Karwin in Sun City, California.

A hearing may be held this afternoon in the United States District Court, Central District of California.

I’ve got to say that it’s particularly distressing to see a candidate who professes a belief in liberty attempting to use the heavy hand of the state to force a private individual, Rick Warren, and a private institution, Saddleback Church, to change their minds about who they will invite to speak at a private function.

I expect nonsense like this from some people, but not from the nominee of the Libertarian Party, or as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution described the move:

[A]n odd thing for a Libertarian to do — asking a judge to determine whom a church should invite into its sanctuary.

Which is, in essence, what this lawsuit amounts to.

I would expect that it will be dismissed by the end of the day.