Barr and Gravel To Have Their Say

Just when you thought the primary contests were finally winding down -- Kentucky and Oregon voters go to the polls today, and Democrat Barack Obama has a seemingly insurmountable delegate lead over Hillary Clinton -- comes word of another presidential debate.

Nope, the Democrats won't be holding their 22nd debate. This time, it's the Libertarians.

That's right: At 4:30 today at the Dupont Circle offices of Reason, the 40-year-old libertarian monthly magazine, it'll be "Bob Barr and Mike Gravel: Live! In Person! One Night Only!" for a "debate on the libertarian vote in 2008."

It will be the first debate for Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, since he threw his hat into the ring for the Libertarian Party (or LP, as insiders call it) nomination.

"This is the wildest Libertarian [race] in a long time," says Reason associate editor David Weigel, who organized and will moderate the debate. "They've never had two [former] elected officials leave their parties and run Libertarian."

The first one is, of course, Barr. The second is Mike Gravel, a former Democratic presidential contender and former senator from Alaska. Gravel, disillusioned with the Democrats after standing on their stage for this cycle's early debates, joined the LP in March.

Joining Barr and Gravel will be Wayne Allyn Root, a former Republican, and Vern McKinley, a "Ron Paul Republican" who is challenging Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.).

-- Garance Franke-Ruta