David Weigel lavishes some uncritical attention on Bob Barr and seems pleased by the "Barr effect," e.g., the Libertarian's apparent prospect of throwing Alaska to Obama. Barr is quoted at length saying things like "With regards to the philosophy generally, my philosophy is a much smaller government, much greater personal freedoms, dramatically reducing the size, the scope, the power of the federal government," blah blah blah.
I think one Barr effect is the continuing decline of critical faculties at Reason. That this thoroughgoing social conservative and anti-immigration hard-liner (with a poor record on fiscal conservatism) should be getting an enthusiastic reception at the magazine of "free minds and free markets" suggests that McCain Derangement Syndrome has reached an advanced stage over there, and/or that they've concluded their own circulation numbers require pandering to their more illiberal readers.
