If we put character aside for the moment, we can identify the issues that all the candidates stand for, and where they differ and where they agree, and perhaps also identify what is a true conservative as well as a true liberal.

I didn’t mean to imply that nothing could dampen the Obama supporters short of him plotting to assassinate McCain. What I meant to suggest was that nothing short of that would terminate both candidacies. Admittedly that’s a bit of an exaggeration.

If Keyes was viewed as a viable and true conservative I think he would have received a little more support while seeking the Republican nomination than he received.

The growing proliferation of alternate party candidates has to be credited in part to the growing discontent with both Obama and Clinton. In another post you gave Obama a lot of leeway, i.e., nothing short of an assassination plot on McCain would have an effect with Obama’s true believers. That was right before Obama’s recent comments about small town people in PA, which will likely have a major effect in a general election, which is where alternate party candidates come into play (a smaller effect among Democrats, but likely enough for Clinton to win PA) Unless the alternate party candidate is for an Iraq policy based on success, I don’t see how the rise of alternative party candidates can be attributed to McCain, who seems to be the real bi-partisan candidate. I have to give McCain credit for having the character to speak what he believes even if it isn’t considered to be a good campaign strategy. He came out for the surge in Iraq before it was successful when most other politicians were declaring that it would not succeed.

What is the Keyes position on the Iraq war, and can Keyes be identified as more of a party line conservative than McCain? – If so then what are the Keyes positions that make him more attractive to party line conservatives?

Perhaps Keyes and Barr feel that these other parties have more potential to get votes than they would have if the Republicans were more enthusiastic about McCain. If that is the case, Barr has chosen the better third-party because the Libertarians already have ballot access in almost all the states.