Bob Bird analyzes campaign performance

From the Bob Bird campaign via [email protected]

With somewhere around 50-55,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted (as of Sunday, November 9), Bob has garnered just short of 9,000 votes. With an extrapolation of maintaining his 4% share of the votes, Bob stands to bring in another 2,200 votes or so, which would bring him to about 11,000 when the election is certified.

Bob’s 4% sits with the following incredible disadvantages:

– The Rasmussen poll, which did not include him until the final week.
– The Ivan Moore poll, which was skewered (see the explanation under “News”).
– The exclusion of Bob from the statewide debate on Thursday, October 30 on KAKM/KTOO.
– The refusal of the Anchorage Daily News to cover Bob’s campaign at all, and killing the 20-minute interview they granted him a week before the election.
– The Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, which despite inviting Bob and Libertarian David Haase to a candidates’ forum, only permitted them to answer 40% of the questions.
– The refusal of the Fairbanks Chamber to invite Bob to their forum at all.
– The refusal of KTUU to invite Bob to their Sunday, October 26 televised debate.
– All this with approximately $30,000 raised and spent.

Below is a list of other third-party candidates who ran for the U.S. Senate in other states, with their share of the vote expressed in percentage.

1. Rebekah Kennedy (Arkansas), Green Party, 20% [there was no Republican opposing the Democratic incumbent].
2. Dean Barkley (Minnesota), Independent, 15% [Barkley had served a 2-month appointed term in the Senate in 2004].
3. Rex Rammell (Idaho), Independent, 5 %.
4. Dave Brownlow (Oregon), Constitution Party, 5%.
5. Bob Bird (Alaska), Alaskan Independence Party, 4%.
6. Stephen Wallace (Oklahoma), Independent, 4%.
7. Alan Buckley (Georgia), Libertarian, 3%.
8. Robert Underwood (Massachusetts), Libertarian, 3%.
9. Christopher Cole (North Carolina), Libertarian, 3%.
10. Ken Blevens, (New Hampshire), Libertarian, 3%.
11. Yvonne Schick (Texas), Libertarian, 2%.
12. Douglas Campbell (Colorado), Constitution Party, 2 %.
13. Bob Kinsey (colorado), Green Party, 2%.
14. Randall Hodgkinson (Kansas), Libertarian, 2%.
15. Kent Marmon (Idaho), Libertarian, 1%.
16. Andy Prolife (Idaho), Independent, 1%.
17. David Haase (Alaska), Libertarian, 1%.
18. Scotty Boman (Michigan), Libertarian, 1%.
19. Kathy Cummings (Illinois), Green, 1%.
20. Richard Fontanesi (Louisiana), Libertarian, 1%.

There were many others with totals under 1% of the vote, and these percentages may still change.

Debates Bob participated in, for which he wishes to express his gratitude for permitting the people of Alaska to hear the message of freedom: Juneau Chamber of Commerce; Alaska Secondary School Principals Association (in Anchorage); Kenai-Soldotna Joint Chambers of Commerce; Anchorage Chamber of Commerce (qualified); League of Women Voters/YouthVote ’08 (televised live statewide from Anchorage).