HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania judge's ruling that keeps Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr on the ballot will force Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama to take him seriously in a key battleground state, a Barr campaign spokesman said Monday.
The major-party candidates "will have to compete for the votes of Pennsylvania citizens instead of taking them for granted," Russell Verney, Barr's campaign manager said in a statement.
The challenge to Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia who some GOP strategists fear might siphon votes from McCain, was filed by Harrisburg lawyer Victor Stabile, who also is chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Party.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hvCD9_7Y5TjfJj2S_bylUlXoKP3AD937FQ500
