Recent polls show, the campaign of Bob Barr - the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president - announced on Wednesday, that Barr is gaining ground in key battleground states. Although still not a major force, as none of the ‘third parties,’ the Libertarian Party appears to make headway in especially Ohio and Colorado.

In Ohio, 5.2% of voters said in recent polls they intend to vote for Barr, the campaign said.

 The former conservative Republican turned Libertarian also does well in Colorado, where 4.3% of voters told pollsters they support him. In Florida, polls show, Barr is at 3.7% and in Virginia at 3%.

Barr’s campaign has often complained in recent weeks that most news outlets refuse to cover their candidate, or any other third party candidate at that. Additionally, the Barr campaign said, the two major parties have tried to push Barr off the ballot in several states, afraid that he may hurt their chances.

Nonetheless, Barr - a former federal prosecutor and a former member of the United States House of Representatives for the Republican Party - and his colleagues fought back and won the battle in so far that Barr is allowed to run for president in most states, and could in theory become America’s next president. Coverage of and interest in Barr and other third parties’ candidates, however, remains low.

Barr’s running mate is Wayne Allyn Root, a self-made businessman as well as an author and television producer. He is a graduate from Columbia University in 1983, with a degree in political science. He initiated his television career as an anchorman for the Financial News Network (now CNBC) and has experienced significant success in this sector. Since then, Wayne has developed and produced numerous television shows, many of which he himself hosted. In addition to his own shows, Wayne has been a guest on several network television talk shows, including stations like CNBC, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC.

Unlike the candidates from both major parties, Barr opposed the bailout bill, as proposed by the Bush administration in collaboration with U.S. Congress. He described this bill as a “bailout from hell,” and criticized it by saying that more government would not be the solution for this problem. The Libertarian Party blamed both parties for creating the financial crisis, by pointing to reports dating as far back as 1999, which all warned lawmakers for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s risky behavior.

“The Republican and Democratic parties are complicit,” Barr said, “not only in causing this problem through their bad policies, their bad legislation, but also in proposing this bogus solution for this problem.”

The Libertarian Party is one of the largest third parties in the United States, yet has had little to no success in its history and, as such, remains a minor party. The Republican Party and Democratic Party fear the Libertarians nonetheless, because this party may be able to convince some disgruntled voters to vote for them, and not for one of the two major parties. As a result, both parties fear that each and every third party may cost them the election; especially because American presidential elections are often decided by only a few percent.

Most research shows, however, that third parties generally tend to attract voters who would not vote if the choice were limited to Democrats and Republicans. Additionally, many third parties supporters argue, successful third parties may force the two major parties to take concerns among voters more serious.