I think it's a fair to discuss the importance of the minor parties in this race. I'm certainly not looking for a quarrel. And, yes, minor parties (once they qualify) have a perfect right to run and the voters can and should decide whether to support one.
And I expect that if Barr didn't run the majority of his votes would have gone to McCain and if Nader didn't run the majority of his votes would have gone to Obama for a net gain with regard to McCain. Seems reasonable to me.
So, does anyone know anything further about the race in Missouri?