Bob Barr Tries to Toss Obama and McCain Off of Texas Ballot

From the Department of Lawsuits That Don't Have a Chance:

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr has filed a lawsuit in Texas demanding John McCain and Barack Obama be removed from the ballot, saying they missed the official filing deadline.

Texas law requires that written certification of the party’s nominees be delivered before 5 p.m. of the 70th day before Election Day. This year, the deadline fell on Aug. 26.

Barr’s campaign contends that because neither candidate had been nominated by the official filing deadline, it was impossible for them to file under Texas law.

“The seriousness of this issue is self-evident,” reads the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday. “The hubris of the major parties has risen to such a level that they do not believe that the election laws of the State of Texas apply to them.”

Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, is expected to press his case Thursday at the Texas Supreme Court. It is the campaign’s first legal action accusing the major-party candidates of not qualifying to run in a state. The campaign is not planning to file lawsuits in other states, a Barr spokesman said.

Neither Obama nor McCain’s campaign would comment on the suit, but the office of Texas Secretary of State Esperanza “Hope” Andrade said it certified the Nov. 4 general election ballot on Sept. 3.

“We are confident that the ballot was certified properly and that Texans will have the opportunity to select the qualified candidate of their choice,” Andrade spokeswoman Ashley Burton said in a written statement to FOXNews.com.

Based on previous lawsuits in similar situations around the country (remember Minnesota and New Jersey in 2002?), there's very little chance that the court would rule that the two major party candidates could not be on the state ballot just because their conventions fell within the 70 day deadline. The nomination at the convention is merely a formality with both nominees having been confirmed for months.

Nice try, Bob, but you won't be getting Texas' electoral votes. Those will be going to McCain.