Libertarian Candidate Bob Barr Wins Texas By Default?

It would appear as though Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr will win the state of Texas in the upcoming President candidate because the Democrats and the Republicans apparently failed to file the proper paperwork in the state to get their candidates on the ballot.

In a surprising development, it appears that scrappy little Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr may have essentially won the presidential election in Texas by default. It seems that the two major parties failed to file their candidate selections with the Secretary of State by the statutory deadline, with the result that by law they cannot appear on the ballot, even as write-ins. In a press release on Wednesday Barr’s campaign manager, Russell Verney said: “Unless the state of Texas violates its own election laws, Congressman Barr will be the only presidential candidate on the ballot…Texas law makes no exceptions for missing deadlines.”

The Barr campaign’s press release on the apparent snafu is here. Is this true? Who knows. Bob Barr, and the Libertarian Party (a nutty organization not to be confused with actual libertarianism), aren’t exactly sound and objective sources for information. But if it is true…what a blunder.
Texas has 34 electoral votes, the second most in the nation, and is as reliably Republican as they come (those electoral votes went to Republicans in each of the last four Presidential elections). Basically, Texas offsets the reliably liberal electoral college votes from California.
If McCain doesn’t have Texas he’s in big, big trouble.
Of course, this could just be a feint from the Barr campaign which is trying to get headlines. The Republican and Democrat conventions were held late this year, and the Secretary of State in Texas doesn’t have to certify candidate filings until eight days after the deadline, so I’m guessing both Obama and McCain will be on the ticket in Texas.
But you have to wonder why the parties cut it so close like this.