“The argument over gay marriage, like many arguments in America, has been falsely presented as a single, binary issue: one is either for or against legalizing gay marriage.

On one side of the dichotomy are the “social conservatives” who believe that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman, and that the law should reflect that reality.

On the other side are gay marriage proponents, who believe that two people of the same gender have every right to disagree with social conservatives about what marriage is, and that our nation’s laws should include their definition of marriage as well.

But one thing that pundits, activists, and politicians often fail to consider is that the legal debate over gay marriage is distinct from the philosophical debate.

Whatever your view of the nature of marriage, it is not necessary to legally force that view on the rest of us.

Instead of legalizing gay marriage, what if each state de-legalized straight marriage? Why after all, should the state define what many consider to be a private, religious question?”

Read the entire article here.

From the Rand Paul for Senate campaign:

Tonight at midnight, the last push of the campaign begins

Dear Patriot:

Our two day Money Bomb is this Thursday and Friday, August 19 and 20. I hope you’ll join your fellow Patriots and give our campaign the funds we need to put our message on the air in the coming weeks.

You’ve seen how the drive-by media misquotes, distorts, and outright lies about my views.

You know they can’t stand the thought of a U.S. Senator actually fighting for Liberty. They don’t understand our issues, our supporters or our mission.

But you do.

You’ve helped over the past year, and I hope you’ll help again in the next two days. So much is at stake, and there is so little time left in our race. Only 76 days remain until election day!

Please consider your maximum possible donation to our campaign. You can pledge HERE or go to http://www.randpaul2010.com/donate tomorrow.

The cause of Liberty can be greatly advanced in the coming months and years – with your help. Thank you for all you’ve done and, I hope, for your support tomorrow

In Liberty,

Rand Paul, MD

Additionally, please tune in tomorrow at 2pm Eastern to listen to a representative of the Republican Liberty Caucus on the Rand Paul Radio Marathon.

Republican Liberty Caucus chapters in at least nine states will be holding meetings in the coming month. They include:

Alabama: The Alabama RLC affiliate will hold a meeting in the coming weeks. Please contact Stephen Gordon for details.

Arizona: The Arizona RLC affiliate will hold a meeting in the coming weeks. Please contact Ken Rineer for details.

District of Columbia: DC Republican City Council candidates Jim DeMartino (Ward 6) and Tim Day (Ward (5) will present and answer questions at the RLC-DC meeting on Monday, August 30, along with Ward 1 School Board candidate Patrick Mara. The event will take place in the Community Room K at City Vista Condominiums (12th Floor), 475 K Street NW, equidistant from Gallery Place/Chinatown and Mount Vernon Square/Convention Center metros at 7pm. RSVP on Facebook.

Florida: The Florida RLC will have an outreach table, make a short presentation about the RLC and hold an informal RLC update and discussion get-together in conjunction with the Campaign for Liberty’s Summit at the Rosen Centre in Orlando. The informal RLC statewide meeting will be held at 12:30-1:30 pm on Saturday, August 12 at the RLC outreach booth at the Summit. Also, RLCers and friends who are not attending the Saturday night banquet are welcome to join us for dinner offsite, but nearby! Pick up the details at the RLC booth. See you there!

Indiana: The state RLC affiliate will hold its Convention at George’s Neighborhood Grill (6935 Lake Plaza Dr) in Indianapolis on Saturday, September 25. The keynote speaker will be Attorney General Greg Zoeller. RSVP on Facebook.

Maine: The Maine RLC will host its first annual Calvin Coolidge Clambake with John Fund of The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, August 26 in Portland. Learn more at http://www.rlc.org/2010/08/08/maine-rlc-hosts-clambake/.

New York: The RLC will host a kickoff meeting on Tuesday, August 17 at 7pm at the HOUNDSTOOTH PUB (520 8TH AVE – W37 St) in Manhattan. There will be a cash bar and free food. RSVP on Facebook.

Virginia: The Northern Virginia RLC will host a happy hour in Arlington in late August. Contact Mitchell Bemos for details. The Central Virginia RLC will host a meeting on Thursday, August 19 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Isis, Inc. (2727 Enterprise Pkwy, Suite 100) in Richmond, VA. This is the first meeting of the RLCCV following elections of chapter officers. RLCCV will discuss our goals with the RLC and welcome new members and all who are interested in becoming members of the RLCCV. Please RSVP by Thursday, 8/19 at 1pm. RSVP on Facebook.

Utah: An immigration debate hosted by the Utah RLC chapter will occur and will feature key policy leaders in the state. Exact date/location TBA. Contact Julian Babbitt for details.

Removed.

We haven’t done an updated map of how chapter development for the RLC is going since back in February of last year, so it’s high time we had a new map that gives a strong visual representation of how things are progressing. We’ve made a lot of progress in the last year, but we need to work on chartering unchartered states and developing contacts in the three states where we have no organization at all.

Let’s turn the whole map blue!

You can find information about your local chapter on our Chapters page.

Please be our guest at the first annual Calvin Coolidge Clambake. A banquet to celebrate the legacy of our great Laissez Faire President, Calvin Coolidge. President Coolidge once remarked that the business of America is business. While President, he cleaned up corruption in government left individuals and businesses alone leading to the great economic prosperity of the 1920s.

Our keynote speaker will be John Fund, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Fund is also a contributor to the Fox News Channel. Mr. Fund began his career in journalism after a stint as a policy analyst in the California State Legislature. He worked for syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak as their investigative reporter before joining The Wall Street Journal, where he has been deputy editorial features editor and a member of the Editorial Board.

John Fund is the author of three books: “Cleaning House: America’s Campaign for Term Limits,” “Regulation Through Litigation,” and “Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy.” This will be a very special and exciting evening to bring together advocates of small government and to raise some funds to help elect Maine Republican Liberty Caucus endorsed candidates to the Maine legislature.

Sincerely,

Ken Lindell
Maine Republican Liberty Caucus

First Annual Calvin Coolidge Clambake
Special guest and keynote speaker John Fund

Please join us for a lobster or steak dinner to celebrate a President who respected our constitution and loved liberty. .

Italian Heritage Center, Portland Maine
August 26th 2010 – 5:30PM
40 Westland Ave, Portland, Maine 04102

Please reserve your spot by clicking a link below:

* non-member Lobster dinner $50
* non-member Steak dinner $45
* RLC member Lobster dinner $35
* RLC member Steak dinner $30

Or send a check to: Maine RLC – PO Box 115 – Frankfort ME 04438

With momentum building in its campaign to bring common sense back to the State House, the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire endorsed 36 candidates after reviewing a second round of surveys submitted through the group’s website, http://www.rlcnh.org/survey.

The 36 include candidates for state senator, state representative and executive councilor. They join a coalition of 61 other Republicans already endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire.

“I am confident these leaders will work together once elected to bring common sense back to Concord,” said RLCNH Chairman Andrew Hemingway.

Thus far about one third of the 468 Republican state representative and state senator candidates have responded to the RLCNH candidate survey. The RLCNH board will continue to consider candidates who submit their surveys leading up to the primary and will announce new endorsements periodically.

The newly endorsed candidates include:

David Wheeler, Executive Council, District 5
Kyle Tasker, State Representative, Rockingham 1
Al Baldassaro (Incumbent), State Representative, Rockingham 3
Daniel Tamburello, State Representative, Rockingham 3
Donna Mauro, State Representative, Rockingham 4
Bob Fesh, State Representative, Rockingham 5
Steven Doyle, State Representative, Rockingham 13
Gary Wheaton, State Representative, Rockingham 14
Stephen B. Stepanek, State Representative, Hillsborough 6
Win Hutchinson, State Representative, Hillsborough 9
Muni Savyon, State Representative, Hillsborough 10
Shuvom Ghose, State Representative, Hillsborough 11
William Infantine, State Representative, Hillsborough 13
Jonathan Maltz, State Representative, Hillsborough 27
Lynne Ober (Incumbent), State Representative, Hillsborough 27
Andy Renzullo (Incumbent), State Representative, Hillsborough 27
Jordan Ulery (Incumbent), State Representative, Hillsborough 27
Tony Soltani, State Representative, Merrimack 8
Scott Spaulding, State Representative, Merrimack 8
Pamela Ean, State Representative, Merrimack 12
Garret Ean, State Representative, Merrimack 12
Bob Greemore, State Representative, Belknapp 3
Colette Worsman, State Representative, Belknapp 3
Greg Sorg (Incumbent), State Representative, Grafton 3
Charles E. Sova, State Representative, Grafton 10
Evelyn Logan, State Representative, Strafford 1
Carol Vita, State Representative, Strafford 3
David L. Mincin, State Representative, Strafford 3
Christopher Buck, State Representative, Strafford 4
David Childs, State Representative, Strafford 7
Tony Blane Wilson, Sr., State Representative, Sullivan 4
Thomas W. Laware, State Representative, Sullivan 5

Wyoming’s Ron Paul — State Senator Cale Case — was recently interviewed by Michael W. Dean, Wyoming RLC Coordinator.

“I think rights belong to everybody. I don’t necessary have to exercise my rights, like on guns; however I know that I can. But it’s important that everyone be able to exercise their rights,” according to Senator Case. He also talks about Wyoming, gun rights, the economy, homeschooling, the wind tax, marijuana, and the role of government.

Click here to listen to the interview.

Several of our endorsed Republican Liberty Caucus candidates succeeded in their primaries last night.

Justin Amash (pictured), 30, a one-term State Representative, won the primary in Michigan’s 3rd District. He will likely be elected to Congress this fall considering how Republican the Grand Rapids district is. Amash will replace moderate Vernon Ehlers as a new voice for transparency and limited government.

In Missouri, RLC endorsed candidate Robyn Hamlin won her primary to become the Republican nominee against longtime Congressman Lacy Clay (D) in an urban St. Louis district. Unfortunately, the district is heavily Democrat.

RLC endorsed State Senate candidate Brian Nieves has defeated two opponents in his bid to win an open Senate seat in Missouri. Nieves has a long history of electoral success and was the immediate past Majority Whip in the Missouri House of Representatives. He will likely win this fall due to district demographics.

In Michigan, RLC endorsed candidate Arlan Meekhof, a current member of the Michigan legislature, defeated his opponent in a bid for State Senate. It is a Republican district so Meekhof will likely win this fall.

Other successful Missouri RLC endorsed candidates included incumbent State Representatives Tim W. Jones and Shane Schoeller. Additionally, Paul Curtman was unopposed in his bid to become State Representative in District 105.

Other successful Michigan candidates included Lori Levi (pictured), State Representative, District 21 and incumbent RLC legislator Bob Genetski, District 88.

Two other Michigan RLC candidates were unopposed in the primary: Bret Allen, State Representative, District 29 and Chase Ingersoll, State Representative, District 53.

A very important victory also occurred on Missouri’s ballot initiative, in which voters approved Proposition C. 71 percent of voters supported a law banning the government from forcing residents to buy health insurance. Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma have similar ballot initiatives that will appear later this fall on ballots in those states.

Congratulations to all of our RLC candidates and to Missouri voters for passing Proposition C.