The boisterous Maine Republican Convention finally adjourned late Sunday night with a clean sweep for Liberty Republicans.

The Ron Paul slate won 20 of the 24 national convention delegates and all of the alternates, plus new pro-liberty RNC representatives who also sit as delegates to the national convention, leaving sitting Maine GOP Chairman Webster as the only sure Romney delegate and Maine Governor Paul LePage as an additional delegate who may vote with the liberty faction. Of course, The Establishment raised enough procedural issues to create potential roadblocks and is threatening to challenge the entire delegation.

At one point, the Executive Committee of the current Maine State Committee was seen in a break room around a table on a conference call trying to get the RNC to declare the Maine convention invalid. On Saturday, as the trend was evident, Romney’s top lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg was flown into Augusta Municipal Airport by private plane to advise The Establishment on the convention floor. The Portland Press Herald caught a photo of him in action trying to influence proceedings at the convention.

Youth was brought into the party with the election of young Paul supporters as National Committeeman and National Committeewoman. The National Committeewoman-elect Ashley Ryan will become the youngest member of the RNC and she has expressed interest in Republican Liberty Caucus.

Liberty Republicans, including at least eight RLC members, swept State Committee seats and, unless challenged by The Establishment lawyers, look to have a majority or better for control. The State Chair Charles Webster, who declared war on libertarians, is up for election in December.

Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage has been friendly to libertarians and was supported as a delegate on the liberty slate. He was endorsed by Maine Republican Liberty Caucus in the seven-way primary before his election.

The old guard Establishment remains the Legislative leadership, many of whom led the procedural challenges which caused the convention to run late. Several expressed open hostility to the Paul movement, libertarians and two to the RLC specifically. State Rep. Aaron Libby, who is friendly to RLC, did endorse Paul last February but is the only GOP legislator to be public.

The Maine RLC booth was extremely successful in terms of both new memberships and revenues from sales of my book and the wing-nut teeshirts, which were worn all over the convention floor by the young Paul enthusiaists.

The only drawback was an incomplete Maine RLC State Convention. We were able to convene with a quorum long enough to elect officers. Ken Lindell was reelected Chair, Vic Berardelli was re-elected vice chair, Tim McClure is secretary, Jeffrey Ellis is treasurer. Board members are David Brooks, Ken Anderson and Michelle Anderson. We were about to get into endorsement review when our “courier” said they cut short candidate speeches and were about to conduct voting business on the main convention floor. With the Romney challenges and the late hour, we were unable to muster a quorum to reconvene and will have to conclude our RLC business at a later date.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2012 CONTACT: Chairman Dave Nalle at 512-656-8011 or chairman@rlc.org Republican Liberty Caucus Endorses 3 More Great Congressional Candidates in Texas GOP Primary These Candidates Are Dedicated to Returning the Republican Party to the Principles of Limited Government and Individual Liberty AUSTIN, TX  – The National Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus is pleased to endorse three more exceptional candidates in the Texas Republican primary.  Eddie Traylor (CD10), Grant Stinchfield (CD24) and Steve Stockman (CD36) stand out among a field of excellent candidates in Texas this year and were chosen for early endorsement because of their dedication to constitutionally limited government, individual liberty and free enterprise.  They are more great assets to add to a growing slate of extraordinary Liberty Republican candidates in Texas this year. “Voters in Texas are starting to realize that our nation cannot survive when both parties allow government to grow out of control at the cost of our liberties,” said RLC National Chairman Dave Nalle.  “These candidates represent the new direction of American politics and the best traditions of the Republican Party.  They have personal integrity, a dedication to the best interests of the people and a firm belief in responsible government.  They are exactly the kind of representatives we need to send to DC to work with our 2010 endorsees like Justin Amash (MI) and Rand Paul (KY) to put our government back on track” Eddie Traylor has an distinguished military background and was selected by the grassroots process developed here in Texas by GOOOH.  Grant Stinchfield has a background in media and business and has a burning desire to bring a platform of real reform to Congress.  Former Congressman Steve Stockman is finally heeding the call to return to politics.  He has been on the RLC board of advisers for many years and now we have great hopes that he’ll return to DC to finish the work which was left undone when he held office back in the 1990s. In 1774 John Adams wrote that the revolution had been completed “in the minds of the people” before conflict ever broke out, and we believe that a similar revolution in attitude is taking place in the United States today. Following on the election of more than two-dozen RLC endorsees to the House and Senate in 2010, the RLC has set a goal of doubling that number in the 2012 election. With a larger core of newly elected, principled representatives in Washington we can move away from the big government status quo and towards putting the rights and interests of the people first. The people of Texas are no longer content to sit idly by and accept the dictates of out of control government in Washington, DC. We are demanding better service and real accountability, and if we do not get it we will keep voting complacent and unresponsive office holders out until they get the message ### These candidates were selected based on their answers to questions on our candidate survey and at the recommendation of the Texas chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus.  Further endorsements in state and federal races in Texas are expected in the coming months. More information on the Eddie Traylor campaign can be found at http://www.traylor.goooh.com More information on the Grant Stinchfield campaign can be found at http://www.grantstinchfield.com/ More information on the Steve Stockman campaign can be found at http://www.friendsofstevestockman.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 15, 2012 CONTACT: National Chairman Dave Nalle at 512-656-8011 or chairman@rlc.org or Nebraska State RLC Chair Laura Ebke at 402-540-6510 or lauraebke@rlcne.org Republican Liberty Caucus Endorses Patrick Flynn in U.S. Senate Race Pat Flynn Can Play a Big Role in Restoring Popular and Constitutional Government for the People of Nebraska  AUSTIN, TX/CRETE, NE – The National Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus, along with the State Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Nebraska, is pleased to announce the endorsement of Pat Flynn in the Republican primary for Nebraska’s U.S. Senate race. Flynn is an outstanding candidate who represents the principles of limited government and individual liberty to which the Republican Liberty Caucus is dedicated. “Voters in Nebraska are starting to realize that our nation cannot survive when both parties promote more government at the cost of our liberties,” said RLC National Chairman Dave Nalle. “Pat Flynn represents the new direction of American politics, with personal integrity, a dedication to the best interests of the people and a firm belief in constitutionally limited government. He is exactly the kind of Senator we need to send to DC to put our government back on track.” “Although all four of the major Republican candidates for the Senate claim to be solidly conservative, and that they will be true to the principles of our Constitution, Pat Flynn’s lack of political experience was appealing for our membership. The fact that he has never served in political office before makes us believe that, if elected, he will go to Washington with the can-do attitude of the successful business man he is, rather than playing political games,” said RLC Nebraska Chair, Laura Ebke. “We seem to get largely the same results every time we elect someone who has a long history of serving in political office, so maybe it’s time to start electing people who haven’t been tainted by the experience of having been elected. It’s not that the other candidates are bad—it’s merely that they’ve all been elected and re-elected to state level offices, and have served for at least 8 years—something which makes them inherently a part of the political culture which continues to spend our country into ever more debt,” added Ebke. The Republican Liberty caucus endorsed over 2 dozen members of the U.S. House and Senate who were elected in 2010. Most notable, Senators Mike Lee of Utah, and Rand Paul of Kentucky, represent the non-career politician type of candidate that the RLC believes is important at this point in our history. “Pat Flynn would be a valuable addition to the Senate, and could be depended upon to remain faithful to the Constitution. Anyone who is willing to sell his business—as Pat has—in order to run for the Senate certainly must have the fortitude to stand strong on principle, and resist the temptations of the interest groups who try to have every senator’s ear,” said Ebke. ### More information on the Pat Flynn campaign can be found at http://patflynnforsenate.org.

Every two years the Texas Republican Party has a chance to redefine itself when delegates vote on a new version of its platform at its state convention. The system by which the contents of the platform comes together is a messy organic one which ought to represent a political snapshot of the party, but in recent years it has been hijacked by vocal special interests, producing a platform which is an embarrassment to the party and its members.

The platform originates at the grassroots of the party where delegates in every county submit resolutions which go through a committee at their local senatorial district convention which assembles a draft slate of resolutions which are then voted on by the convention and passed on, along with the 49 similar bundles of resolutions, to another committee at the state level. This committee takes all those resolutions and boils them down to make a party platform which is voted on by the delegates at the state convention who usually don’t even have the time to read them.

This sounds like a great example of bottom-up grassroots politics, but there are a few problems with this sausage-factory process.

In fact, those “grassroots” resolutions mostly don’t really originate with common concerned citizens. Most of them are written by special interest groups which send them out in mass emailings to their constituents who then obediently submit them all over the state. So what they represent is not so much the interests of common Texans, but rather the interests of the most organized and motivated pressure groups with their volume cranked up to 11 by the internet. Quite often the groups which are most vocal are also the ones which are the most radical and farthest from the mainstream, while average party members are not as motivated or as organized in opposition.

Theoretically the committees on the district and state level are supposed to filter and edit the resolutions into something representative of the party, but they operate on the principle of not making any decisions which would offend anyone who can shout loudly enough to get attention. They are literally buried under paper and there is no one in a position to set limits or take a firm hand or just sit down and write a clear and coherent platform which represents the broad beliefs of the party. Instead they get frustrated and intimidated and just include the proposals of the most strident groups, producing a platform which is an amalgamation of the pet peeves of a bunch of fringe special interests.

This hasn’t always been the case. Through the 1970s many fewer resolutions were submitted and there was much less scrutiny of the process. The state-level committee was largely free to write a platform which it felt represented the best principles of the party based on their collective experience and good judgement. It was a less inclusive process, but it was more republican and more representative and produced a better result. Today’s platform is over 30 pages long with over 250 planks, but those old platforms were only a few pages long with 10 or 12 strong, general planks which everyone in the party could agree on.

It’s almost impossible to create a truly representative platform by including hundreds of specific positions. Only an approach based around general, shared principles can be truly representative. Mainstream party members are fed up with having the party represented by the ideas of its most extreme factions. It’s hard for candidates to run on a platform which includes many ideas which they don’t agree with and don’t want to be associated with, and it’s humiliating to be connected with a platform which is the target of jokes by late night comedians, attacks from partisan pundits and outraged editorials in the national and even international press.

A lot of the criticism focuses on the most obviously offensive things which consistently make their way into the platform, like the call to reinstitute the sodomy law which was struck down by the Supreme Court or the demand that creationism be taught in public schools. But there’s something in there to offend everyone, from banning suggestive TV ads for products like viagra, to taking away the parental rights of gay parents, to the most radical positions opposing immigration and free trade, to endorsements for various “New World Order” type conspiracy theories.

There has been an increase in organized opposition to the unappealing character of the platform. The Republican Liberty Caucus has put forward a slate of sensible resolutions on key issues which they hope will get enough support from the growing libertarian wing of the party to get included in place of some of the more offensive positions. Some grassroots Republicans are trying to introduce negative resolutions opposing some of the perennial rotten planks. Other groups are trying to convince the committees to scrap all the resolutions and just produce a short and simple platform based on core principles. The final option is to do what some other states have done when faced with this problem and introduce an alternative platform from the floor of the state convention, timing the move so that most of the delegates aren’t paying attention when it comes up for a vote.

The push for platform reform has never been stronger, but it will take a lot of effort and a lot of organization to overcome the stridency of fanatical single-issue activists. Texas Republicans deserve a platform which they can be proud of and which every Republican can stand by and support. The creation of a better platform is a real test of the maturity of the party. Can diversity be turned into strength, expressed as a platform of basic shared principles, or will the platform again represent the clamoring voices of extremism and factionalism which are tearing the party apart?

This article appeared in somewhat different form on Blogcritics.org

The Republican Liberty Caucus National Board issued this press release on Saturday the 18th:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 18, 2012 CONTACT: Chairman Dave Nalle at 512-656-8011 or chairman@rlc.org Maine Caucus a Failure in Leadership and a Lesson for Republicans Nationwide AUSTIN, TX – The Republican Liberty Caucus National Board met this week to address member concerns over the way in which the recent Maine presidential caucus was conducted.  The problems with this simple vote in a relatively small but important state casts light on issues which should be of concern to every Republican state party during this primary season. When a state party organization is responsible for conducting its own polling and counting votes it is enormously important that this work be done competently and be managed with appropriate diligence and a high level of responsibility.  In announcing results with incomplete data and admitted “clerical errors” Maine Republican Chairman Charles Webster did a disservice to the candidates, to his state party and to Republican voters.  Under pressure from the media and campaign organizations he rushed to action when he should have proceeded with caution and he has embarrassed his party and set a negative example for other state party leaders to learn from. William Westmiller, Data Analysis Specialist for the Republican Liberty Caucus, has examined the data from the Maine caucuses and concluded that “the candidate totals were all miscalculated, a dozen township totals were simply wrong, and the Romney margin over Paul was actually 154 votes, rather than the 194 reported.”  He reports that his impression “is that the person collecting the poll data had no knowledge of spreadsheet functions, took tallies from anyone who called, and overlooked email tallies that ended up in her/his spam folder.”  This indicates a failure in management of the caucus, which should have set clear and consistent procedures for collecting and processing results, for dealing with problems like weather delays and for managing the data competently to produce accurate results. “When the eyes of a nation are on your state you cannot afford to conduct a vote which is this amateurish,” said RLC National Chairman Dave Nalle.  “It is essential that party organizations be seen to be above and separate from the campaigns and avoid any appearance of picking favorites.  If all Republicans are expected to support the final nominee then that nominee must be the product of a process which is above reproach.  You cannot demand party loyalty from partisans who feel that their candidates and their votes were treated with disdain and disrespect and you cannot expect them to accept the results of an election which was conducted in a sloppy and incompetent manner.  Chairman Webster’s failure as a leader and an organizer is an insult to Republican voters and activists nationwide.” Chairman Webster was under no obligation to announce incomplete and incorrect results as early as he did.  State law and party rules would have permitted him to wait until he could make sure that the results were correct.  This was already a multi-week caucus process.  A delay of a few days or even a week would have done far less harm than rushing to a flawed and controversial announcement which has stirred up resentment and hostility between the supporters of different candidates in the primary. We are all Republicans.  We share common values.  We believe in a constitutionally limited government where all voices are heard and none are excluded or given special privilege.  We are a party of principles and those principles suffer when party leaders take actions which reflect badly on the party whether out of expediency, partisanship, ambition or simple negligence.  As Republicans we should demand a higher standard of conduct from our party leaders and party organizations.  We should all take a lesson from the scandal in Maine and guard against any repetition in other states. — Foinded in 1991, the Republican Liberty Caucus is a nationwide grassroots organization which promotes individual liberty and limited government within the Republican Party.   You can find more about the Republican Liberty Caucus at www.rlc.org

An excellent and in-depth interview with Carolyn McKinney, Chair of the RLC of New Hampshire from Saturday. Good material here for other state chapters to pay attention to. And chapter leaders should remember that they should be prepared for an opportnity like this if it comes their way during the election cycle.

CONCORD, N.H.–To bolster Republicans’ progress toward responsible government in the House of Representatives, the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire is endorsing David Simpson for state representative in a Hillsborough District 3 special election on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

Simpson, who is running for a vacant House seat representing the towns of Peterborough, New Ipswich, Sharon and Greenville, would bring important experience to reinforce the already impressive efforts of the Republican majority in restoring the common sense principles of limited government, individual liberty, personal responsibility, free enterprise and adherence to the state and federal constitutions.

“The Republican majority has demonstrated that they are dedicated to bringing prosperity back to New Hampshire, and David Simpson will be a valuable addition to that effort,” said Andrew Hemingway, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire. “David’s experience, primarily in the areas of finance, budgets and small businesses, will be important as we continue to undo the economic damage wrought by years of Democrat control and public mismanagement.”

On his Web site, www.davidlsimpson.org, Simpson makes clear his commitment to improving the business climate in New Hampshire, which will lead to economic and job growth. He says he wants to work to protect the New Hampshire Advantage by maintaining a reasonable regulatory balance, making business tax rates more competitive and protecting individuals right to work free from union coercion.

“David Simpson will strengthen Republican efforts to restore common sense government in Concord,” said Hemingway. “He is unwavering in his commitment to the welfare and prosperity of our state, and he understands that the only way to get the state back on the path to prosperity is by returning to our legacy of responsible, honest and limited government.”

In general, endorsed RLCNH candidates are strong proponents of limited government, individual liberty, personal responsibility and free enterprise. They have shown their dedication to these ideals with their score on RLCNH’s 20-question candidate survey and their reputation among liberty activists. Endorsed candidates must score 80 percent or higher on the survey and they must have a strong character recognized by their peers.

For more information about David Simpson’s candidacy, please visit www.davidlsimpson.org.

Today, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Minnesota, a state affiliate of the Republican Liberty Caucus, announced endorsements for five members of the state Legislature who demonstrated their commitment to fiscal responsibility and smaller, more efficient government. "These freshmen members showed strength and poise as they faced unbelievable pressure to spend more money than the state would take in this biennium," said state RLC Chair Norann Dillon.  "It was not a popular position to take in the face of a state shutdown, but doing what's right and doing what's easy are not always the same thing." Founded in 1991, the Republican Liberty Caucus works to advance the principles of individual rights, limited government and free enterprise within the Republican Party.  The Minnesota Chapter was chartered in 2003. - 30 -

The Republican Liberty Caucus of West Virginia is holding two preliminary organizing events with the goal of getting chartered this fall. At these events they will be telling attendees about the RLC, handing out materials and recruiting members for the founding chapter.

Ron Paul 2012/RLC Meetup

Sunday, September 11 · 3:00pm – 6:00pm

South Charleston Public Library

312 Fourth Avenue

South Charleston, WV

Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=164042247006706

This meeting is  to organize and strategize for the Ron Paul primary campaign in WV. Additional information will be available about the Republican Liberty Caucus and working toward obtaining a charter for WV.

WV Liberty Club Pre-Lincoln/Reagan Dinner Get Together

Saturday, September 17 · 4:00pm – 7:30pm
Panera Bread
Town Center Mall
Charleston, WV

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154679567947851
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ronpaul-wv/events/31793622/

Come join us as we gather to socialize and discuss candidates who value liberty. Topics will include the upcoming special election, the GOP presidential primary, and the Republican Liberty Caucus. Great opportunity to network with other Republicans and independents from across the state who want big liberty and small government. Enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and good company before the big event!