The Georgia RLC hosted a strategy session on Saturday, December 5. Members discussed the future of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia. Like-minded individuals weighed whether the RLCGA should focus more on Georgia or on federal issues, with consensus being Georgia-focused. Dialogues were given on how to bring about the proper change within the state, including the methods. Endorsements of candidates and legislation are the short-term goals for the RLCGA. This upcoming Session is a crucial one in Georgia and the RLCGA will be active in promoting pro-liberty legislation while attacking anti-liberty legislation.

Below are the minutes of the Convention portion of the meeting:

Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia
Convention
December 5, 2009
Varner’s Tavern, Smyrna, GA

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Chris Farris at 2:40 PM.

Nathan Smith was nominated and elected as Convention Secretary.

Chairman Farris credentialed all of the delegates to the Convention.

There was a motion and a second on the approval of the Convention Agenda.

Chairman Farris proceeded with the election of officers for the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia. The floor was open to the nomination of the Chairman. Tyler Burgess was nominated. With no further nominations, the floor was closed. The floor was open to the nomination of Vice-Chairman. Todd Pull was nominated. With no further nominations, the floor was closed. The floor was open to the nomination of Secretary. Nathan Smith was nominated. With no further nominations, the floor was closed. The floor was open to the nomination of Treasurer. Chris Farris was nominated. With no further nominations, the floor was closed. The floor was then open to the nomination of five board members at-large. Ben Brandon, Jason Shepherd, Travis Bowden, Doug Deal, and Jason Thompson were nominated. With no further nominations, the floor was closed.

A motion, without objection, was made to elected said nominees to their respective offices by acclamation. There were no objections and the nominees were duly elected.

With no further business to come before the Convention, the Convention was adjourned at 3:00 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Nathan A. Smith

Convention Secretary

Elected Officers:

Chairman- Tyler Burgess

Vice-Chairman- Todd Pull

Secretary- Nathan Smith

Treasurer- Chris Farris

Board Members At-Large:

Ben Brandon

Jason Shepherd

Travis Bowden

Doug Deal

Jason Thompson

On Saturday, December 5 at 1pm, members of the Georgia RLC will meet to elect new officers and map out a strategy for 2010 and beyond.

The event is taking place in Smyrna at Varner’s Tavern (725 Concord Rd.). RSVP at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=176508476860.

It’s still early to be thinking about 2010 elections, but the Republican Liberty Caucus National Board has approved several endorsements for 2010 already.

Liberty fans across the country will be pleased to note that the RLC endorsed Rand Paul in his bid to become U.S. Senator in Kentucky, and Peter Schiff in his bid to represent Connecticut in the Senate.

The RLC has also endorsed Jason Shepherd for State Representative in Georgia, Shane Schoeller (Incumbent) for State Representative in Missouri, and Bill Hunt for Orange County Sheriff in California.

Our endorsements process has just begun, so please stay tuned for more endorsements of worthwhile, liberty-loving candidates. In 2008, the RLC endorsed over 220 pro-freedom candidates, many of whom were inspired to run as a result of RLC Advisory Board member Ron Paul’s 2008 Presidential bid.

RLC members will be working to help all of the above candidates succeed. Our Connecticut and Kentucky chapters are in the process of chartering, which we believe will be tremendous assets to the Paul and Schiff campaigns as we head into 2010.

In Sunday’s edition of The DC Writeup — a web news journal for politically motivated young adults, author Kelse Moen, a recent Emory graduate, wrote about the need for the Republican Party to focus on principles and issues. Writes Moen:

GOP Needs to Focus on Principles, Not Twitter
by Kelse Moen

It’s tough to say who is the most absurd U.S. Senator, but my vote goes to Republican Chuck Grassley, the senior senator from Iowa. The seventy-five-year-old Grassley, you see, has discovered Twitter, and now lonely College Republicans all across the country can tune in for daily bits of wisdom like this:

“End of life debate is deliberate atempt to focus attention away fr cost of Pelosi bill. Instead shld focus on lowering cost of health delivry.”

Of course, Grassley’s rapier wit is not limited to legislative topics. In another “tweet,” picked up by NPR, he fired a hefty salvo at President Barack Obama. “Pres Obama,” twote Grassley, “you got nerve while u sightseeing in Paris to tell us ‘time to deliver’ on health care. We still on skedul/even workinWKEND.”

Grassley is no Daniel Webster — but neither are any of the other 99 senators. In 2009, one is more likely to find a spark of intelligence among 100 people randomly grabbed off the street than in the Senate cloakroom. But Grassley’s Twitter page is bad even by senatorial standards. I don’t think it is any exaggeration to call it one of the most pointless, inane things to be created by a senator since Meghan McCain.

Grassley’s Twitter page, like Meghan McCain’s career as a political pundit, is driven by the belief that Republicans have been losing elections lately because they haven’t been able to connect with young people, and that all they need to do to win is become hipper and more technologically savvy. This is the mentality that led the GOP to counter Barack Obama’s presidential victory by finding a black man of their own and putting him in charge of their party. It’s what leads to videos like this and to Meghan McCain’s schoolgirl blather about which Republican congressman is the hottest.

This is a harmful mentality to have. It totally bypasses introspection by assuming that the Republicans’ downfall was started by sins of omission, rather than sins of commission, and thus avoids the important lessons that Republicans should have learned from their defeat. In reality, the GOP hasn’t lost the last two elections because they failed to harness the power of Facebook and Youtube, or because the party hasn’t reached out to the hip hop culture, to paraphrase RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

The GOP needs to look at the principles of the Bush years — big government, perpetual war, big business favoritism — and ask whether those are principles worth defending. I hope that the party big wigs realize that they are not, and will return to the creed of the Taftite Old Right, of limited government, anti-imperialism, and traditional morality — in a word, anti-statism.

The political candidates who have gained positive momentum in recent years — Barack Obama, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin — did so because people saw them, rightly or wrongly, as new and interesting. These candidates weren’t hung up on being cool. In fact, Palin’s populism and Paul’s constitutionalism are, by most contemporary standards, decidedly uncool. But those candidates were genuine, unlike Grassley.

Some might say that the tide is already turning on the Democrats, that recent polls, increasingly favorable to Republicans, show that the whole “death of the Republican Party” line was hugely premature. But even if the Republicans do beat Obama in 2012, so what? Victory would come by default, the result of the president’s failures, not of the Republicans’ popularity. We can have a President Gingrich who bombs and bails just as much as Bush did, while government continues to grow. In that case, who cares whether there’s a Republican or a Democrat in the Oval Office?

Republicans need to realize that their failure was substantive, rather than aesthetic, and that it is their substance, not their aesthetics, that they need to change. But don’t count on them recognizing that. As Chuck Grassley might say, “OMG were so screwd.”

The Executive Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia has endorsed the following measures currently under consideration in the Georgia General Assembly.

•We OPPOSE HB277, SB39, and SR44 – These measures will levy a 1 percent sales tax, statewide or regionally, for specified transportation projects. The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia stands with Governor Perdue (not often we’ve said that) in unequivocally opposing any increases in transportation taxes until the DOT is reformed so that the money is not wasted;

•We OPPOSE HB 160 – Governor Perdue’s “super speeder” bill to boost fines $200 for drivers exceeding 85 mph on Interstate highways and 75 on other roads. This measure is meant to fund “Trauma Care”. While arguable a worthy effort, the RLC-GA opposes the direct funding of any government services through fines or “sin taxes”.

•We SUPPORT HB480 and 481 – JOBS Act to cut taxes on businesses looking to hire workers and relocate to Georgia.

•We Support Senate Bill 1 - Zero-based Budgeting which will require the General Assembly to review all spending every four years.

Senate Bill 1 is sponsored by Georgia RLC Adviser Senator David Shafer of Gwinnett County.  Sen. Shafer has been allied with the RLC since he was first elected in 2002.  Next year he intends to run for Lt. Governor.

Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss is an unlikely hero for the Republican party, with a record which has just enough questionable votes on key issues to make religious conservatives nervous, but not enough strong positions on civil liberties issues to make libertarian Republicans entirely happy with him. He’s often dismissed unfairly as a moderate, despite a record of fiscal and social issue conservatism. All of that was forgotten, when a very close election in Georgia put Chambliss in a runoff for what could have been the 60th Senate seat which would have given Democrats a filibuster-proof majority, reducing Senate Republicans to near-irrelevance.

Chambliss ended up in a runoff largely because of Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley, who drew 3.41% of the vote, more than enough to push Chambliss from 49.75% to well over 50% and victory. Chambliss sought support from the Libertarian Party of Georgia in the runoff, but when it was not forthcoming he was able to get backing from libertarian Republican groups to win over libertarians and libertarian Republican voters. Although he did not get their endorsement in the original election, the combination of his fiscally conservative record and the importance of keeping total control of the House out of the hands of Democrats helped convince the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia to endorse Chambliss, and when he agreed to sign their Liberty Compact, the national RLC threw their support behind Chambliss as well.

That extra bit of support from the RLC won over many libertarians, and their votes along with some votes from independents who had previously voted for Chambliss’ oponnent Jim Martin, were enough to give Chambliss a comfortable 57% to 43% win in the runoff election on Tuesday, sending him back to Washington with a strong reminder that a lot of voters in Georgia and around the nation would like to see him focus more on fiscal conservatism and defending civil liberties in his next term.

The Chambliss victory prevents a Democratic super-majority in the Senate, but it still remains to be seen what the final breakdown of seats will be, as the disposition of the Minnesota seat held by Norm Coleman remains unresolved. Coleman’s apparent victory on election day is being whittled away by challenges and demands for precinct by precinct recounts from the campaign of comedian Al Franken who has brought in election strategist Mark Elias to mastermind what the Wall Street Journal has described as a blatant campaign to “steal the election if they can get away with it.” Coleman’s initial lead has been reduced to only about 200 votes through the machinations of Democratic operatives on election commissions and techniques like recounting so-called “undervotes” on the dubious theory that ballots with votes for Obama and no vote in the Senate race must have been meant to be Franken votes.

In the end the Minnesota Senate seat will probably be assigned by the courts – likely the Supreme Court itself – and their selection won’t be known until after the holidays. The comparison between these two elections, where third-party candidates made a clear majority impossible, shows the appeal of runoff systems. If the Minnesota vote had been followed by a runoff with the 15% of the vote which went to Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley up for grabs, the opportunities for fraud and manipulation would be reduced, the result would almost certainly not have been as close and they would not be struggling over which candidate who got less than 40% of the total votes to send to the Senate.

For now, battered and bruised Republicans can rest a little bit easier knowing that with the Chambliss victory they will have at least some voice in the Senate if they have the backbone and stamina to filibuster on important votes.

Florida RLC Update

Term limits advocate Tom Rooney picked up a Congressional seat (CD 16), replacing incumbent Tim Mahoney in a district still referred to as “Mark Foley’s old seat.” Meanwhile, Rep. Tom Feeney of Orlando (CD 24) lost his Congressional seat.

In the Florida legislature, two of the five RLC-endorsed candidates won their seats: Rich Workman (D30) and Lake Ray (D17). Thanks to Sarah Lovett, Dean Santoro and Matt Caldwell for flying the limited government flag in their first, but hopefully not last, electoral efforts.

RLCer Bruce Reichert won a non-partisan seat on the Collier County Soil & Water Board, as did Jeff Hunt in Duval County. Hunt is not an RLCer, but is the right-hand man of RLCer Adam Guillette, the Florida director of Americans for Prosperity.

Georgia RLC Update

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia needs volunteers! We need liberty oriented folks to step up to the plate and assist the RLC in the following areas:

- Membership renewal and growth
- Writing articles and sending out newsletters
- Legislative coordinator: track legislation in the General Assembly and advise the membership on key votes
- Start a local RLC chapter in your area

If you’re interested in helping out, e-mail chair@gopliberty.org.

Minnesota RLC Update

RLC Minnesota Secretary Norann Dillon penned a beautiful letter in The Woodbury Bulletin on October 29 in response to a letter from a reader that mischaracterized the Republican Liberty Caucus. Norann also offered the following update to RLCMN subscribers:

“RLCMN sent out almost 150 Liberty Compacts to the endorsed Republican candidates in the state. They had to read it and realize there are people who want them to stand for its principles. We received 39 of them back, signed. We’ve received radio mentions by Jason Lewis; we had successful outreach at the Sept. 20 Conservative Issues Fair; Sue Jeffers featured our candidates on her radio show when they called from the Oct. 4th pork chop dinner; we received some press when Kathy Lohmer, candidate in 56A, mentioned our endorsement in a debate, and in the follow up letters to The Woodbury Bulletin.

Additionally, our eGroup has grown from about 170 members in the summer to almost 200 members today. We are creating an identity for ourselves with a RLCMN e-mail address, permanent address, and a bank account (with a positive balance!).

I think this is all significant when you consider that only a handful of people have done this. Imagine where we could go if all 200 of our subscribers found a way to apply themselves. The Executive Committee will meet this month to consider where we should direct our energies next.

RLCMN has six standing committees and three special directors. Which of these should we focus on: website? local chapters? outreach? position papers? membership? coalition building? We are poised and planning for growth. What do you think we should do? I invite and encourage discussion on our direction.

If you have skills, talents or interests that you can offer, please direct them to rlcminn@gmail.com.

I’m excited for our organization. I look forward to reading your thoughts on our future.”

A good number of RLC-endorsed candidates advanced through their primaries and on to the general elections in 2008, in what could be considered a breakout year for libertarian Republicans.  A listing of all of the RLC’s candidates is available here.

Each of the below candidates endorsed by the RLC ended up advancing in their respective primary race.  Congratulations!

• Alaska: Lt. Governor Sean Parnell, who was endorsed by the RLC, looks likely to lose in his race against Don Young. Both men are vying to represent Alaskans in Congress. Even if Parnell does lose, he will remain Lt. Governor. If McCain-Palin are successful in November, he will become Governor.

• Arizona: Sydney Hay, who is currently the underdog to replace Rick Renzi in Arizona’s First Congressional District. Hay received a donation from the Republican Liberty Caucus PAC.

• Colorado: George Lilly, who was inspired to run for Congress by Ron Paul.  Lilly is running in District 1 and is not favored to win the race due to district demographics.

• Florida: Ritch Workman, who is running for State Representative in District 30.

• Georgia: Dr. Paul Broun, who won his first campaign for Congress in 2007 and then faced a challenge from the establishment GOP in 2008.  Additionally, incumbent State Senator Jeff Chapman and State Representative Steve Davis, both RLC-endorsed, fended off challengers.

• Idaho: Elizabeth Allan Hodge, a former State Representative, won the GOP primary for State Representative in district 16B.

• Indiana: GOP challenger Bill Johnson narrowly lost his primary for State Representative in District 19.  However, in a victory for the RLC, the GOP challenger dropped out of the race for personal reasons and the county GOP decided that Johnson would be the ideal replacement.

• Maryland: The RLC has endorsed several victorious primary challengers in Maryland, including Richard Matthews (CD 02), Peter James (CD 04), Collins Bailey (CD 05), Roscoe Bartlett (CD 06), and Dr. Michael Hargadon (CD 07).  Unfortunately, all of the challengers are likely to lose due to district demographics.  Rep. Roscoe Bartlett is likely to retain his seat.

• Michigan: Three RLC candidates were victorious in their primaries in Michigan, including Justin Amash for State Representative (District 72), Bob Genetski for State Representative (District 88), and Tyler Whitney for Bash Township Trustee.

• Montana: RLC-endorsed candidates Greg Hinkle and Mike Miller won their races for State Senate and State Representative, respectively.

• Nevada: Kris Pickering won her primary for State Supreme Court and up-and-coming GOP rock star Lindsay Nicole Madsen won a tough primary for State Senate in District 7.

• North Carolina: Dr. B.J. Lawson won his primary and will face incumbent David Price for U.S. Congress, District 4.

• Oregon: Delia Lopez won her primary in Oregon, District 3 and will face veteran Earl Blumenauer in November.

• Texas: Dr. Ron Paul won his primary in Congressional District 14 and will return to Congress come January.

• Washington: Michael Delavar won his primary against an establishment GOP candidate in Congressional District 3. He will face incumbent Democrat Brian Baird in November.

• West Virginia: Edward R. Burgress, the RLC contact for West Virginia, won his primary in District 30 (St. Albans) for the House of Delegates. Seven individuals, all of them currently Democrats, represent this large district.

Although it looks like it will be a bad year for Republicans as a whole, GOP candidates advocating for limited government (and meaning it!) are going to do well in 2008, just as they did in 2006. (The only RLC-friendly member of Congress who lost in 2006 was Arizona’s J.D. Hayworth.)

In Virginia, the state RLC’s favorite legislator, Ken Cuccinelli, is running for Attorney General in 2009. He will face another Republican in the state primary, but he is the favorite to win both the primary and general election. Senator Cuccinelli addressed the newly chartered Virginia RLC earlier this year:

In Georgia, things are looking good for 2010. If Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, who the RLC has supported for years, jumps into the race for Governor, then the RLC’s leader in the State Senate, David Shafer, has a real opportunity to become Lt. Governor.

Georgia Senator David Shafer.

In Missouri, State Treasurer Sarah Steelman is facing an uphill fight against establishment Congressman Kenny Hulshof in the open gubernatorial race. Steelman is favored by RLC members for her no-nonsense, common sense approach to the issues. Ron Paul supporters are even planning a Money Bomb for Steelman. Treasurer Steelman also attended the Ron Paul Freedom Rally in Branson earlier this year. Roy Blunt, predictably, has endorsed her opponent, Kenny Hulshof.

Sarah Steelman

Finally, the RLC is thankful for its current incumbent Governors, Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Sarah Palin of Alaska. Although not perfect, these state leaders have shown independence from the GOP establishment and have the chutzpah to make real inroads toward returning the GOP to its small government heritage.

Sarah Palin

Of course, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention our heroes of past, namely former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld.

While Governor of Massachusetts, Bill Weld ended the state’s borrowing, controlled Medicaid spending, reduced property taxes and balanced seven budgets in a row while passing 19 tax cuts and never raising taxes. He was elected during a tumultuous time when the state’s bond rating was near junk status, unemployment was nearly 10%, and the state had continuously borrowed money to close large operating deficits.

According to The Augusta Chronicle, in his second election in little more than a year, Paul Broun easily fended off state Rep. Barry Fleming during yesterday’s primary in Georgia, district 10. Broun was endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus.

During his grassroots campaign, Dr. Broun said he believed early on in the race he could win with big numbers. In his home county, Broun’s opponent, former State Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, failed to edge out Dr. Broun, R-Watkinsville, who won 58 percent of the more than 13,000 Republican ballots cast.

At last count, Mr. Fleming lost in each county of the 21-county district. Overall, Dr. Broun won nearly 43,000 to about 18,000 of the Republican vote in the 10th District, with most precincts reporting. “I think I had the message for the times,” Dr. Broun said. “We have to make some changes in Washington. We cannot continue to leverage our grandchildren’s future.”

In his previous run, Dr. Broun defeated Columbia County resident and former state Sen. Jim Whitehead in a July 2007 runoff election, decided by fewer than 400 votes, to replace the late Charlie Norwood. Broun will face a Democrat in November, but is now in the “safe” category.

Paul Broun is committed to protecting constitutional rights. He applies a four-way test before voting on legislation, including:

1) Is it Moral / Right?
2) Is it Constitutional?
3) Is it Necessary?
4) Is it Affordable?

Congratulations to Paul Broun and the voters in his district.