Unfortunately, since leaving his post in Congress, his views dramatically shifted toward Big Government, and he even reversed his previous civil liberties stance, saying “much of the USA PATRIOT Act is needed to help protect us in a dangerous age of stateless zealots and mindless violence.”

Although no longer a darling of the Republican Liberty Caucus or freedom-loving Americans, Otter has made the news this week for signing a bill passed by the Idaho House and Senate that would sue the federal government if the Obamacare (health care) proposal passes.

Says The Washington Post: “Idaho is leading the charge in a states-rights push to defeat a proposal in Congress that would require people to buy health insurance, a key piece of reforms being pushed by President Barack Obama. [Governor] Otter used a ceremony Wednesday afternoon to become the first governor to sign into law a measure requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government over any such insurance mandates. There’s similar legislation pending in 37 other states…”

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie has taken an important step toward consolidating bureaucratic agencies in that state: he formed a Privatization Task Force of five members to cut waste and abuse.

The members of the Task Force are Dick Zimmer, Todd Caliguire, Kathleen Davis, John Galandak and Dr. P. Kelly Hatfield. Former RLC Vice-Chairman Murray Sabrin praised the appointment of Galandak, saying

I have known John for 25 years, and we worked together for more than 20 years delivering the World of Free Enterprise program to public school children, primarily in Bergen County. John has the unique perspective of a business association trade leader who understands completely the strengths of the free enterprise system and how taxes, government spending and regulations undermine prosperity and job creation.

John should not be shy in advocating a massive downsizing of state government, and in keeping with sound free market principles, steep cuts in taxes and an overhaul of the regulatory climate in the Garden State.

In addition, John should also advocate for free enterprise education. He should call for teachers, principals, administrators, parents and other stakeholders to run local public schools. That means schools becoming nonprofit institutions, relying on tuition, fees, grants and other non-tax means to pay for all school costs.

Additionally, former Congressman Dick Zimmer, while far from perfect on the issues, was on the RLC Advisory Board while he was a member of Congress.

Politics is very circular. It’s good to see some familiar faces in the news this week.

The legislation would also forbid patients from growing their own marijuana and using it in public, and it would regulate the drug under the strict conditions used to track the distribution of medically prescribed opiates like Oxycontin and morphine.

New Jersey is poised to become the 14th state to permit medical marijuana use.

Republicans elected new Governors in New Jersey and Virginia. Neither of the candidates, Chris Christie or Bob McDonnell, was endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus, but we believe they will provide a better vision for their states than their respective opponents.

In Virginia, voters elected State Senator Ken Cuccinelli to the post of Attorney General. Cuccinelli is a social and fiscal conservative, and some RLC members have been offended by his social conservatism. Still, he seems to be one of the few politicians in the state that understands the concept of limited government, and has a voting record consistent with the RLC’s goals. His new position elevates Cuccinelli to one of the most high-level advocates of limited government in the country.

RLC members in Virginia worked hard to help Cuccinelli win the nomination for Attorney General, and many contributed to his campaign directly. Cuccinelli has said that he will not enforce laws he deems unconstitutional. In 2007, Cuccinelli took the time to drive several hours to address a small group of RLC members. View his speech to RLC members at YouTube.

In the RLC’s biggest victory of the night, RLC National Committeeman Dan Halloran was elected to the New York City Council in a Queens district that leans heavily Democrat. Halloran is also the state Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus in New York. He worked tirelessly to become elected and will join just four other Republicans on the 51-member City Council.

The RLC also had some other significant victories in New Jersey and New Hampshire. Incumbent Michael Patrick Carroll, who the RLC discovered earlier in the year, was re-elected to his New Jersey House seat. Perhaps the most successful liberty-oriented politician in the state, Michael Doherty, was elected to an open seat in the New Jersey State Senate. The RLC profiled Doherty in an earlier edition of our newsletter.

In the Granite State, Jim Forsythe led a team of liberty-loving Republicans that successfully helped three candidates obtain victory. Political newcomer Lynne Blankenbeker was elected in a special election to the New Hampshire House, and RLC members Phil Greazzo and Cameron DeJong were elected to Alderman and Selectman positions in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Several non-endorsed candidates with strong libertarian leanings were also successful on Election night, including Kim Rafferty, who was elected to the Birmingham City Council in Alabama, and Shaun Kenney, who was elected to a County Supervisor in Fluvanna County, Virginia. In Minnesota, RLC member Luther Stueland won a position on the Moorhead City Council and Patricia Barnum was elected to the West St. Paul ISD 127 School Board.  Additionally, Lisa Marie Coppoletta has advanced to a run-off in a race for San Marcos City Council in Texas.

Unfortunately, TABOR ballot initiatives — which would tie revenue increases to population and inflation growth to keep spending in check — were defeated by voters in Washington state and Maine. The gay marriage ballot initiative in Maine passed, overturning gay marriage in the state, while voters in Washington state chose to extend rights for gays and lesbians.

The nine victories for RLC-endorsed candidates this fall combined with the five spring victories (in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Texas) have resulted in a very successful off-year election for liberty-focused Republicans.

Congratulations are extended to all of the above candidates, our other endorsed candidates, our supporters, and the folks that helped our endorsed candidates succeed.

Complete RLC election results are available here.

This year’s regional conferences have occurred, thus far, in New York, Chicago, Phoenix/Tempe, and Austin. The RLC conducted outreach at three of the four seminars and had official speakers at two out of the four seminars.

I previously reported on the outreach at the first conference, which occurred on October 10. Two RLC supporters helped us table at that event, and two RLC representatives spoke. The most notable of the speakers was former National Board member Dr. Murray Sabrin, who was a contender for U.S. Senate in 2008. Additionally, RLC Northeast Regional Director Dan Halloran addressed the crowd. Dan is running an impressive campaign for New York City Council in a district that trends more conservative than most in the city.

Above: Students at the Chicago Conference weigh the issues.

On October 17 in Chicago, students heard from two RLC representatives: former Michigan State Representative Leon Drolet and former Wisconsin State Representative Terri McCormick (photos below).

Leon participated in a debate with Isaac Moorehouse about how liberty-oriented people can achieve our goals.  Leon argued for the RLC strategy.  Terri McCormick gave a presentation about the political elite versus the grassroots, arguing that now is the time we take our country back for liberty.

On October 24, RLC members conducted outreach at two Students for Liberty Conferences: the Texas SFL conference in Austin and the Southern SFL conference in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Rising young star and RLC supporter Jared Fuller organized the Winston-Salem conference, and North Carolina RLC members Gloria Lloyd and Dana Mazer tabled for the Republican Liberty Caucus at the conference.  Former Congressional candidate and North Carolina RLC Board member B.J. Lawson was among the featured speakers.  Dr. Lawson gave a speech called “The Economy, Monty Python, and You”:

Meanwhile, RLC National Chair Dave Nalle and Bexar County (Texas) RLC Membership Chair Nadia Gaona reached out at the Texas SFL conference.

Dave observed a general trend that we continue to see to in our small-but-growing movement, noting that “the long-time libertarian activists [in the] audience were eager to stand up and talk proudly about their token political campaigns where they spent no money but got their name mentioned in the local newspaper when they won 3% of the vote.”

Says Dave, “It’s heartening to see the growth of interest in liberty and bringing our government under control, but it’s enormously frustrating to see so much of this enthusiasm misdirected into the political dead end and do-nothingism which still characterizes the Libertarian Party. The truth is that the pissed-off non-intellectuals of the Tea Party movement who come to libertarianism out of expediency rather than intellect have already accomplished more real political change in a year than the Libertarian Party has accomplished in more than 30 years.”

All complaints aside, these events have proven tremendously beneficial to the movement and the RLC has been able to capitalize on the opportunity to reach new young people with our strategy for victory.

The next RLC outreach booths at Students for Liberty Conferences will occur on November 7, when members will conduct outreach at the Philadelphia and Boston Students for Liberty Conferences.  Prospective RLC endorsee, 2010 U.S. Senate candidate from Connecticut Peter Schiff will be speaking at the Boston conference.  Schiff has previously explained the RLC strategy in a poignant way.

We look forward to reaching additional students at these conferences and thank the Students for Liberty for continuing to host these tremendous regional events. Thanks, too, to all of the RLC representatives and volunteers who have helped us at the conferences.

Above: Former Michigan State Representative Leon Drolet makes his points in a debate on strategies to attain liberty in our lifetime.

In 2002, he was elected to the New Jersey Assembly. He has never been a party man, but always has been a man of integrity and principle. A West Point graduate who served for eight years in the Army as an artillery officer, Doherty has three sons currently serving in the military.

He has consistently bucked the Republican Party leadership while standing up for his own convictions. For example, in last year’s presidential election he committed what amounted to apostasy in the eyes of both the state and national Republican establishments: Rep. Doherty supported Ron Paul for U.S. President. He even went so far as to give a speech at a rally on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall at which Paul directed a tirade in the direction of the Federal Reserve building nearby.

According to columnist Paul Mulshine, a reporter who frequently covers libertarianism and New Jersey politics, “I first became aware of [Doherty's principles] in 2001 when he was a freeholder. A judge threatened to throw [him] in jail if he wouldn’t change his vote and approve construction of a county college.” Says Mulshine, “Doherty stood up. The judicial system backed down.”

This year, Doherty began his campaign for an open State Senate seat, facing opposition from Republican Marcia Karrow. The RLC endorsed his candidacy. Doherty risked his safe Assembly seat to enter the primary against Karrow.

Ms. Karrow circulated a flyer accusing Doherty of advocating “surrender in Iraq” — most likely because he supported Ron Paul. Says Mulshine, “Karrow decided to make Doherty’s support for Paul a central theme of her campaign. And if Doherty supported Paul, then Doherty supported surrender in Iraq. Or so the logic went.”

Continues Paul Mulshine, “It didn’t go very far. Neither Paul, who is also a veteran, nor Doherty supports surrender in Iraq. They simply support the Constitution, which calls for wars to be declared by Congress and then fought to the quickest conclusion possible. That is a stance popular with many military men.”

Doherty defeated Karrow in the primary. Doherty now becomes perhaps the most prominent conservative in the New Jersey Republican Party. Keep your eye on him.

Mulshine says that “Doherty showed an ability to rouse a crowd that is almost entirely lacking among GOP politicians.” He continues, “The reason is not difficult to discern. He actually bases his positions on principles. Among Trenton Republicans, that’s a novel concept. But sooner or later they might be tempted to try it.”

The district Doherty is running in encompasses rural Warren and Hunterdon counties and is safely Republican, making it likely that Mike Doherty will be moving up to the Senate come 2010.

You can learn more about Mike Doherty or donate to his campaign at http://www.mikedohertynj.com/.

Dr. Sabrin is Professor of Finance in the Anisfield School of Business and Executive Director of the Center for Business and Public Policy, Ramapo College of New Jersey. He has a Ph.D. in economic geography from Rutgers University, an M.A. in social studies education from Lehman College and a B.A. in history, geography and social studies education. Sabrin has worked in commercial real estate sales and marketing, personal portfolio management, and economic research.

Dr. Murray Sabrin is uniquely qualified to be the next Senator from New Jersey. You can learn more about Dr. Sabrin at http://www.sabrinforsenate.com/. He will face Joe Pennacchio in the June 3 Republican primary.