Michael Steele (pictured with Florida RLC Vice-Chair Steve Smith) is in trouble.

This time he criticized a never-ending undeclared war, saying (correctly) that it is not a war the American people are interested in supporting.

He further stated it doesn’t make much sense.

Of course, Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele is correct on these points, so pundit William Kristol and Congressman Tom Cole (primary opponent of RLC-endorsed candidate RJ Harris) have called for Steele to resign.

Congressman Ron Paul put out a statement in support of Steele’s comments. Here is Paul’s speech on the House floor from last week in opposition to continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan:

The question remains: When will this unsustainable, undeclared war end?

In the interim, congratulations to Chairman Steele for questioning this Bush/Obama policy of endless foreign interventionism.

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Republican Liberty Caucus endorsed candidates in Utah and South Carolina won their runoffs last night.

Congratulations to Mike Lee, who narrowly defeated Tim Bridgewater in the Utah U.S. Senate race. Lee will be a voice for common sense in the Senate after he wins in November. Until then, we have to make sure he is able to fend off his Democrat opponent.

In South Carolina, Nikki Haley won her run-off against bailout-supporting Congressman Gresham Barrett. Haley will be the first female Governor if she is elected. She will also be the 2nd southern Republican Governor of Indian origin currently serving. It’s good to see the Republican Party in a southern state embracing diversity and independent thinking.

In South Carolina’s 8th District, the votes were so close between RLC endorsed candidate Nancy Harrelson and her opponent that there will be a recount.

Congratulations to Mike Lee and Nikki Haley, their campaign teams, and Utah/South Carolina voters!

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This is only the third time I have written about Adam Kokesh since his campaign began. The first time — nearly one year ago — I provided an analysis of what I believed would occur in the race. The second time I wrote about the race was to defend Kokesh against some pro-war Republicans who were ripping him to pieces.

The results are not yet complete, but with over 60% of the vote, Kokesh has a little more than 27% of the votes. You can see what the end result will be from these totals.

Let me explain why Adam Kokesh lost his race:
1) Wrong district
2) Poor strategy
3) Unpopular message

First, Kokesh absolutely picked the wrong district to run in. I could have told him that a year ago. (Look above, I did!) I’m told other folks also explained this fact to Kokesh but he (the candidate) was set on running in New Mexico’s Third District. My original analysis of the race explains why the district was not ripe for a Kokesh victory — either in the primary or the general election.

The strategy of the Kokesh campaign was a losing one. The idea was to woo left-leaning Democrats and Independents into the Kokesh camp. The strategy resulted in an unimpressive less than 20% showing at the New Mexico Republican Convention for Kokesh and led us to watch the votes pour in for Tom Mullins this evening.

The strategy of any Republican campaign seeking victory in the primary must be to turn Republican voters on to your message and sell your ideas to the people voting on the election ballot. Kokesh’s focus should have been on his Republican primary. One idea that would have helped him was to simply gather his Republican supporters together and form a New Mexico chapter of the Republican Liberty. This strategy would have lent Kokesh some Republican credentials and would have formed a caucus around his campaign.

New Mexico 3 is not the right place to sell liberty. A libertarian message is not going to sell in a district that supports government handouts. And a libertarian message is not going to sell when the Republicans voting in the primary fail to be convinced that you’re a Republican or that you have any affinity for the principles of the Republican Party.

The voters made their choice in New Mexico’s Third District.

The New Mexico 3 experiment really underscores the value of time, effort, and resources. Unfortunately, all of these — including over $225,000 of hard-earned donor money which could have been spent on winnable races — were wasted.

Let’s learn something from this endeavor and do something different next time — by not squandering precious resources on unwinnable races.

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Republican Liberty Caucus Endorses Liberty Slate of Idaho Candidates
Endorsed Candidates Filled out RLC Questionnaire and Will Implement Limited Government Agenda

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 21, 2010
CONTACT: Dan Sheill, Endorsements Director

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – The Republican Liberty Caucus, a national grassroots caucus which advocates for limited government and individual liberty within the Republican Party, has endorsed the following candidates in the Idaho primary next week:

* Steven Dana Pankey for Lieutenant Governor;
* Todd Hatfield for State Controller;
* M.C. Chick Heileson for U.S. Representative, District 2;
* Dennis Engelhardt for State Senate, District 2;
* Mike A. Nielsen and Russell Schenck for Bonner County Commissioners in District 2 and 3; and
* Bud Mueller for Bonner County Clerk of the District Court

According to Republican Liberty Caucus Endorsements Director Dan Sheill, “The Idaho primary is approaching on Tuesday. Will Republican voters select these small government candidates to return Idaho government to one that respects individual rights and less government intrusion?”  Continued Idaho RLC member Tom Dillon, “This slate of candidates will put Idaho on the right track and will bring us so much closer to restoring our Constitutional principles within the state and within the Republican Party.”

The Republican Liberty Caucus is a 527 political organization committed to protecting the principles of individual liberty, limited government, and free enterprise that once defined the Republican Party. The Caucus recruits and endorses candidates who support our agenda, work to elect limited-government Republicans to political office, and work to change the direction of the Republican Party to reflect members’ vision of peace and prosperity.

Learn more about the Republican Liberty Caucus at http://www.RLC.org.

– 30 –

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The Republican Liberty Caucus is one member shorter today. Our At-Large Board member Stephen M. Wright (pictured) passed away yesterday in a car accident. Steve, a candidate for Harford County Executive in this fall’s election, was heading to a pro-life event when he was in the accident.

Steve and I began talking in 2008 when some of the Ron Paul 2008 campaign supporters decided to form a Maryland chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus. Steve’s project was to work on the by-laws of the organization and he would call me from time to time with procedural or logistical questions about developing the by-laws.

In 2009, Steve attended the RLC Convention in Jacksonville, Florida and was elected to the RLC Board of Directors. Steve was a very active member of the Harford County Republican Party Central Committee and was Chairman of the Route 40 Republican Club in Harford County.  Last summer, Steve and his wife Krista attended a small gathering of some active RLC members from the DC area — see below photo.

Another RLC member from Maryland, Patrick Citroni, passed away in 2008, also in a car accident. The Maryland RLC created a tribute fund for Patrick.

On behalf of all of the Republican Liberty Caucus members, especially those from Maryland, we will miss Steve and send our sympathy to his family in this difficult time.

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Republican Liberty Caucus candidates were playing in the big leagues last night when they were matched up against candidates of the Republican Party machine. Overall, be prepared for some disappointing results — not because our candidates did poorly, but because they didn’t quite do well enough despite coming very close to victories.

INDIANA

Let’s take a look at the race in southwest Indiana’s 8th District. When I was looking at the results, I was floored last night when RLC-endorsed Tea Party “stay at home mom” Kristi Risk was in a very tight race to win the Republican nomination. Ultimately, Kristi ended up losing the race. CQ Politics — geniuses no doubt — reported that “the Republican Party avoided a disaster,” explaining that Risk would not prove to be a challenger to Congressman Joe Donnelly (D) in November. The arrogance of the mainstream media continues to have no bounds. Let’s hope Kristi Risk runs for office again because her campaign clearly lit up the hearts and minds of concerned Hoosier voters.

In the Indiana U.S. Senate race, FOX News’ Carl Cameron reported — long before the polls closed — that Republican Dan Coats had won the race. Again, the media just doesn’t seem to get it: elections are for voters, and every seat is the people’s seat! Coats did win the race, but Marlin Stutzman made it close. My belief is that if either Hostettler or Stutzman were not in the race, the other could have siphoned enough conservative votes to beat Coats in the primary. I believe Indiana is now left with a vulnerable and uninspiring Republican U.S. Senate candidate.

Although he was not endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus, Tea Party candidate and a personal friend of mine, Travis Hankins, had a similar performance to Ms. Risk in the neighboring southern Indiana district. Hankins was running against two others — a former Congressman and an establishment choice — for the right to challenge Congressman Baron Hill in November. Unfortunately, Hankins lost by a few hundred votes. Travis Hankins’ youthfulness — he’s just 28 — and his lack of name recognition — this was his first race — did not seem to cause problems for Hoosier voters. I’m sure we’ll see more of Travis, or his twin brother Aaron, in the future.

On a positive note, RLC member Steve Davisson won his primary and will now advance to the General Election for State Representative in Indiana’s 73rd District — the largest State Representative district in the state that includes much of southern Indiana.

OHIO

There are no positive results to report from Ohio. All of our Republican Liberty Caucus candidates lost their respective races. Beth Lear, running for State Representative, ran a tremendous campaign and got bested by only a small margin of votes for a Delaware County state legislative seat.

The most interesting race in Ohio was perhaps the contest in District 16, whose winner would go on to face vulnerable Democrat John Boccieri — a vocal proponent of government-run health care. Former County Commissioner Matt Miller was the Tea Party candidate and he narrowly lost to the establishment choice, businessman Jim Renacci. Let’s hope Renacci can defeat Boccieri this fall.

NORTH CAROLINA

There were two Republican Liberty Caucus victories in North Carolina. First, but not surprisingly, BJ Lawson won his primary for Congress in District 4. Lawson will face David Price in November in a district that is overwhelmingly Democrat.

Newcomer Jon Hardister won the Republican primary in North Carolina’s 57th District — which includes the city of Greensboro. Hardister will bring youthfulness and common sense if he’s selected by North Carolina voters in November.

Let’s work to help Lawson, Davisson, and Hardister win their races this fall!

Clearly the Tea Party had an impact on these races. Let’s hope its impact is more imprinted on upcoming primary races in Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Utah.

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The National Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus has endorsed two former Members of Congress in their respective runs for U.S. Senate in Indiana and Pennsylvania.

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh (D) decided to retire this year, leaving Democrats to hope that Blue Dog Brad Ellsworth can win statewide. Because of where Ellsworth is from in the state and the political climate, Republicans in Indiana would be best served to select former Congressman John Hostettler to face him in the upcoming May primary.

Hostettler’s main primary opponents are State Senator Marlin Stutzman and former U.S. Senator Dan Coats. Stutzman is fairly competent on the issues, but seems to take a more interventionist position on foreign policy in contrast to Hostettler. The other problem with Stutzman is that he will not be able to rival Ellsworth in the General Election in southern Indiana. Senator Dan Coats is a moderate, not a conservative or a libertarian. He would not be the best candidate to capitalize on the angst and frustration expressed by conservative voters in 2010.

Which brings us to Hostettler. He’s not a perfect candidate, as he opposes a Balanced Budget Amendment and term limits, supports a closed border, and is too conservative on most hot-button social issues (but doesn’t usually believe the federal government should be involved). Perhaps his most significant vote was his 2002 vote to oppose the War in Iraq. He said at the time, “Iraq indeed poses a threat, but it does not pose an imminent threat that justifies a pre-emptive military strike at this time.”

Hostettler favors the dissolution of the Department of Education, and voted against the No Child Left Behind Act because he believes education was a state matter. He also voted against most federal health care bills with the view that health care is a private or state matter. He maintains that many federal environmental laws and regulations infringed on individuals’ property rights. He is active in promoting issues of freedom of religion and expression. He supported repeal of the estate tax, capital gains tax, and marriage tax penalty. Hostettler was recently endorsed by Congressman Ron Paul, and his supporters are having a MoneyBomb tomorrow.

Let’s hope Hostettler wins the upcoming primary and sends Brad Ellsworth back to southern Indiana.

The Republican Liberty Caucus also endorsed Pat Toomey for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Toomey’s Republican primary opponent is Peg Luksik, who is affiliated with the far-right of the Republican Party. His general election opponent will likely be Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Spector.

Pat Toomey is a former Congressman who upheld his term limits pledge in 1998 to only serve three terms. While in Congress, Toomey voted to reduce the capital gains tax, to eliminate the estate tax, to cut small business taxes and to eliminate the marriage penalty. He publicly opposed the stimulus package passed in 2009 and supports a Balanced Budget Amendment.

Toomey takes a libertarian position on Roe v. Wade, believing it should be overturned and returned to the states. That position, however, seems to contradict his support for an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. He also has a poor record on drug law reform (having voted against medical marijuana for DC) and foreign policy (having supported the Bush Administration’s War in Iraq).

Pat Toomey would be a competent and pro-liberty Senator for Pennsylvania.

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Tim Condon of the New Hampshire RLC has written an article entitled “Former New Mexico Governor a Hit in New Hampshire.” According to Condon,

During the question and answer session, one member of the audience noted that Johnson seemed to be responding to the questions clearly and directly “without trying to avoid giving an answer. Do you think you could give lessons to other politicians?” The crowd roared with laughter.

The general impression of Gov. Johnson seemed to be positive. At one point a questioner, clearly pleased with Gov. Johnson’s political positions and recommendations, asked “What would it take for you to consider moving to New Hampshire?” Johnson grinned back, saying: “How could you not consider moving to New Hampshire when the license plate says ‘Live Free or Die’?”

Read more at the RLCNH website.

Jim Forsythe, New Hampshire RLC Chair, introduced Gary Johnson.

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January 25, 2010
St. Augustine Historic City News, St. Augustine, FL
Source URL

The leadership of the St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee (SJCREC) dealt a blow to the grassroots and derailed recent attempts to reconcile long standing differences with the Republican Liberty Caucus of Northeast Florida (RLCNEF).

Thursday night it refused to allow RLCNEF members access to a meeting where State Committeeman Jon Woodard stepped down and State Senator John Thrasher was elected to Woodard’s position.

The election of Thrasher to Woodard’s State Committeeman post clears the way for Thrasher to run for the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) Chair position to be vacated on February 20th by Jim Greer.

There is a level of excitement within the party that has not been seen in a long time surrounding the race to succeed Jim Greer. Greer’s re-election a year ago has resulted in a leadership implosion within the RPOF. Thrasher, a sitting Republican State Senator, is seeking to lead the Republican Party out of its doldrums. Unfortunately for Thrasher, the SJCREC appears to have added fuel to an internal firestorm.

The latest in an unfortunate series of events occurred when the majority of the SJCREC members were not given notice the meeting would be closed in Executive Session, and only received the news upon their arrival at the meeting that night.

To further exacerbate matters, SJCREC officials – allegedly in preparation for the vote on Senator Thrasher – performed a “purge” of the membership list for the stated purpose of removing members who had missed three consecutive meetings pursuant to state bylaws.

The purpose and accuracy of the list purge is in question, however, as RLCNEF member Cliff Johnson who is also a sworn member of the SJCREC and who had not missed three consecutive meetings, was told that he was not eligible to attend the Executive Session or vote in the Special Election.

While SJCREC leadership claimed that access to the Executive Session was limited only to SJCREC members, at least four members of the Duval County Republican Executive Committee who support Thrasher were allowed inside while known opponents of Thrasher and supporters of Sharon Day – also a candidate for State Chair – were told they must stay outside.

In a protest against the double standard and blatant cronyism on display, RLCNEF Chair John Stevens entered the meeting despite being told not to do so. Stevens was then asked to leave and refused. SJCREC officials called police and Stevens was escorted from the meeting. No charges were filed.

Chairman Stevens desired to attend the meeting to ask Thrasher what position he would be taking on Orange and St. Johns County REC members removed by Greer through the never-before-used grievance process last year. Stevens commented regarding the incident, “It was unfortunate that it had to come that. The RLC is working for accountability within the Party and we would prefer to do so quietly from within; but if members are being locked out and denied an opportunity to be heard then we are left with no option but to make our voices heard publicly.”

This incident in St. Johns is eerily similar to a situation that occurred last year in Orange County where Orange County Republican Executive Committee (OCREC) Chair Lew Oliver prevented members of the OCREC from voting in the election for Oliver’s seat; the people barred from voting were supporters of his opponent, Deon Long, who is now running for the 24th District of the U.S. Congress.

Many of the registered voters of Florida agree with the message of the Republican Liberty Caucus. The RLC’s message has begun attracting large numbers of people statewide. Support has poured out from around the state as this struggle with the corruption within the party has continued. Many of the recent changes in the RPOF leadership started at the grassroots level with large groups of dissenters, such as the RLC, calling for honesty and transparency in our elected leaders.

Frank Zilaitis
Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida

About The Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida:

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida is a coalition of traditional conservatives and liberty minded Republicans working within the Republican Party to promote individual liberty, smaller government, state and national sovereignty and the Constitution. The caucus advocates the return of our nation to the values and intentions of the Constitution and our founders.

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