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Campaign for Liberty

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Campaign for Liberty
FoundedJune 10, 2008
FounderRon Paul
TypePublic, 501(c)(4)
FocusEducate Americans in freedom, sound money, non-interventionism, free markets, and support like-minded candidates at all levels of government.
Location
Area served
United States of America
ProductLiberty
Members
220,000+[1]
Key people
Ron Paul, Founder
John Tate, President
Jesse Benton, Senior Vice President
WebsiteCampaignForLiberty.com

Campaign for Liberty is a political organization founded by ten-term United States Congressman Ron Paul. The Campaign for Liberty focuses on educating elected officials and the general public about constitutional issues, and currently provides a membership program. Its legal status is that of a 501(c)(4) nonprofit.[2] It is also known as C4L.

The Campaign for Liberty was announced on June 12, 2008 as a way of continuing the grassroots support involved in Ron Paul's 2008 presidential run, and corresponded with the suspension of that campaign. Paul formally announced during the Texas Republican Convention that he had created this new organization known as the Campaign for Liberty.[3]

Mission

The mission of the Campaign for Liberty is to promote and defend the principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and non-interventionism, by means of educational and political activity.[4]

Strategy

According to the official website, The Campaign for Liberty will carry out its mission through the following activities:

  • Gaining a foothold in political life at every level of government by expanding the precinct leader program.
  • Educating the electorate and lobbying against unconstitutional legislation.
  • Encouraging the formation of discussion groups and book clubs at the local level to help people learn more about the organization's ideas.
  • Establishing a speakers bureau to give presentations around the country about the great principles they champion.
  • Featuring written as well as video commentaries on the news and issues of the day.
  • Additional efforts as time and resources allow.[4]

Funding and foundation

Ron Paul founded the Campaign for Liberty with a portion of the over $4.7 million left from his presidential campaign, and it is also currently funded through donations by both mail and the internet.

Purpose

According to Ron Paul, the purpose of the Campaign for Liberty is to continue the principles that invoked the grassroots support of his campaign, and to also be able to continue the message that he promoted during the course of his bid, without having a presidential campaign, and is also intended to "lay the groundwork for a different America." Paul also noted,[5]

The time has come to act on these words. May future generations look back on our work and say that these were men and women who, in a moment of great crisis, stood up to the politicians, the opinion-molders, and the establishment, and saved their country.

It was also established as a reporting agency for news involved with the principles of the organization.

Rally for the Republic

The Rally for the Republic.
The Rally for the Republic insignia, from the convention floor.

On June 10, 2008 the Ron Paul Campaign announced the first promotional event for the organization, a "Rally for the Republic." After not being offered a speaking slot at the Republican convention, Ron Paul, who did not support GOP nominee John McCain, decided to stage his own parallel convention in Minneapolis.[6] This event occurred at the Target Center on September 2, 2008, which was the second day of the GOP Convention.[7] On July 22, 2008, the event's official website launched, which provided details of the Rally, and of other events which were to occur in the same week including a leadership summit, book signing, and free concert.[8] Notable attendees were announced, including the Rally's emcee, MSNBC's Tucker Carlson, Governor Jesse Ventura, Governor Gary E. Johnson, Barry Goldwater Jr., Bruce Fein, Howard Phillips, Thomas Woods, Bill Kauffman, Erik Vendt, Grover Norquist, Lew Rockwell, Barb Davis White and Doug Wead. Country Music Star Sara Evans and singer/songwriter Aimee Allen headlined the musical portion of the event.[9][10] Tickets for the main event went on sale for $17.76 on July 25. Over half of them sold within 12 hours.[11] On September 1, the more than 10,000 tickets were sold out.[12] Most of the rally was broadcast live on C-SPAN 2 and a live stream was set up on the Campaign for Liberty website.

According to the Rally's official website, its purpose was to "be a celebration of our movement and our supporters, a launch party for the Campaign for Liberty, and a clear call to the Republican Party to return to its roots of limited government, personal responsibility, and protection of our natural rights. The event ran in conjunction with the first two days of the Republican National Convention and featured top conservative speakers, musicians, and organizations. It also had an organizational and training function for the Campaign for Liberty and the Freedom Movement.”[13] Much of the press of the event referred to the rally as a "counter-convention".[14]

The Rally was the culmination of three days of activities run by C4L in Minneapolis. On Sunday, August 31, C4L ran the "Real Politics Training School", where its supporters had the "opportunity to learn the skills‚ strategies‚ and techniques necessary to be an effective activist‚ from top experts in the field."[15] "The Ron Paul Nation Celebration", featuring Aimee Allen, Marc Scibilia, Rick Ellis, and headlined by country music artist Rockie Lynne, took place Monday night, September 1.[16] Republican congressional candidate B.J. Lawson was the master of ceremonies at the Celebration. The Rally for the Republic concluded the three-day activities on Tuesday night.

Regional Conferences

Judge Andrew Napolitano speaks in St. Louis.

On October 26, 2008, Don Rasmussen, the former Director of Operations for Campaign for Liberty informed members that the organization was planning a series of regional summits throughout 2009.[17] Matt Hawes, Vice President of Programs, later announced that the C4L would hold eight such events throughout the country in St. Louis, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Seattle, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Denver.[18]

The first of these regional conferences was held on March 27-29, 2009 at the Millenium Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. On Friday night, the 27th, nearly 1,000 people gathered at the hotel for a "Freedom Celebration" with no cost of admission. Ron Paul, Judge Andrew Napolitano, and staff members from C4L and Young Americans for Liberty spoke to the standing room only crowd concerning protecting their civil liberties, restoring a policy of sound money, auditing the Federal Reserve, and continuing to educate themselves in order to effectively defend libertarian principles. The following two days' activities included several grassroots training sessions in addition to a lecture by historian and bestselling author Thomas Woods.[19]

Campaign for Liberty held another conference on May 22-24, 2009 at the Doubletree Hotel in Seattle, Washington. Over 700 gathered for the once-again open to the public "Freedom Celebration," which was emceed by C4L Editor-in-Chief Anthony Gregory and headlined by Ron Paul and Tom Woods. Over 200 participated in the next two days' political activism training.[20]

On July 10-12, 2009 Campaign for Liberty members gathered at Bally's in Las Vegas, Nevada for the next regional conference where they were able to "network, learn, and build their local organizations as our grassroots Revolution to reclaim our Republic and restore our Constitution continues." This event ran in conjunction with the annual Freedom Fest which features over 100 libertarian-minded speakers. Thomas Woods and Ron Paul were be joined by economist Mark Skousen for the C4L event.[21]

On September 17-19, C4L held its next regional conference right outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Valley Forge Convention Center. This event included two rallies, each attended by several hundred activists. On opening night, the "Freedom Celebration" featured Dr. Ron Paul, the American Conservative Defense Alliance's Phil Giraldi, New Jersey State Assemblyman Mike Doherty, and Ron Paul's son and C4L board member, Ronnie Paul. On Friday, attendees received political training, and then Judge Andrew Napolitano delivered speech about the problems with the PATRIOT Act. The conference concluded on Saturday with an "Economic Liberty Symposium", which featured author Tom Woods, broker and Senate Candidate Peter Schiff, and British MEP Daniel Hannan.[22]

The next conference will be held in Atlanta, GA on January 15-17, 2010.[23]

Push for Federal Reserve Transparency

Further information: Federal Reserve Transparency Act
A C4L member shows support for HR 1207 at a local gathering.

The Campaign for Liberty's first major policy initiative involves pushing support for HR 1207, a bill that calls for more transparency of the Federal Reserve. Also called the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, HR 1207 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives of the 111th United States Congress by Campaign For Liberty's Honorary Chairman, Congressman Ron Paul (TX-14). The bill proposes a reformed audit of the Federal Reserve System (the "Fed") before the end of 2010. As of November 25, 2009, it has 311 cosponsors and has been referred to the Committee on Financial Services. A Senate version is called the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009 (S.604) and currently has 30 Cosponsors. A related bill uses the same two names in reverse order.

The official Campaign for Liberty website encourages members to lobby in support of the bill. Following a link on the homepage, users are brought to a website devoted exclusively to this effort. It calls on members to "help turn up the heat on Congress and convince them to pass Ron Paul's 'Audit the Fed' bill" and continues with, "Your petitions, e-mails, letters and phone calls have already made a huge impact, but more of your help is needed right away. Please take a few moments to tell your Congressman to support HR 1207. Our tools below make it quick and easy to make a difference today!" The page offers petitions, handouts, and video updates in support of the initiative.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ Campaign for Liberty - States Page
  2. ^ Donation Page: Legal Footnote. Campaign for Liberty
  3. ^ Ron Paul says campaign to 'shift gears'. Associated Press, June 13, 2008.
  4. ^ a b http://www.campaignforliberty.com/ Campaign for Liberty: Mission Statement
  5. ^ Ron Paul's Goal: 100,000 By September. Marc Ambinder, Atlantic Monthly, June 13, 2008.
  6. ^ Ron Paul Planning Parallel Convention. Nick Juliano, The Raw Story, June 10, 2008.
  7. ^ Ron Paul's Political Event Moves to Bigger Arena. Brian Bakst, Newsweek, July 22, 2008.
  8. ^ Schedule
  9. ^ Performers
  10. ^ Suzanne Gamboa (2008-08-29). "Ron Paul followers gathering for own convention". Associated Press.
  11. ^ Tickets on sale.
  12. ^ Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic Sold Out - Additional Seats Opened at Target Center To Accommodate Overflow Crowd
  13. ^ Ron Paul's Campaign For Liberty | Rally for The Republic > Mission Statement
  14. ^ Ralph Z. Hallow (2008-09-01). "McCain in talks with Ron Paul for backing". Washington Times.
  15. ^ Ron Paul's Campaign For Liberty | Rally for The Republic > Schedule
  16. ^ Ron Paul's Campaign For Liberty | Rally for The Republic > Schedule
  17. ^ Campaign for Liberty Update
  18. ^ Join us for our first C4L regional conference!
  19. ^ St. Lous Regional Conference
  20. ^ Seattle Regional Conference
  21. ^ Las Vegas Regional Conference
  22. ^ Northeast Regional Conference
  23. ^ Northeast Regional Conference
  24. ^ Audit the Federal Reserve!

Sister Organization

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