Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty
Encyclopedia
Campaign for Liberty is a political organization founded by twelve-term United States Congressman Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...

. 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. 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
Ron Paul presidential campaign, 2008
Ron Paul was a Republican Party primary candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election.Initial opinion polls during the first three quarters of 2007 showed Ron Paul consistently receiving support from 3% or less of those polled...

, and corresponded with the suspension of that campaign. Paul formally announced during the Texas Republican Convention
Republican Party of Texas
The Republican Party of Texas is one of the two major political parties in the U.S. State of Texas. It is affiliated with the United States Republican Party. The State Chairman is Steve Munisteri, a retired attorney and businessman from Houston, and the Vice-Chair is Melinda Fredricks of Conroe....

 that he had created this new organization known as the "Campaign for Liberty".

Mission

The mission
Mission statement
A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making...

 of the Campaign for Liberty is to promote and defend the principles of individual liberty
Negative liberty
Negative liberty is defined as freedom from interference by other people, and is set in contrast to positive liberty, which is defined as an individual's freedom from inhibitions of the social structure within the society such as classism, sexism or racism and is primarily concerned with the...

, constitutional government
Originalism
In the context of United States constitutional interpretation, originalism is a principle of interpretation that tries to discover the original meaning or intent of the constitution. It is based on the principle that the judiciary is not supposed to create, amend or repeal laws but only to uphold...

, sound money, free markets
Laissez-faire
In economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....

, and non-interventionism
Non-interventionism
Nonintervention or non-interventionism is a foreign policy which holds that political rulers should avoid alliances with other nations, but still retain diplomacy, and avoid all wars not related to direct self-defense...

, by means of educational and political activity.

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
    Precinct
    A precinct is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building, or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it. The term has several different uses...

     leader program
  • Educating the electorate and lobbying
    Lobbying
    Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...

     against unconstitutional legislation
    Legislation
    Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...

  • 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
    Office
    An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...

     to give presentations around the country about the great principles they champion
  • Featuring written as well as video commentaries
    Political criticism
    Political criticism is criticism that is specific of or relevant to politics, including policies, politicians, political parties, and types of government.-Controversy:...

     on the news and issues of the day
  • Additional efforts as time and resources allow

Funding and foundation

Ron Paul founded the Campaign for Liberty with a portion of the over $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

4.7 million left from his presidential campaign, and it is also currently funded through donations by both mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...

 and the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

.

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

Rally for the Republic

On June 10, 2008 the Ron Paul Campaign announced the first promotional event for the organization, a "Rally
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...

 for the Republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

". After not being offered a speaking slot at the Republican convention
2008 Republican National Convention
The United States 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008...

, Ron Paul, who did not support GOP nominee John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

, decided to stage his own parallel convention in Minneapolis. This event occurred at the Target Center
Target Center
The Target Center is an arena in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is sponsored by Target Corporation. The arena has a capacity of 20,500 people. It contains 702 club seats and 68 suites....

 on September 2, 2008, which was the second day of the GOP Convention. 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
Summit (meeting)
A summit meeting is a meeting of heads of state or government, usually with considerable media exposure, tight security and a prearranged agenda.Notable summit meetings include those of Franklin D...

, book signing
Book signing
Book signing is the affixing of a signature to the title page or flyleaf of a book by its author. A book signing is an event, usually at a bookstore or library where an author sits and signs books for a period of time....

, and free concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

. Notable attendees were announced, including the Rally's emcee, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...

's Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson
Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson is an American political news correspondent and conservative commentator for the Fox News Channel...

, Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura
James George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...

, Governor Gary Johnson
Gary Johnson
Gary Johnson may refer to:*Gary Johnson , former Governor of New Mexico and candidate for President in 2012*Gary Johnson , American politician, Wisconsin State Assembly...

, Barry Goldwater Jr., Bruce Fein
Bruce Fein
Bruce Fein is a lawyer in the United States who specializes in constitutional and international law. Fein has written numerous articles on constitutional issues for The Washington Times, Slate.com, The New York Times, Legal Times, and is active on the issues of civil liberties...

, Howard Phillips, Thomas Woods
Thomas Woods
Thomas E. "Tom" Woods, Jr. is an American historian, economist, political analyst, and New York Times-bestselling author. He has written extensively on the subjects of American history, contemporary politics, and economic theory...

, Bill Kauffman
Bill Kauffman
Bill Kauffman is an American political writer generally aligned with the paleoconservative movement. He was born in Batavia, New York, and currently resides in Elba, New York, with his wife and daughter....

, Erik Vendt
Erik Vendt
Erik Vendt is a retired American swimmer. He won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics...

, Grover Norquist
Grover Norquist
Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform...

, Lew Rockwell
Lew Rockwell
Llewellyn Harrison "Lew" Rockwell, Jr. is an American libertarian political commentator, activist, proponent of the Austrian School of economics, and chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.-Life and work:...

, Barb Davis White and Doug Wead
Doug Wead
Doug Wead is a presidential historian, philanthropist and public speaker. He was Special Assistant to U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and is the author of more than thirty books, including the New York Times best-seller All the Presidents’ Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of the First...

. Country Music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 Star Sara Evans
Sara Evans
Sara Lynn Evans is an American country singer and songwriter.Evans was one of the few traditional-styled singers to emerge from Nashville in the late 1990s, according to Allmusic. Since emerging in the late 1990s, Evans has made five No. 1 Country hits and Gold and Platinum-certified albums by...

 and singer/songwriter Aimee Allen
Aimee Allen
Aimee Allen is an American pop/rock singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. She is known for her work on the dance song "Cooties" made for the soundtrack of the 2007 version of the movie Hairspray...

 headlined the musical portion of the event. Tickets for the main event went on sale for $17.76 on July 25. Over half of them sold within 12 hours. On September 1, the more than 10,000 tickets were sold out. 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
Political movement
A political movement is a social movement in the area of politics. A political movement may be organized around a single issue or set of issues, or around a set of shared concerns of a social group...

 and our supporters
Supporters
In heraldry, supporters are figures usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. These figures may be real or imaginary animals, human figures, and in rare cases plants or inanimate objects...

, a launch party for the Campaign for Liberty, and a clear call to the Republican Party to return to its roots of limited government
Limited government
Limited government is a government which anything more than minimal governmental intervention in personal liberties and the economy is generally disallowed by law, usually in a written constitution. It is written in the United States Constitution in Article 1, Section 8...

, personal responsibility, and protection of our natural rights
Natural rights
Natural and legal rights are two types of rights theoretically distinct according to philosophers and political scientists. Natural rights are rights not contingent upon the laws, customs, or beliefs of any particular culture or government, and therefore universal and inalienable...

. 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.” Much of the press of the event referred to the rally as a "counter-convention".

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." "The Ron Paul Nation Celebration", featuring Aimee Allen
Aimee Allen
Aimee Allen is an American pop/rock singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. She is known for her work on the dance song "Cooties" made for the soundtrack of the 2007 version of the movie Hairspray...

, Marc Scibilia
Marc Scibilia
Marc A. Scibilia is a singer-songwriter. Scibilia was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. Both his father and grandfather were professional musicians but had other vocations to support families. By the time Scibilia was 6 he had begun drum lessons and classical piano training.One month after...

, Rick Ellis, and headlined by country music artist Rockie Lynne
Rockie Lynne
Rockie Lynn Rash is an American country music artist, known professionally as Rockie Lynne. He was signed to Universal South Records in late 2005, releasing his self-titled debut album in early 2006. This album produced three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including the...

, took place Monday night, September 1. Republican congressional candidate B.J. Lawson
B.J. Lawson
William "B.J." Lawson is a Republican Party politician who ran for the United States House of Representatives in North Carolina's 4th congressional district in both the 2008 and 2010 elections....

 was the master of ceremonies at the Celebration. The Rally for the Republic concluded the three-day activities on Tuesday night.

Regional Conferences

On October 26, 2008, Don Rasmussen, the former Director of Operations
Director of Operations
Director of Operations can refer to any of the below.* Chief operating officer in business* Director of Operations The Director of Operations can also be referred to as the "Operations Director". The role can have a wide range of responsibilities within an organization...

 for Campaign for Liberty informed members that the organization was planning a series of regional summits throughout 2009. Matt Hawes, Vice President of Programs, later announced that the C4L would hold these events throughout the country in such cities as St. Louis, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Seattle, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, Dallas, and Denver.

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
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...

, Judge Andrew Napolitano
Andrew Napolitano
Andrew Paolo Napolitano is a former New Jersey Superior Court Judge and now a political and legal analyst for Fox News Channel. Napolitano started on the channel in 1998, and currently serves as the network's senior judicial analyst, commenting on legal news and trials...

, and staff members from C4L and Young Americans for Liberty
Young Americans for Liberty
Young Americans for Liberty is a political organization that was formed in 2008 at the end of Congressman Ron Paul's Presidential campaign. They focus on educating their peers about various topics including libertarian values and emphasizing the role of the Constitution in the American government...

 spoke to the standing room only crowd concerning protecting their civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...

, 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 E. Woods, Jr..

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.

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 E. Woods, Jr. and Ron Paul were be joined by economist Mark Skousen
Mark Skousen
Mark Skousen is an American economist, investment analyst, newsletter editor, college professor and author of more than 25 non-fiction books.- Early life, education and family :...

 for the C4L event.

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
Andrew Napolitano
Andrew Paolo Napolitano is a former New Jersey Superior Court Judge and now a political and legal analyst for Fox News Channel. Napolitano started on the channel in 1998, and currently serves as the network's senior judicial analyst, commenting on legal news and trials...

 delivered speech about the problems with the PATRIOT Act. The conference concluded on Saturday with an "Economic Liberty Symposium", which featured author Thomas E. Woods, Jr., broker and Senate Candidate Peter Schiff
Peter Schiff
Peter David Schiff is an American investment broker, author and financial commentator. Schiff is CEO and chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., a broker-dealer based in Westport, Connecticut and CEO of Euro Pacific Precious Metals, LLC, a gold and silver dealer based in New York...

, and British MEP Daniel Hannan
Daniel Hannan
Daniel John Hannan is a British journalist, author and politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists political group...

.

C4L held the next regional conference in Atlanta, GA on January 15-17, 2010. It was held at the Sheraton in Atlanta and brought supporters from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, and many more states. Speakers included Congressman Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...

, Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Lew Rockwell
Lew Rockwell
Llewellyn Harrison "Lew" Rockwell, Jr. is an American libertarian political commentator, activist, proponent of the Austrian School of economics, and chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.-Life and work:...

, Thomas DiLorenzo
Thomas DiLorenzo
Thomas James DiLorenzo is an American economics professor at Loyola University Maryland. He is an adherent of the Austrian School of Economics. He is a senior faculty member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute and an associated scholar of the Abbeville Institute...

, Mike Rothfeld, and Dimitri Kesari.

Campaign for Liberty’s 2010 Regional Conference series will be coming to Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 in the late spring and New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

 in early fall. However, Campaign for Liberty's next major event will be as a sponsor at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference
Conservative Political Action Conference
The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States....

) 2010 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 on February 18-20.

Push for Federal Reserve Transparency

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
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 of the 111th United States Congress
111th United States Congress
The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of...

 by Campaign For Liberty's Honorary Chairman, Congressman
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...

 (TX-14
Texas's 14th congressional district
Texas's 14th district for the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that covers the area south and southwest of the Greater Houston region, including Galveston, in the state of Texas. The district was created as a result of the 1900 U.S. Census and was first contested...

). The bill proposes a reformed audit
Audit
The general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, enterprise, project or product. The term most commonly refers to audits in accounting, but similar concepts also exist in project management, quality management, and energy conservation.- Accounting...

 of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...

 (the "Fed") before the end of 2010. As of May 25, 2010, it has 319 cosponsors and has been referred to the Committee on Financial Services
United States House Committee on Financial Services
The United States House Committee on Financial Services is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees the entire financial services industry, including the securities, insurance, banking, and housing industries...

. 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.

See also

  • Ron Paul presidential campaign, 2008
    Ron Paul presidential campaign, 2008
    Ron Paul was a Republican Party primary candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election.Initial opinion polls during the first three quarters of 2007 showed Ron Paul consistently receiving support from 3% or less of those polled...

  • The Revolution: A Manifesto
    The Revolution: A Manifesto
    The Revolution: A Manifesto is a New York Times #1 best seller by Republican U.S. Congressman Ron Paul. According to Paul, the book is based on written notes during his 2008 presidential campaign....

  • Young Americans for Liberty
    Young Americans for Liberty
    Young Americans for Liberty is a political organization that was formed in 2008 at the end of Congressman Ron Paul's Presidential campaign. They focus on educating their peers about various topics including libertarian values and emphasizing the role of the Constitution in the American government...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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