> Mann, if one thing came out of the RLC Convention yesterday > it's that Katherine Harris, Congresswoman and US Senate > candidate, IS A NEW FRIEND OF LIBERTARIANS!! > > She was fantastic last night in her presentation to the group > at the hospitality suite. She was introduced by State Senator > Mike Haridopolos. Then she gave a very animated presentation > on her support for tax cuts and property rights. > > Katherine is stunningly beautiful in person. She's dynamic. > She's got an aura about her that draws you in. > > She even spoke to some marijuana law reform guys after her > speech and promised them she'd consider the issue. > > Katherine, stunningly stayed for the whole program. She sat > with Phil's Dad, George Blumel at the dinner table and > listened to libertarian hero Stephen Moore's banquet speech. > Every two minutes Moore pointed to Katherine as a shining > light for liberty in the US Congress.
I was at the RLC national convention and my impression was very different. I only caught bits and pieces of Katherine Harris's pitch, but they were the important bits and pieces. Later others filled in the blanks for me. I was talking with three people at a vendor's table about the libertarian position on patents. Eventually I realized it had been a while since I'd seen most of the crowd, and I was afraid I would miss dinner at the banquet if I didn't go in now. Upon excusing myself, I discovered I was not missing the banquet, but was instead missing an open bar reception. When I wandered into the room, Katherine Harris was addressing a group of over 50 RLC members who surrounded her in a semicircle. She was talking about the Fair Tax, which she said she supports and will make a top priority if elected to the U.S. Senate. RLC members were all clapping a cheering. Then she started talking about immigration and said she was in favor of a large impenetrable wall around the country. When I realized it was Katherine Harris I decided I'd rather debate libertarian philosophy on patents than listen to an enemy speak, so I went back outside to the vendor table and continued the earlier discussion. In leaving the room I also realized she was about to be lynched for her position on immigration. Later, during the banquet, I spoke with several people about Katherine Harris's presentation. They said she spoke mainly about the Fair Tax and immigration. After her Fair Tax pitch everyone in the room applauded and cheered. After her immigration pitch there was dead silence with crickets chirping. RLC members generally favor open immigration. It turned out the night before the conference organizers had asked everyone to be polite when Katherine Harris spoke, which explained why no one booed. I remarked to the people relating what happened that she probably looked at Ron Paul's position on immigration and assumed the RLC shared it. During the banquet I had a few conversations about Katherine Harris. Later I felt bad because I realized she was not sitting at the head table like I had thought, but rather was sitting 3 feet away from me at a table near the back (we had our backs to each other), so she probably heard me rudely badmothing her. What did impress me was that Katherine Harris stayed for the whole banquet dinner. Stephen Moore regularly refered to her during his speech. I don't think he was praising her, so much as trying to change her mind in a diplomatic way. He would say things like "Katherine, you should go tell your democratic colleagues that the Bush tax cut resulted in revenue doubling within two years." and "Katherine, go tell Congress that 97% of new jobs were the result of immigrants. Without immigrants our economy would not be growing." It felt like Stephen Moore was tutoring Katherine Harris and we were all unnoticed observers. Kartherine Harris was regularly nodding along with Stephen Moore and took copious notes (about three pages). What impressed me most was she was taking notes. She could have simply nodded to give people the impression she agreed... taking notes conveyed to me that she was actually planning on researching the things Stephen said more and integrating them into her speeches or congressional votes. I'm not a fan of Katherine Harris, but after the convention I liked her more than before. I spoke with the conference organizers later. They told me they were upfront with Katherine Harris's staff that it was a conference of libertarians. Katherine Harris approached them to speak, not the other way around. She was welcomed to speak during the reception, but it was suggested that they stick to economic issues. She was not offered a position at the head table... those positions were reserved for the banquet speakers and elected libertarians such as Ben Brandon and Mark Lindell. Chuck Moulton Vice-Chair, Libertarian National Committee P.S. I attended the RLC convention because I am a supporter of the RLC. In fact, I am a supporter of all facets of the libertarian movement, including the Libertarian Party, the RLC, the Cato Institute, the Mises Institute, the Advocates for Self Government, the Institute for Justice, the ACLU, etc. I continue to be a registered Libertarian and believe the Libertarian Party is a better vehicle for me personally than the RLC. However, I welcome every libertarian to make his own choice on whether to be a Libertarian or a Republican to advance libertarianism. I was not a voting delegate at the RLC convention (because as a registered Libertarian I was not elligible to vote). I was invited to speak at the RLC convention since I was attending. My speech focused on a few key points: 1) The Libertarian Party and the Republican Liberty Caucus are not enemies; we help each other synergisticly. Neither organization should be trying to recruit the other organization's members. At least 28% of Americans are libertarian leaning... it's better for both organizations to do outreach to the unaffiliated libertarians than for both organizations to tug on the same group of activists until their arms fall off. 2) Activists are important in politics. Philosophy arguments are largely useless. Libertarian Party members and RLC members should be running as candidates, working precincts, and doing outreach instead of arguing amongst themselves about who is the most libertarian. We ought to look at the libertarian movement as a train towards more liberty, accepting anyone that wants to move us in a libertarian direction. If some people want to leave the train earlier than others, let them. It's far better to get a lot of people on the train and having it move toward liberty than to argue endlessly about what the destination should be without moving the train at all. 3) I told the RLC about PA Clean Sweep's success in toppling a state supreme court justice, getting the pay raise repealed, having 20 state legislators not seek another term, and defeating 20 state legislators in the primary -- including the president pro tempore and majority leader of the state senate. I was pleased to meet many additional dedicated libertarians at the RLC convention and put faces to a few of the names I know from online (like Aaron Biterman and Eric Dondero). It's interesting to note that many RLC members told me although they support libertarian leaning Republicans with their time and money, they usually vote for Libertarian candidates when they are on the ballot (especially for President). The only presidential candidate the RLC has endorsed in its history is Steve Forbes, which I found very interesting because he was my favorite Republican presidential candidate in the past 15 years. RLC members tend to be Regan fans, but not Bush fans (either one). They do tend to think that George W. Bush has done a lot better than Al Gore would have (which I disagree on... I think they would have been equally terrible, just in different things). ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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