Report by RLCID Region 4 Director, Ryan Davidson
By now you've no doubt heard several reports of what happened at the contentious Idaho Republican State Convention.
But here's a good report you might have missed.
But here's a good report you might have missed.
Senator Rand Paul was the keynote speaker at the convention. Money raised from his dinner banquet speech would be going into the state party coffers. It occurred to me that perhaps we could try to get Sen. Paul to also do an event for the Republican Liberty Caucus of Idaho, where money raised would be going to the group that actually supports his libertarian policy ideals.
I reached out to the campaign, who said that even though nearly every minute of his time in Moscow was booked, that could spare us 20 minutes on Friday evening if I could deliver a good turnout.
I got this confirmation Thursday afternoon.
So with less than 24 hours to plan an event, I got to work building a meet and greet around his schedule.
Of course I had promised a big turnout, but I honestly had no idea if I could get one with such short notice.
RLC members started sending out emails and making facebook posts. I took the mic at a couple of the committee hearings Friday morning to announce the event. And that was about the extent of our promotion.
We decided to make the event free for RLC members, and $5 for everyone else. I booked the "Gold Room" at the convention hotel (the same room Huckabee had been in the night before) and much to my pleasant surprise, the Paul campaign generously offered to pick up the tab for the whole event.
I had originally scheduled the event for one hour (with Rand appearing at the last 20 minutes) but then started to wonder if we might actually get a big crowd, so I changed it to two hours in case we needed more time to process people.
When the event started, it became very apparent that Rand Paul is popular in Idaho. People started streaming in! We had so many people show up that had to open up another room for overflow. We estimate that around 200 people tried to get into the event. It was so big it was getting out of control.
State Chairman Barry Peterson made it in, giving a little speech. So did Senators Risch and Crapo. (Governor Otter was nowhere to be found.)
When Rand Paul was ready to come in, I was proud to be able to escort him from his hotel room to the event. We quickly took some pictures with the RLC board, then Rand took the mic, shared a few anecdotes, took some pics, signed some autographs, and shook some hands before he was whisked away to the main event at the Kibbe Dome.
For an event I put together at the last minute, I'd have to say it was a rousing success! The RLC raised a ton of money from the entrance fees, from people joining the RLC at the door and paying dues, and from T-Shirt sales. Sen. Paul was generous enough to donate five autographed copies of his book, "The Tea Party Goes to Washington" that we were able to auction off at the event. Our big ticket items, however, were two framed copies of the US Constitution that had been autographed by Dick Heller, the famous Plaintiff from the Supreme Court case DC v Heller that reaffirmed our 2nd Amendment Rights. Rand also signed them at the event, and they raised over $600 at auction! (Thanks to RLC Vice Chair Phil Hart for donating the items.)
Senator Paul went on to play another packed house at the State Convention dinner banquet that night. His popularity at these events makes me hopeful for the future of our country. The seeds planted by Ron Paul in 2008 have grown into a nationwide movement that is seriously advocating limited government and individual rights. The fact that Rand Paul is spoken of as a frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016 by the liberal mainstream media (!) shows that our hard work is paying off. Our tireless advocacy of libertarian policy is changing hearts and minds around this nation. It has made libertarianism mainstream. It has put the White House in our sites!
Please consider joining the Republican Liberty Caucus of Idaho today. The RLC of Idaho is the fastest growing charter in the country. We support principled liberty Republicans in office today such as Rep. Raul Labrador, Rep. Justin Amash, Rep. Thomas Massie, Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Ted Cruz, and of course Sen. Rand Paul. (If you don't know who some of these new leaders are, do yourself a favor and google them!) Our historical champions include Ron Paul, Ronald Reagan, and Barry Goldwater.
Join today by clicking this link, and help us remain "the conscience of the GOP!"
http://rlc.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=16
Sincerely,
Ryan Davidson
Region 4 Chairman
RLC Idaho
I reached out to the campaign, who said that even though nearly every minute of his time in Moscow was booked, that could spare us 20 minutes on Friday evening if I could deliver a good turnout.
I got this confirmation Thursday afternoon.
So with less than 24 hours to plan an event, I got to work building a meet and greet around his schedule.
Of course I had promised a big turnout, but I honestly had no idea if I could get one with such short notice.
RLC members started sending out emails and making facebook posts. I took the mic at a couple of the committee hearings Friday morning to announce the event. And that was about the extent of our promotion.
We decided to make the event free for RLC members, and $5 for everyone else. I booked the "Gold Room" at the convention hotel (the same room Huckabee had been in the night before) and much to my pleasant surprise, the Paul campaign generously offered to pick up the tab for the whole event.
I had originally scheduled the event for one hour (with Rand appearing at the last 20 minutes) but then started to wonder if we might actually get a big crowd, so I changed it to two hours in case we needed more time to process people.
When the event started, it became very apparent that Rand Paul is popular in Idaho. People started streaming in! We had so many people show up that had to open up another room for overflow. We estimate that around 200 people tried to get into the event. It was so big it was getting out of control.
State Chairman Barry Peterson made it in, giving a little speech. So did Senators Risch and Crapo. (Governor Otter was nowhere to be found.)
When Rand Paul was ready to come in, I was proud to be able to escort him from his hotel room to the event. We quickly took some pictures with the RLC board, then Rand took the mic, shared a few anecdotes, took some pics, signed some autographs, and shook some hands before he was whisked away to the main event at the Kibbe Dome.
For an event I put together at the last minute, I'd have to say it was a rousing success! The RLC raised a ton of money from the entrance fees, from people joining the RLC at the door and paying dues, and from T-Shirt sales. Sen. Paul was generous enough to donate five autographed copies of his book, "The Tea Party Goes to Washington" that we were able to auction off at the event. Our big ticket items, however, were two framed copies of the US Constitution that had been autographed by Dick Heller, the famous Plaintiff from the Supreme Court case DC v Heller that reaffirmed our 2nd Amendment Rights. Rand also signed them at the event, and they raised over $600 at auction! (Thanks to RLC Vice Chair Phil Hart for donating the items.)
Senator Paul went on to play another packed house at the State Convention dinner banquet that night. His popularity at these events makes me hopeful for the future of our country. The seeds planted by Ron Paul in 2008 have grown into a nationwide movement that is seriously advocating limited government and individual rights. The fact that Rand Paul is spoken of as a frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016 by the liberal mainstream media (!) shows that our hard work is paying off. Our tireless advocacy of libertarian policy is changing hearts and minds around this nation. It has made libertarianism mainstream. It has put the White House in our sites!
Please consider joining the Republican Liberty Caucus of Idaho today. The RLC of Idaho is the fastest growing charter in the country. We support principled liberty Republicans in office today such as Rep. Raul Labrador, Rep. Justin Amash, Rep. Thomas Massie, Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Ted Cruz, and of course Sen. Rand Paul. (If you don't know who some of these new leaders are, do yourself a favor and google them!) Our historical champions include Ron Paul, Ronald Reagan, and Barry Goldwater.
Join today by clicking this link, and help us remain "the conscience of the GOP!"
http://rlc.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=16
Sincerely,
Ryan Davidson
Region 4 Chairman
RLC Idaho
From: http://www.idaholibertycaucus.org/portal/news/26-rlcid-news/85-rand-paul-headlines-rlc-event-at-idgop-state-convention
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