Posted by Ike Hall on 05/18/09 09:41 AM Last updated 05/18/09 3:38 PM [Newer: Georgia Coordinators Condemn Recent Murders] [Older: Vision Statement]

The Campaign for Liberty had a highly successful outreach at the Georgia Republican Party state convention this weekend in the beautiful city of Savannah.

Our literature table was one of the best staffed and most popular tables in the convention hall.

 

We debuted the petitions to Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson in support of the companion legislation to H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009 (S. 604),  and gathered over 200 signatures for each senator--all from Republicans!



Thanks to all of the C4L volunteers who collected signatures and handed out literature and buttons and chocolates, but special kudos goes out to Sean Mangieri, whose enthusiastic outreach garnered about two-thirds of those signatures!

The petitions will be delivered to the local offices of Senators Chambliss and Isakson this week.



I was pleased to thank Ninth District Congressman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal for his support of HR 1207, whose table was right next to ours.

The convention itself was well planned by the staff of the Georgia GOP and smoothly orchestrated by convention chairman Randy Evans. On Friday we heard from gubernatorial candidates Nathan Deal, Karen Handel, Eric Johnson, John Oxendine, Austin Scott, and Ray McBerry.

Friday night, many of us gathered at the Boar's Head restaurant on River Street.

The food was excellent and the company even more so! Please help me thank our 12th Regional Coordinator Mitch Anderson for making the arrangements.

On Saturday, the business session opened. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele addressed the convention, as did former Congressman J.C. Watts and syndicated radio talk show host (and former Kansas City Fed chairman) Herman Cain.

There were challenges for the first and second vice-chair positions, which were won by incumbent Rob Doll and challenger B.J. Van Gundy, respectively. Everyone else, including state chairwoman Sue Everhart, was elected by acclamation.

Two interesting changes were made to the rules. The first was that no GOP officials could use their titles in the endorsement of candidates in races contested by more than one Republican. The second was a term limitation of three two year terms for state officers.

Many Campaign for Liberty activists had submitted resolutions to the state GOP and quite a few of our ideas (including H.R. 1207, state sovereignty, open and concealed carry of handguns, and opposition to REAL-ID) made it into the several omnibus resolutions, which will be posted as soon as we have a copy. My deepest thanks to the Resolutions Committee for their hard work in distilling hundreds of submissions into these excellent resolutions.



The C4L activists that did not have to leave right after the convention gathered at Kevin Barry's Pub on River Street for lunch with gubernatorial candidate Ray McBerry, who enjoyed being amongst such true lovers of liberty! Thank you all for a great weekend!

Posted 05/18/09 10:19 AM Break your chains Byron, GA

Ray McBerry seems to be one of the largest advocates of the 10th Amendment, thus far. It will be interesting to see how well he does as the issue of state's rights will undoubtedly grow more and more popular in the next year or so.

Posted 05/18/09 11:47 AM Bill Greene Braselton, GA

Great summary. Almost makes you feel like you were there, doesn't it? :-)

Posted 05/18/09 12:01 PM Fjhaddad1 Woodstock, GA

Excellent coverage, it looks like Campaign for Liberty was represented very well. I wish I could have been there but I had a mandatory study abroad orientation I had to be at that weekend.

Posted 05/18/09 12:02 PM JohnnyREB1977 Claxton, GA

Sounds like it was a great time in Savannah. And Ray is definitely a staunch supporter of the 10th Amendment and States' Rights. During the '06 election I think he got something like 12% of the vote; if he can build on that effectively he may do very well indeed (I hope so). I've met him a few times over the past few years and he really is a great guy.

Posted 05/18/09 12:53 PM ReformedApologian Las Vegas, NV

Ray McBerry is terrific. He has openly said he is willing to stand up to the feds and tell them to "Get the hell out" of his state's affairs. Every C4L member nation-wide should support him. Getting good state sovereignty governors is the best thing we can do election-wise in 2010.

Posted 05/18/09 12:54 PM Ken from CT Milford, CT

Excellent job guys. The Mad Boar, yummy, great beer too!

Posted 05/18/09 2:35 PM Glenn Cumming, GA

Thanks for the post, Ike. Wish I had been there. Nice to find out about Ray McBerry and just read recently Deal is running for Governor. C4Lers and other liberty lovers just seem like happier people, don't they?

Posted 05/18/09 3:40 PM Ike Hall Clarkston, GA

Thanks for the comments, everyone! BTW, I just delivered the petitions to the offices of Senators Chambliss and Isakson. I cannot tell you how proud and relieved I was to do that!

Posted 05/18/09 5:12 PM Break your chains Byron, GA

Hey Ike, 'Better get started on the petitions to recall them. Then I'll share in some of that relief. :) Seriously, though, good job. At least we have written record of having told them what to do, so they can predictably continue to do what we don't want them to do, and the case against them only grows stronger.

Posted 05/18/09 5:18 PM nadams Atlanta, GA

You guys rock! I wish I could have made it down this year for the festivities. This organization is growing and maturing by leaps and bounds.

Posted 05/18/09 8:02 PM Lawful Money Woodstock, GA

You are all my heroes! Special props to liberty evangelist zealot & Champion of the Constitution, Sean Mangieri. A more humble yet relentless and passionate defender of Americanism it would be hard to find. No Newt, No Jindals, No Hucksters, No Romlianis, No Perry, No Sanford, No Vacuous Alaskan Governors, No Bilderberg, No CFR, No Rhodes "Scholars", No IRS, No Fed, No UN, No NAFTA, No CAFTA, No NAU, No Demopublicans, No Treason.....NO KIDDING Ron Paul 2012

Posted 05/18/09 9:11 PM MitchAnderson Savannah, GA

I had a chance to thank Phil Gingrey this weekend, plus having done so previously with Jack Kingston at the District Conventions. We ought to make sure a handshake and personal thanks is delivered to each of the guys in Georgia who've gotten on board with HR1207.

Posted 05/18/09 9:45 PM Son Of Liberty Erie, PA

Great work!

Posted 05/19/09 4:36 PM Boyd.Parks Acworth, GA

Great posting, Ike! As someone said, it was almost like being there. It was good to see so many friends and neighbors. Thanks to you and all of the others for keeping up the fight. It sounds as if we are making progress.

Posted 05/19/09 7:19 PM shadowfreder Chandler, AZ

I love these pictures. You all look so enthusiastic and happy!!

Posted 05/20/09 12:05 PM neiljones Valdosta, GA

Had a blast. McBerry's speech (and his states' rights points) were well received by the delegation. The omnibus resolution that included HR 1207 support actually got a pretty thunderous outburst of applause. I almost stood on my chair to clap. It was awesome.