The Maine Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) endorsed Paul LePage in the gubernatorial primary and voted to donate funds from its Political Action Committee to his campaign.
Several people, including a morning radio host, asked about the process. I want to share the process for other groups because, although we have a clear libertarian point-of-view, we gave every candidate a fair chance through our process.
Today’s computerization has actually shortchanged candidates and voters, I believe. The nature of data compilation almost demands that questions be close-ended: either/or; yes/no; or rigid a,b or c answers. Unfortunately, almost any answer has variations and nuances and explanations which don’t fit into easy compartments.
As a voter, I get offended at opinion polls which skew my answer by asking me, “Do you consider yourself a conservative, moderate or liberal?” Where is the room in that choice to identify myself a libertarian? Does someone whom most Republicans consider a liberal skew the result if he or she responds moderate?
To avoid that, we crafted open-ended survey questions. The candidates were given free reign and as much space as needed to give their answers and explanations. It was left to our members to read the responses and mull them over before endorsement vote.
A draft of the questions was sent to all Maine RLC members who were given an opportunity to suggest their own questions before the final survey was sent to the candidates.
The questions asked the candidates to state what programs they would eliminate or sharply reduce; their views on the roles of Maine government in defining the parameters of social contracts such as marriage; the extent that Maine government should regulate personal choices in matters such as diet, sexual preference and other activities among consenting adults; a list of government services, activities or departments the candidate would seek to eliminate or sharply curtail; their views on the Maine Land Use Regulatory Commission (LURC) and its powers; their views on the rights of Maine citizens to keep and bear firearms; what steps they would take as governor to attract private investment which produces jobs; the extent parents in Maine should have in choosing which school their child attends and their views on school choice; and, why they believed they are the best candidate to preserve and restore the liberty of Maine citizens.
The only close-end question is to ask whether they would sign the RLC Liberty Compact. Maine RLC bylaws stipulate that preference be given to candidates who sign the Liberty Compact which reads:
“I (name), pledge to the citizens of the State of Maine and to the American people that, as their elected representative I will work to:
Restore liberty, not restrict it; shrink government, not expand it; reduce taxes, not raise them; abolish programs, not create them; promote the freedom and independence of citizens, not the interference of government in their lives; and observe the limited, enumerated powers of our Constitution, not ignore them.”
Every GOP gubernatorial primary candidate received the survey from our Chair Ken Lindell two weeks in advance of the state convention and were asked to return them by a deadline which permitted distribution to RLC members. Any dues-paid RLC member was eligible to attend the RLC convention and vote an endorsement, even if not a delegate to the Maine Republican Convention.
Four candidates returned surveys: Paul LePage, Bill Beardsley, Les Otten and Matt Jacobson. Neither Steve Abbott, Bruce Poloquin nor Peter Mills responded.
Three of the four who returned surveys said they would sign the Liberty Compact and were given preference on the endorsement vote balloting – LePage, Otten and Beardsley.
The officers of Maine RLC believe that our process is one of the most equitable endorsement systems.
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