by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster
In 1994 I attended a conference/convention of the Republican Liberty Caucus which took place in Gatlinberg, Tennessee with my then husband, Craig Franklin. While we were there Roger McBride, who I had known since 1974, asked me to put on the next conference in Santa Barbara, where we were living. He introduced me to a young man who he explained was working for him named Eric Rittberg. Later, Eric began using the last name Dondaro, his born name. Rittberg was the name his adoptive parents had given him.
Eric was to provide accurate lists and assist me in publicizing the event but over the next weeks Roger made it clear he did not trust Eric and wanted to put the RLC on a firm footing, which he had decided was not possible with Eric involved.
Eric had represented to Roger, who conveyed to me, that the RLC possessed a working list of supporters numbering around 3,000. But when I did a mailing to this list, an expensive undertaking in 1995 since this had to be through the post office, I was surprised to find the number of working addresses was actually only a few hundred. In the meantime, Roger had died and so was not easily available for advice.
Confronting Eric with this caused a blizzard of screams and denials on his part. By then, I had found speakers and paid the deposits for the conference site, at a nice hotel in Santa Barbara. I considered cancelling but then decided to continue. It was clear Roger was not going to receive the recognition he so deserved from either the Libertarian Party or anyone else in the Freedom Movement.
Although the line up of speakers was great attendance was thin. However, several people of note came forward and for a short time we worked on continuing Roger's legacy. Their names were Dr. Jeffry Singer, Phoenix, Arizona, Michael McCroskey, Gatlinberg, Tennessee, Tom Rawles and his wife, Linda Rawles both of Phoenix Arizona. Excuse me if other names have been lost.
The Santa Barbara Conference began with a memorial service for Roger McBride. His long time friend and co-founder of Reason Foundation MCed the memorial service where excerpts of Roger's favorite works were read.
I later learned Eric had denied he was only a paid assistant to Roger, who was then directing the development of the RLC.
I suggest you read the articles below and consider the impact individuals who see the Movement as a means to ends other than freedom have on the work.
Ron Paul famously attracts supporters from all kinds of fringe causes -- the crunchy raw milk people, the scary white pride people -- but he has a history of hiring odd ducks to his staff, too.
This piece of history has been too long glossed over. Now, google Eric Dondaro Rittberg. Roger did not receive the credit he so richly deserved. This was not just because of Eric, however. The Movement failed to appreciate him also because they had become accustomed to joining asking for donations and formulating 'policy' for government instead of looking to how a free market creates freedom for everyone when it is used with a focus on human investments and not through a mask of deceit.
The RLC went in exactly that direction, which must sadden anyone who knew Roger.
History of the RLC from their own site,.
"In the mid-1980’s, a group of libertarian activists who wanted to have an influence within the Republican Party rather than to go the third party route, discussed having an organization working within the GOP. The resulting organization – the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) – is the oldest continuously operating organization in the Liberty Republican movement with state chapters nationwide.
The national RLC was formally organized in April 1991 when the 1976 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Roger MacBride called a meeting of like-minded Republicans. The RLC held its first national convention in July 1991 and Eric Rittberg, who had been active earlier in the Libertarian Republican Organizing Committee, was elected its first National Chair.
Subsequent RLC National Chairs in the 1990’s included Clifford Thies, the Eldon R. Lindsay Chair of Free Enterprise and Professor of Economics and Finance at Shenandoah University in Virginia, Roger MacBride, and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Chuck Muth, former executive director of the American Conservative Union and of the Nevada Republican Party, was elected RLC National Chair in 2000, followed by California State Assembly Communications Director Douglas Lorenz, Los Angeles radio commentator William Westmiller and Dave Nalle of Texas, who is the Senior Political Editor of Blogcritics Magazine. The current Chair is Matt Nye of Florida, an IT consultant and a Republican leader in the Sunshine State.
The RLC National Convention is held biennially in odd-numbered years, where national officers are elected and delegates hear from prominent Liberty Republican thinkers and elected officials. National conventions have been held in Gatlinburg, TN, Alexandria, VA, Las Vegas, Atlanta, San Antonio, Fresno, Orlando, Jacksonville, Arlington, VA, and Austin, TX. Portland, Maine will host the 2015 National RLC Convention.
The National Republican Liberty Caucus grants Charters for state RLC organizations which have representation on the RLC National Board through elected Regional Directors.
RLC National endorses Liberty Republican candidates for President, United States Senate and House in primaries and general elections, contributes to their campaigns through the RLC-USA Federal PAC and provides grassroots supporters. State chapters endorse gubernatorial and legislative candidates and contribute directly from their own state PAC.
Candidates seeking RLC endorsement fill out an issues survey and are asked to sign The Liberty Compact which reads:
"I pledge to the citizens of this State, 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."
Members of Congress who have signed the The Liberty Compact include Senators Jeff Flake of Arizona, Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Mike Lee of Utah, and Representatives Justin Amash and Kerry Bentvolio, both of Michigan, Tom McClintock of California, Adrain Smith of Nebraska, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Jim Jordan and Steve Chabot, both of Ohio, Mike Mulvaney of South Carolina, Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee, John Chavetz of Utah and John Shadegg of Arizona."
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