With the 2009 election season winding to a close in less than a week, the high profile races have come into pretty good focus.  Here is how I see it playing out.

Virginia - Republicans run the table.  It's a traditionally red state, the leading dems have run lousy campaigns, and the Republicans, McDonnell (Gov.), Bolling (Lt. Gov.), and Cuccinelli (A.G) all have equally insurmountable leads.

New Jersey - There's an old saying in politics, "If you don't want the election stolen, win big."  Christie has let this thing get too close as a Republican in a corrupt liberal state.  He made the fatal error of attacking a third-party candidiate a couple of weeks ago and it's been down hill ever since.  It will all come down to turn-out and fraud.  The Democrat machine in New Jersey are masters of both.  Corzine retains the governorship.

New York (23 CD) - You know when the leftist press starts claiming that a conservative accountant from the sticks of New York has Taliban ties, they are frantic to make something stick.  They should be.  Unless he really crashes in the televised debate, this thing is Hoffman's to win, handing the Republican Party leadership and the President much needed slap downs.

A couple of less watched races are also worth noting. 

In my home town of Seattle, polls show that a conservative Republican, Susan Huchinson, may have a shot at becoming the King County executive.  That would be the first time a conservative won anything in that area since Ugg-Ugg beat Klok in the great rock throwing debate of 11,624 B.C.

In California's 10th congressional district which, since redistricting a few years ago, has leaned slightly to the left of the Castro brothers, polls show a Republican, David Harmer, within striking distance.  It's a long shot, but in a wave election year, who knows.

R3volution Consultants is proud to announce that we have been retained to develop fund-raising and internet capacity for Partido Movimiento Libertario de Costa Rica (Libertarian Movement Party of Costa Rica or PML)

Founded in 1994, PML stands alone as the most successful libertarian party anywhere in the world.  They currently hold 6 of 52 seats in the Asamblea Legislativa (the Costa Rican congress) and received almost 10% in the last presidential election.

Thanks to a strange situation in Costa Rica whereby the other 4 significant parties are ALL running to the left in the congressional and presidential elections scheduled for the first week of February 2010, the PML is in a position to make considerable gains, possibly even becoming the official opposition party or winning the presidency outright.

Such an event would reverberate throughout the international libertarian community and provide us with our first example of viable, practical libertarianism electoral success.  

We call on our freedom-loving brothers and sisters in the United States and around the world to support the efforts of the PML in the coming year as we seek to light a fire of freedom in the heart of the Americas.  Please visit the English-translated version of the PML website to learn more.

In the coming months, R3volution Consultants will be providing specific actions that international libertarians can take to aid in this important project to establish a libertarian nation only two hours by air from Miami.  But don't wait for us, begin spreading the word about this exciting opportunity now. For more information, feel free to contact us here.

Update: If you would like to visit the website of Costa Rican Libertarian presidential candidate and RELIAL founder Otto Guevara, please click here for an English-translated version.  If you would like to donate to this important campaign, please click here.

Article originally appeared on The Freedom Revolution.

Most people don't know it, but there is one group of libertarians who have defied the conventional wisdom that freedom and politics are mutually exclusive and, therefore, a "libertarian party" is a contradiction in terms.  I am referring to the Partido Movimiento Libertario de Costa Rica (Libertarian Movement Party of Costa Rica or PML).

Since its inception in 1994, the PML has sought to bridge the gap between philosophy and practical politics with a considerable degree of success. The PML currently holds 6 of 57 seats in the National Assembly (Costa Rica's legislature) and is poised for greater success in the elections scheduled for February of 2010.

One of the major reasons for their success is due to the structure of the Costa Rican system. Costa Rica uses a system of proportional representation to seat the Assembly. Each party receives one deputy for each c. 1.75% of the total vote that they receive. PML got 9.1% of the popular vote in 2006, giving them 6 deputies in the current legislature.  In total, PML claims 81 elected officials in a country of 4.2 million people. By way of comparison, if Costa Rica had a population of 300 million (as the U.S. does), they would claim over 5,700 elected libertarians.

Costa Rica has long been considered a libertarian Mecca for its laissez-faire approach to personal choices and a pacifist Constitution which abolished the military in 1949.  Prostitution is legal and private property is mostly respected by the state. Costa Rica also boasts one of the very few national constitutional courts of original jurisdiction, the Sala IV.  Here, anyone who feels their constitutional rights have been violated can file a complaint directly with the Supreme Court and have their case heard and adjudicated within months, often less.

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The American proxy war in Somalia has come to an end with the provisional government in taters, our proxy army, the Ethiopians, in full retreat and the Islamist militants against whom we waged this war, at a cost of billions of dollars, now in control of 4 of the 6 main military facilities in Mogadishu.  All of which might lead one to ask, "Why is this the first I have heard of any of this before now?"

I have been so heartened by the incredible, positive response to R3volution Consultants.  Since the launch on Tuesday, I have been constantly busy talking to candidates and potential candidates as well as responding to the scores of well-wishes and email list requests.

We are now working diligently with several candidates including a couple who are well known to everyone who has been involved in this movement.  We look forward to sharing with you when they are ready to officially announce their candidacies.

We are focused on helping those candidates understand their districts and states through rigorous analysis as well as laying the groundwork for their fund-raising and web presence efforts.

Stay tuned to R3voltion Consultants for updates and, if you haven't done so already, join our email list now to receive the latest news on R3volution Candidates.

After I finished my time with Campaign for Liberty, I began to wonder what sort of new project I could take on that would continue to aid the movement for smaller, constitutional government in a meaningful way.  I began to look at the incredible efforts made by our candidates and supporters around the country in this last election cycle with a single question in mind, “What can we, as a movement, do to improve our ability to engage effectively in electoral politics in the future?”

It occurred to me that, while we have an incredible amount of constructive energy and righteous desire to improve our nation, we are a young movement with many committed patriots that are still very new to politics.  As a result, campaigns around the country were learning the same lessons and repeating many of the same mistakes because they simply didn’t have the kind of expert advice and proven service contractors that so-called “mainstream” major party candidates do as a result of their relationships and access to well-established political machines.

From my perspective, I saw an opportunity to use the relationships that I have developed over my career in politics to provide our candidate’s with the same level of professional campaign services while also engaging some of the scores of creative movement activists whose independent work I have enjoyed and who I sometimes commissioned for projects with the Paul campaign and Campaign for Liberty.

It is my great hope that R3volution Consultants adds value to our movement and helps lead to greater electoral success in the future.

Yours in liberty,

Don

I recently received an email from my good friend and former Ron Paul campaign colleague Joe Seehusen asking for help in voting up a question he submitted to Americans for Tax Reform to be ask at last night’s Republican National Committee Chairman’s Debate.

Seeing the opportunity to get the vast and engaged R3volution grassroots involved, I quickly forwarded this request to my extensive activist list as well as the Campaign for Liberty and The Daily Paul.  Both featured Joe’s email prominently as an action item on their sites. 

Within a few hours, Joe’s question…

“In light of the success of the Ron Paul presidential campaign attracting large numbers of young activists to the conservative cause, what specifically will you do to ensure they become Republicans?”

… went from 3^rd in the voting to an insurmountable lead.  Last night, Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist asked the potential GOP leaders that question.  AOL reported on the vote surge here calling it an "internet coup." Politico has the story here.

This is just one example of how the Constitutionalist Wing of the Republican Party remains active, vibrant and ready to support causes and candidates committed to the principles of limited government, free markets and sound money.

I recently drafted a letter to the President and people of Costa Rica with the help of Euro Pacific Capital’s Peter Schiff.  Peter is supporting me in my efforts to get President Arias to change the relationship between the Costa Rican Colon and the US Dollar in order to ensure that the coming dollar inflation does not sink the economy of this successful and vibrant nation.  It is a lesson that all governments with a high exposure to the dollar should take into consideration.  Below find the full text of the letter, which will be appearing in a Costa Rican daily paper in the coming days…

An Open Letter to the Honorable Oscar Arias Sanchez; and to the People of Costa Rica

Mr. President:

First, allow me to commend you for the many bold and insightful steps that you have taken to ensure the growing and future prosperity of the Costa Rican people.  Your decision to champion the DR-CAFTA (TLC) agreement, at great political risk and in the face of strong opposition, shows boldness of leadership and a substantial understanding of the forces that drive freedom and prosperity.  Already your leadership in this area is beginning to bear fruit to the great benefit of your nation, and will lead to greater consumer choice, more direct foreign investment, and an expansion of the employment base as the terms of the treaty become fully realized.

Also, the difficult, but necessary, decision to embrace the growing purchasing and manufacturing power of the Chinese people has shown a steely determination to do what is best for Costa Rica.  This is true of the other bi-lateral and multi-lateral trade agreements that your administration has pursued as well.  By expanding markets for Costa Rican products and increasing the availability of international goods in Costa Rica, you have done a great service for both the consumers and the producers of your nation.

You have worked hard to control inflation, reform government, and create an environment where free people can succeed and enjoy the fruits of those successes.

These are just some examples of the many excellent and principled policies that have been advanced by your administration, but I write today to warn of a looming crisis that threatens the prosperity of the Costa Rican people and could potentially undermine much of what has been accomplished.

My concern arises from the relationship between the Costa Rican colon and the United States dollar, commonly referred to as the floating peg.  Under this monetary regime, the colon has been allowed to float along a defined band relative to the dollar with adjustments to the Costa Rican monetary supply commensurate with fluctuations that push the colon above or below the limits of that price band.

While the relationship of the colon to the dollar has certainly benefited Costa Rica in the post-Cold War era, the period known as dollar hegemony is quickly coming to an end.  Recent moves by the Bush administration, in concert with the United States Federal Reserve Bank, have exposed the dollar to unprecedented inflationary pressures.  By way of comparison, the policy prescriptions now being applied in the United States more closely resemble the policies of many Latin American governments in the late-Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) period of the 1960’s and 1970’s then the carefully measured monetary policies that have benefited Costa Rica by largely stabilizing the colon. 

As a result, the outcome for the dollar will predictably be the same.  Massive printing and borrowing in the United States is leading to an exponential increase in inflation of the monetary base and a subsequent reduction in the purchasing power of the dollar.

Over the course of the last several months, the United States government has handed out, promised, or laid the groundwork for the transfer of c. US $8 trillion.  This includes the bailouts (and effective nationalization) of banks, insurance companies and the automotive industry with no end in sight.  The recent decision of the Federal Reserve to take interest rates to near 0% will flood the market with cheap dollars which will then be exposed to the money creation effect of the US banking/lending industry placing further incalculable downward pressure on the value of the dollar.

The potential harm to Costa Rica, should you choose to follow the United States down this path of irresponsibly loose monetary policy, could be catastrophic.  The moral hazard of these historically failed policies and the decisions now being made in Washington D.C. lays heavy on the shoulders of every Costa Rican; and yours most of all, Mr. President.

If the current monetary regime remains in place, then just like cork tied to a brick and cast into a lake, the dollar will pull the colon down as the peg requires greater and greater devaluations in order to stay within the defined band relative to a collapsing dollar.

This historic and world altering collapse has already begun.  In just the past month, the US Dollar index has lost over 7% of its value while non-consumable commodities such as gold have seen increases in value by as much as 15% as forward-looking investors leave the dollar in favor of safe harbors from the coming inflationary storm.

I call on you to do what you have done for the past two years and, indeed, throughout your exemplary public service career: take bold and decisive action to the benefit of the millions of Costa Ricans who have rightly trusted you as the steward of the public good. 

As a diplomat, you brought peace to millions and were awarded the Nobel Prize for your efforts.  As an economist, you have advocated for policies that have increased prosperity and brought hope to the region. As president, you have shown yourself to be pragmatic as well as principled.  We ask that you show bold leadership now and end the relationship between the colon and the dollar.  Allow the value of the colon to be decided by market forces rather then the irrational and corrupt monetary regime of the United States.  In doing so, you will preserve your legacy and help to ensure the prosperity of your people in these troubled times.

Don Rasmussen                                                                                                  R3volution Consultants

Pending the outcome of the inevitable lawsuit, the Minnesota senate race between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken appears to be over with Franken "winning" by a margin of 225 votes of almost 2.7 million votes cast after a rather dubious recount.  The situation in Minnesota highlights the terrible mismanagement of new voters and activists that were brought in as a result of Ron Paul's historic presidential run.  In the Minnesota Republican Caucuses, Dr. Paul won 15.7% or about 9800 total votes.  Additionally, the Rally for the Republic in Minneapolis was attended by over 12,000 people, many of whom were Minnesota locals.

This strong base of support within the Republican Party was repeatedly insulted and squandered by the party powers.  At the Minnesota state convention, Dr. Paul was not allowed to participate while disgraced neo-con warmonger Karl Rove was on hand to give the keynote address.  At the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Dr. Paul was not even given the same access to the floor that ALL members of congress are entitled to while a parade of national socialists such as Joe Lieberman and Rudy Giuliani were given prime time speaking roles.

Unbeknownst to most people, Norm Coleman was a leading figure in the efforts to marginalize and exclude Constitutionalist Republicans in his state.  In fact, Coleman, along with RNC Delegate Services Director Shannon Boozman, intimidated and threatened the Target Center staff in Minneapolis in an effort to get them to shut down the Rally for the Republic as well as a concert by political angst rockers Rage Against the Machine the following night.  All credit to the Target Center for refusing to back down.

Nonetheless, the incident highlights just how far the Republican Party has been willing to go to marginalize conservatives and Constitutionalists who speak up and refuse to rubber stamp the warfare/welfare policies of the current party leadership.

Had Coleman sought to court and encourage those Constitutionalists, he would be a US senator today.  If you ask Norm Coleman now, I wonder if he might be singing a different tune?