The message board is nice for posting political updates and the like, but I'm the first to admit that I don't know everyone out there, and I definitely don't know you all by your screennames on here. So I'm going to post a little bit about myself and maybe you'll follow suit.

My name is Jonathan Hunter and I'm 24 years old from Valparaiso, but I grew up in various locations around Ohio, where most of my family still lives. I came to Valparaiso to attend VU and I got my degree in Meteorology in 2007. Right now, I'm trying to land myself a regular job, whether locally or abroad.

I got into the RLC through the Ron Paul campaign. I was always a supporter of libertarian policies and I flirted with joining the Libertarian Party for a while, but my support of Paul kept me in the Republican Party. I stumbled into the local Ron Paul campaign on accident, when I was working and delivering pizza to the library. I saw another room with signs set up everywhere and I walked in to ask a few questions where I met our then Porter County Ron Paul organizer, and now INRLC Chairman Charlie Kochenash as well as Shawn Olson, who works IT for us.

I worked with both the Bill Johnson and the Shawn Olson campaigns this last year, sort of as a de facto campaign manager for Shawn and as a PR volunteer for Bill. Shawn lost in the primary to a well-entrenched big spending Republican, but gave him quite a scare in the process. The republican has stopped calling for exploratory committees on new tax issues and he has begun vocally supporting Right to Work legislation in a big change of heart. He's been a lot less brash on spending issues this session so far and I hope that he keeps it up. Now that's creating some positive change!

With Bill, I walked more miles on a campaign than I ever have before, and I wrote some of the material for his campaign website. We got out there talking to people all over Lake and Porter County. In a campaign where the county was dominated by Obama coattails for all the lesser Democrats, we came in as 3 times outspent Republican outsiders and we made some big headway, preparing ourselves for our eventual victory next year.

We set out even before the fall elections to keep our momentum going from meeting people and creating our new political paths and the INRLC came out of that. I'm proud to be a founder and current Board Member for us. With my current job prospects in mind, I'm still going to fulfill my duties of making the RLC the vehicle of the future of the Republican Party and a force to reckon with in Indiana.

Next?

My name is Clark Giles, I'm a real estate broker primarily working in the downtown area and on the north side (Geist/Fishers). I grew up in a family where my parents have always owned their own business or been self-employed so even in my "pinko" college years, I've always had a sympathy with the small businessman.

Currently, I'm 32 and I'm finishing up my Master's in Political Science this semester and a graduate certificate in Political Research over the rest of this year. Next year, I being work in earnest on my Phd in the field.

I've traditionally split my vote most elections between the Republican and Libertarian candidates (usually voting Libertarian on local issues) and like most liberty-loving Republicans, I have my fair share of reservations about the GOP over the years. My area of focus in my graduate studies has been largely on institutional modeling on the state level and over the years, however, I've become convinced that a third party will never be a viable option unless massive institutional and legislative changes occur first. In consideration of this, I have simply accepted that change must come from within the party itself and I think a return to the idea of Federalism and States' Rights is the logical future direction for the Republican Party. A mutual acceptance of Federalism is the only way that I see the Republican Party saving itself from Balkanization as the Libertarian-leaning and the Socially-Conservative wings become increasingly antagonistic towards one another. My only solace is the Democratic Party faces its own challenges from within.

Well, I've ranted too long. I'm glad to meet everyone and I look forward to meeting you all in person at future events.

Clark