I met Russell Brooksbank (and several other Libertarian 2016 Congressional Candidates) at the Signing of the Compact for Liberty. While I don't think our paths have physically crossed since, I've kept up with him via the internet.
JR: Welcome to my blog, Russell. I’ll start with a typical question – could you tell us how you became a Christian and how you became a Libertarian? (Okay, the second part is only typical when I’m interviewing a Libertarian.)
RB: The short answer to both of those questions is, “I was born that way.” I grew up in a Christian home. My parents made sure that I knew God. I was baptized as an infant in the Roman Catholic church my dad grew up in. I remember attending the Bible School that the neighborhood Baptist Church put on in the Summer. I grew up, and was confirmed, in the Lutheran Church. I was an acolyte, a choir member, and later served on the church council overseeing the few youths we had. I was baptized again as a young man in a park by full immersion in a metal trough while at a Bible study group I was involved with. I now attend a non-denominational Christian church. I can’t point to one particular time where I can say, “That’s when I became a Christian.” I can, however, point to many times when I have fallen and then subsequently rededicated my life to Christ. Isn’t it great that we have a God who is willing to pick us up, dust us off, and let us try again?
I’ve also always been a libertarian. I just didn’t know it. I knew there was something inherently wrong with violating people’s rights. My parents did good raising me to adhere to the Golden Rule. My dad instilled a love of country and service to others. I was raised to stand up for people and for what I believed in. I knew what was right. I knew tyranny when I saw it. I grew up thinking that the Republican Party stood for the things I believed in, like limited government. I was so wrong.
I joke that I was diagnosed libertarian, but it really is the truth. I was going through a rather difficult time and sought out counselling to help me navigate the rough weather of life. It helped me immensely by the way. It was during a session where we were talking about me finding some friends outside of work that she said, “I believe you are a libertarian. There’s a group that meets at Kingfish every second Tuesday of the month. Your homework is to go to one of their meetups and make some friends.” Well, the rest, as they say, is history. I found my tribe at that meetup. Finally, a group of people that I could relate to. I’ve been a Libertarian ever since and haven’t looked back.
JR: I met you when you were running for the 9th Congressional District for the US House in ‘16. What was it like with that campaign? Did the Presidential Campaign of that year (Trump vs. Clinton for those who aren’t familiar with the distant past) have any impact on your campaign? Any experiences and/or lessons-for-everyday-life that you’d like to share?
RB: I had an awesome time running for Congress. I really enjoyed going around the district to various events. From what you know of me, you would not guess that I’m a very introverted person. I get bad stage fright. Putting myself out there, making speeches, and doing interviews was frightening, but exhilarating. It really helped me get over my fears. I ran my campaign with blinders on. What I mean by that was I did not care what anyone else was doing. I was there to give people a choice. I was going to talk about what I would do, not about my opponents. I was there to educate, inspire, and build bridges, not tear down my opponents. Because, at the end of it all, we are all members of the community and have to find a way to coexist.
I’m sure the Presidential campaign had some impact. We had two very polarizing candidates running. People were hungry for something different. They looked for alternatives. That probably helped boost my numbers a bit. I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish. I received over 17,000 votes while spending only $400 on a congressional campaign. There isn’t a major party candidate who can touch that vote per dollar ratio, LOL.
My big life lesson takeaway from this is: Don’t be afraid! I saw a void in leadership and put myself out there. If you can do something and you don’t then can you really complain? I didn’t win, but I tried. I can at least tell my grandkids that I stepped into the arena. I mean, there has been an Indiana representative in Congress since the 14th Congress. That means there has been only 112 elections. My name will be included in history as being on the ballot for one of them. How cool is that? Not many people get to say that.
JR: I’ll ask the question you’re probably wanting me to ask: What could you tell us about the Libertarian Pro-Life Caucus? How and when did it start? What does the Caucus do? Is it more of a bridge between the pro-life movement and the LP, or is it more independent of the other movements?
RB: The Pro Life Libertarian Caucus started in earnest after the 2020 Libertarian National Convention. It was in the “Beta” stage during the convention. It was an idea that had been brewing in my head for a few years prior to that. I was always asking around and gauging interest for the formation of a caucus. I knew that I was pro-life, and I could see where the pro-life message could, and should, be the message within the Libertarian Party. I wondered if there were people like me within the party. I found that there were. There is a huge number of pro-life people within the party.
So, I started the formation of the caucus in order to give pro-life libertarians a voice within their party. The process was a long one. We started with an organizational committee. Then after months of hashing out bylaws, platform, statement of principles, we held our online convention that took us months to complete. Our first convention officially adjourned on June 7, 2021. What we do is simply stated within our SoP. “We believe that a pro-life stance is the correct stance for the Libertarian Party.
We strive to move the culture of the Libertarian Party towards that stance by supporting candidates for party leadership, nominees to public office, changes to our party platform, and education of fellow members.” While we will work with any pro-life organization to rid our world of the abomination that is abortion, we are primarily a group dedicated to change within the Libertarian Party. Part of changing the culture is living our principles out loud. We recently partnered with a person within the party to buy formula for some folks during the shortage. So, I see the PLLC as a vehicle to change hearts and minds within the LP and to help our community.
JR: There are two big things that have happened this year. Well, actually one big thing and one humongous thing, but I’ll start with the big thing. Did the Libertarian Party get rid of their pro-choice plank? Could you describe what changed? How has it affected the LP? And does it change the function of your caucus?
RB: Yes! We finally were able to get rid of the plank. For those unfamiliar, the process is simple. Each delegate to the convention gets 5 tokens (votes) that they can use to vote to bring any platform plank up for a straight up or down vote to delete it from our platform. They can put all their votes on one plank, spread them around, or don’t vote for any. If a plank gets votes totaling 20% of the number of delegates, then it comes up for a non-debatable yes or no vote. Then it takes just a simple majority to remove it. The abortion plank had come up for deletion at every convention I could remember. The token votes increased exponentially. We almost had a majority in 2020. This time around we had an overwhelming majority. The plank has been removed.
What has changed is that now the national platform is silent on the issue. They tried to be neutral with the plank, but it failed. This change allows for members and candidates to truly be free to hold whatever opinion they want. The party has gone from, “What does the Libertarian Party think?” to “What do you, a Libertarian, think?” A much better question, don’t you think?
I believe this will make for a better, more inclusive, LP. There were a lot of people that have told me that they just could not join or support the LP because of that plank. That obstacle is now gone. The work of the caucus is far from over. It really is just beginning. We have state affiliates and their platforms to deal with. We have hearts and minds throughout the party to win. We have candidates to support. We have programs to support. There is a lot of work to do. We are growing by leaps and bounds. I’m very excited for the future of the caucus.
JR: Of course, the humongous thing is the overturning of Roe v. Wade. And of course the Democrats aren’t happy and the House passed a couple of bills to regain (and probably expand) their ideology. Personally, I’ve had a concern that if Roe v. Wade was overturned, many pro-lifers will congratulate themselves on a job well done and forget about the crisis pregnancy centers which will be more in need. What do you see as the short and long term effects of the SCOTUS decision? And again, how does this impact the Libertarian Pro-Life Caucus?
RB: I issued a statement after the SCOTUS decision was handed down. It read:
“Today was an awesome day! Today, the Supreme Court rightfully sent the issue of abortion back to each state to wrestle with individually. They found that there was never a constitutional right to kill your child because they were inconvenient.
"Overturning Roe v Wade is an enormous victory, and I don’t want to belittle it, but there is much more work to be done. This is just the beginning. Now the fight moves to each individual state. We can’t rest. We need to push forward. We must end this practice!
"The opposition has been riled up. They now have a rally cry. We need to be louder. Time to write your state government demanding that they recognize the rights of all people regardless of their stage of development. Time to stand firm.
"This news also affords us the opportunity to live our principles out loud. Not only do we need to stand firm, but we need to step up. What is something that you could do to help someone in need? What can you do to help those single mothers not feel like they need to consider abortion? What can you do to help the victim of rape not feel worthless and pressured to have an abortion? What can you do to make the lives of children in foster care better? Figure out what you can do, then go do it!
"This decision will not stop abortion in this country, but love, compassion, and understanding can. Let’s be the light. I’m going to go love someone who is hurting today. Will you join me?”
The Pro Life Libertarian Caucus will continue to promote the Libertarian values of supporting the rights of all people regardless of location and station and supporting voluntary action to care for our fellow human beings.
JR: Thank you for your time. How can we learn more about the caucus?
RB: Thank you so much for the opportunity. Our website is: https://libertyprolife.org/PLLC/ We also have a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ProLifeLC) and a Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/610649603400706/) And we are on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LPProLifeCaucus.
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