Who are these libertarian Republicans? What do they believe in? Where did they come from? That's what we want to know.

Those were the questions posed to RLCer Philip Blumel, who was invited by the Cape Coral Republican Club -- the biggest in Republican-dominated Lee County -- to speak at their April meeting.  The Cape Coral Republicans have watched as an RLC group was formed locally and much of the leadership of the Southwest Florida Young Republicans have allied with the emergent libertarian Republican movement. The perception is that libertarians sparked the Tea Party movement and that, among the young, the best and brightest are attracted to this 'new' cause.

In answering their queries, Blumel started with the latest polling on the number of libertarians among the electorate, their voting patterns and demographics. He moved on to define the term and then trace the history of these 'new' libertarian ideas from the Classical Liberal era that grew out of the 18th century Enlightenment until its rebirth as 'libertarianism' in the 20th. Then he compared the creed with conservatism and discussed specific issues in a wide ranging question-and-answer session.

The meeting was interactive and friendly and attended by about 60. Several libertarian-leaning Young Republicans and RLCers also attended the meeting, such as Vince Perfetto Jr., Aaron O'Brien and Mercedes Price-Harry, which helped put a face to the movement. Several officeholders and candidates attended, including RLC-friendly county commission candidate Dick Ripp (shown talking to Blumel, below).

This was only the latest in a series of presentations by libertarian Republicans in Southwest Florida. Lawrence Reed, president of the Foundation of Economic Education, spoke at the Cape Coral GOP club and Bob Levy, chairman of the Cato Institute, spoke in Estero this year. With the assistance of the campus-bound Eagles for Liberty, FEE president Lawrence Reed and Army policeman Kyle Vogt and others have brought the freedom message to Florida Gulf Coast University.