Posted on 11/07/2007 5:54:10 AM PST by theothercheek
Second-tier presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) pulled off a first-rate fundraising coup, netting $4.3 million in online contributions from 38,000 donors in a single day, bringing his total haul to $7.3 million in 4Q 2007. No other Republican comes close to Pauls 24-hour feat, but Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has him beat at $6.2 million.
Paul supporters flashed their cash in honor of Guy Fawkes Day, which commemorates the would-be assassin of Englands King James I on Nov. 5, 1605. Guy Fawkes was also the inspiration the novel-turned-movie "V for Vendetta," in which the lead character takes on a fascist government in England. In several GOP presidential debates, the libertarian Paul has all-but called George W. Bush a fascist taking issue with the Administrations policies on domestic spying, for instance.
So does this mean Paul has a shot at the nomination? In a word: Nah. The Stiletto agrees with WaPo political blogger Chris Cillizzas: take:
Paul was widely seen as a political gadlfy when he entered the race, but through skill, luck or a little of both he has built himself into an Internet phenomenon.
It's not yet clear that Paul's online national community can deliver actual votes for him. While Paul is at the center of a national movement, it won't help him in Iowa or New Hampshire if thousands of people from California or Illinois are backing him.
There has always been a pot of money that exists for unconventional candidates who believe the system is fundamentally broken and are only tangentially affiliated with a party.
[H]is money and his message make him a actor in New Hampshire ... he remains a decided longshot ... the excitement and attention he is drawing would seem to be a perfect lead up to a third party candidacy if and when he loses the Republican nomination.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Jonathan Bydlak, the Paul campaigns fundraising director posted a message on the candidate's Web site that the ka-ching means just one thing: Ron Paul is for real." Maybe. But it appears his supporters are real (second item).
Note: The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The Stiletto Blog.
The most realistic thing Paul has a shot at is shoring up the election for Hillary.
YES
___
And when he drops out after the primaries, I will laugh at their folly.
Single-issue anti-war voters would vote for Paul instead of Hillary, but would vote for Hillary or stay home if she was running against Rudy.
Yes, Virginia, I am FOR REAL!!!!!!!!..........
In any gathering of peoples or communities, one can always find a cheeky few who simply delight in pissing everyone else off.
I think that’s what we have here. Let them have there day.
Make sure that they vote for the “most conservative” candidate. Who can actually win a presidential race in the end.
Ron Paul won’t get the amount of support Howard Dean did in ‘real’ primaries.
It appears (from other stories) that Hillary is funded by the Chinese. Ron Paul seems to get a lot of his vocal support from overseas computers.
Our overseas enemies are working hard to make sure that a Republican does not win in 2008.
that’s a classic
If it’s foolish to support a pro-gun, anti-tax, pro-family, anti-big-government Republican veteran, then what the heck is Free Republic all about?
“but Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has him beat at $6.2 million”
I think this is may be false:
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/files/11-6-2007-PressConferenceFlier.pdf
Hillary Clintons Claim
There have also been reports that Senator Clinton raised $6.2 million on June 30th.
The most commonly cited figure for largest fundraising day ever is John Kerrys $5.7 million haul on the day he accepted the Democratic nomination in 2004. It is curious that no press release was issued by Ms. Clintons campaign for breaking Mr. Kerrys mark.
We were curious as to these figures, so we did a little research into the FEC reports. It is strange to us that Ms. Clinton reports her three largest fundraising days to be March 31st, June 30th, and September 30th the three closing days of each quarter.
News reports show that around the end of June, Ms. Clinton held a fundraiser with Warren Buffet in New York City that raised roughly $1 million. A fundraiser was also held in Hollywood at the estate of grocery store mogul Ron Burkle which brought in $2.6 million. On the weekend of Friday, June 29th and Saturday, June 30th, it appears that Ms. Clinton was campaigning in Florida with Raul Martinez. Ms. Clinton reported raising $1.4 million from her 14 Florida events. Some of this was later returned, per FEC request.
While each of these events were successful, all of them did not take place on June 30th. It appears very plausible that the money brought in from these events were all tallied on June 30th, despite taking place earlier in the week.
Hey, if your candidate is a liberal, gun-grabbing transvestite or a Bible thumping, tent-revivalist huckster then a conservative constitutionalist really does sound like a kook.
LRon is a LIBERALtarian, surrender monkey Republican wannabe.
There, fixed it!
I don’t know if they’re real or not, but I’m seeing an awful lot of Ron Paul signs in people’s yards around where I live - and these are not crack neighborhoods either - regular middle-class homes.
You have all that in Duncan Hunter without being crazy.
No, they're made of plastic, dust, and hot dogs.
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