Posted on 10/04/2007 7:00:57 AM PDT by mnehring
Rep. Ron Paul’s $5 million fundraising take for the third quarter suggests his staunch criticisms of the Iraq war and his anti-government message are gaining enough traction to elevate his voice in the debate and possibly his candidacy in the race. While he’s still a far cry from a front-runner, he could become a spoiler.
The $5,080,000 raised by the lawmaker from Texas will no doubt dramatically trail the amounts brought in by more prominent candidates. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is expected to take in about $10 million, in addition to a hefty personal loan to his campaign, while former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will likely lead the Republican primary pack with more than $10 million.
But Paul’s campaign war chest matches up favorably to former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson’s expected $8 million haul, despite waves of media attention for Thompson. And media reports have pegged fundraising by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who finished second in the Ames Straw Poll in August, at only about $1 million for the third quarter.
Most importantly for Paul, his campaign has $5.2 million in cash on hand, suggesting he is applying his message of fiscal conservatism to his own campaign in a manner that would allow him to spend on campaign ads in key primary and caucus states.
Jesse Benton, Paul’s communications director, said the campaign now has enough money to spend on paid advertising in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Arizona, home of conservative/libertarian icon Barry Goldwater, will also be targeted, as will the early-primary states of Michigan and Wyoming, Benton said.
For much of the 2008 race, Paul has been viewed mostly as a gadfly candidate. His greatest moment of fame arguably came at a May 15 debate in South Carolina, when he suggested “blowback” from American troop presence in the Middle East may have contributed to the Sept. 11 attacks.
“An interventionist foreign policy is not something that has traditionally been part of the Republican platform,” Benton said.
David Boaz, executive vice president of the libertarian CATO Institute, said Paul’s campaign is pulling in traditional Republicans disaffected with the GOP’s federal spending binge during the six years it controlled Congress during George W. Bush’s presidency. And while independent voters and even some Democrats may have contributed to Paul’s totals, it demonstrates more of an anti-war sentiment among the Republican primary electorate than may have previously been thought.
“Everything that was wrong with the Republicans in 2006, Ron Paul is an answer to,” Boaz said. “He clearly is reaching a national constituency.”
While Paul won’t have enough support to win an early primary or caucus state, he could siphon votes from better-known candidates.
“Iowa has a large Christian-right segment, and despite his general libertarianism, Paul is an elderly Christian man who opposes abortion,” Boaz said. “But more importantly, there is a strong anti-war constituency there, even among Republicans.” And in New Hampshire, “Ron Paul ought to do well in a state where voters are vociferously anti-tax and generally libertarian.”
ping
The only party he can play ‘spoiler’ with is the democrats. As a thread up today in the forum demonstrates, a large percentage of his so called ‘base’ isn’t registered with the GOP in multiple states, and its causing the Paulie’s some concern.
Same thing with McCain in the 2000 election cycle. Cross over votes from people with a leftwing agenda, in an attempt to influence who the competition is in the coming election.
Ron Paul...
Ha...
There, I fixed it.
It remains to be seen whether he'll win an early primary or caucus state. The activist base in New Hampshire is strong and motivated, especially in comparison to the other campaigns. At a recent event, the state campaign director for one of the other candidates had to man the booth - no volunteers.
There we go...
Boaz's comment is interesting because spending originates in Congress, not the Executive branch. It is Congress who has been sending these bills to the President, tying pork and unnecessary earmarks to vital programs. In several cases, Congress has tied the President's hands and prevented him from vetoing a budget lest he kill, say, a military spending bill.
Now, this isn't to say President Bush is innocent, only that I find it funny that some 'traditional Republicans' would move the so called 'small government' champion out of the governmental body where the bills originate and put him at the receiving end of the pipe.
I bet he’s being funded by democrats who have no intention of voting for him, and every intention of seeing this guy further embarass the Republican Party...
For some great pics of Ru Paul supporters go here and scroll down a bit. Maybe someone who knows how to post pics could add a few to this thread.
http://www.zombietime.com/9-11_truth_march_power_to_peaceful/
Ugh...I wish they would stop repeating the lie...Thompson declared in September, the other candidates have had the whole quarter!
In the landslide of 1994 (anybody remember that?), Paulestinians provided the juice in dozens of congressional districts.
It's clear that the GOP does not, will not, and probably cannot accomodate these people in its shrinking tent - but it's also clear that the GOP is heading back to the 70s as a permanent minority party without some fresh ideas, and without a staunch defense of Liberty, not in turd world hellholes but on Main Street USA.
If you ask me, Badeye, the people who need “influencing” are most of the rest of the candidates for the Republican nomination.
The only ones even remotely tolerable are Thompson and Hunter, but the media-anointed and fundraising front-runner is a cross-dressing, anti-gun, pro-abortion RINO who will stampede the GOP even further into irrelevancy pursuing the myth of “electability” just as Schwarzenegger has in California, running left and governing left. That’s the last thing the national GOP needs.
If Paul’s stances can help persuade Rudy that gun rights are human rights whether in NYC or BFE, that abortion kills a living human, even if it’s just craven pandering, then that’s a win.
Paul raised about $1.2 million of that $5.1 million in the last week of the quarter.
That ought to be popular.
Ron Paul is there to troll enough votes to have Guiliani win.
Then it will be NYC vs NYC.
Paul is a useful idiot kook. He is being used and does not care.
No question that the current Republicans in Washington have been spending money like drunken sailors.
But Ron Paul certainly is not the solution. As the title suggests, at most he can be a SPOILER.
It happened in 1992, and some of the same people who voted for Ross Perot back then could vote for Ron Paul if he runs on an independent ticket.
Not as many, probably, because the lesson of Ross Perot is widely remembered. But some people never learn. The Democrats helped McCain in the 2004 primaries, because they saw Bush as the greater danger. No doubt hillary and Soros will help Ron Paul if they see an opportunity.
As Hillary is dreaming, Go Paul Go.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.