[Ron] Paul To Surprise Again? (Fundraising)

RealClearPolitics ^ | September 30, 2007 | Reid Wilson

[2ndDivisionVet]

As the fundraising quarter draws to a close at midnight tonight, candidates are scrambling to boost their numbers by any means necessary (we've received two fundraising pitches signed by candidates with the subject line "Hey," and one from a spouse headed "Re: Hey"). And while he's gotten little attention outside his fervent and fanatic fan base, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who finished the second quarter with more cash on hand than Sen. John McCain, could have another surprise in store for the media establishment his supporters so often malign.

In the run-up to the filing deadline, Paul's supporters were asked to help the candidate raise $500,000 in just a few days. That's more than former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee raised in the entire first quarter, by the way. Yesterday, the Paul campaign revised its goal -- supporters had raised $850,000 already, and the campaign was shooting for $1 million by midnight tonight.

The campaign reached the $1 million mark last night, a full day ahead of schedule.

Paul won't outraise any of the front-runners, but the frugality with which he is running the campaign, as well as the fervency of his supporters and his presence in Iowa and New Hampshire, mean that he will be one second-tier candidate unwilling to drop out before the nominating process takes its course. Paul could cause some serious problems for the front-runners, and it looks increasingly like he will have the money to compete in at least a few early states.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

You really are in Seattle aren’t you.

*Yawn* If I only had a nickel for each and every time some fuddled and overmatched yip-yop thought that might actually constitute a point, I'd be able to afford bigger "campaign donations" than Norman Hsu.

[rideharddiefast]

Ron Paul is not the enemy.

But he is America's enemies best friend.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

My candidate can’t take in-kind contributions without reporting them (nor would he), so why is Congressman Ron Paul above the law?

Dr. Paul's volunteers are independent from his official campaign. They make their own signs, spend their own money and time themselves. So what is an "in-kind" contribution? Why, it's a non-cash item or service from the campaign that can be given a cash value. Read: Paul's campaign doesn't give his volunteers SQUAT. They do their own thing. So there is no FEC violation or Paul skirting the law.

That’s all I’m saying. Don’t be paranoid without cause, okay?

You're the one that posted the thread. It's not Paul's fault that he has the biggest grassroots network out of all of the candidates. Don't hate the playa, hate the game.

[eyedigress]

Maybe that’s why they run?

[eyedigress]

Be nice.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I don’t agree with Paul on Iraq either, but then again all of the GOP candidates have a major flaw or two.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

Be nice.

Always. ;)

[2ndDivisionVet]

“It’s not Paul’s fault that he has the biggest grassroots network out of all of the candidates. Don’t hate the playa, hate the game.”

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[live+let_live]

“Maybe they’ll create a new law right quick.”

They had better hurry. This Ron Paul guy is dangerous. He must be stopped. He might let the electorate in on the game.

We have a one party government, the Big Government Party with a Democrat wing and a Republican wing. He threatens to upend the apple cart.

I don’t know anything about him but reading all the raw emotion and very little intellect here on FR every time he is mentioned, makes me wonder.

[trek]

"Who is Ron Paul?"

"Who is John Galt?"

Get it now?

[festus]

Sorry no I don’t. But then I’m full of cold medicine and not firing on any thrusters ;-)

[live+let_live]

“There are some crazy ‘conservatives’ on this website. They’re ok with Republicans bloating the gov’t to no end, not closing the borders, handouts for illegals, not even doing litmus tests for Roe vs Wade on SC nominations but Ron Paul is ‘the enemy’ even though he’s strong on all of these conservative stances. I don’t agree with Paul on Iraq (and I plan on Voting for Duncan Hunter) but these anti-Paul types as far as I can tell are simply Big Gov’t Republicans who want to cling to power as much as Hillary and her ilk do and are scared to actually have a change in the status quo in Washington.”

Hear Hear! Paul doesn’t have my vote but neither do the status quo loser Big Government Party members.

[trek]

Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged."

If you are unfamiliar with the novel, it is very popular with Libertarians, many of whom support Ron Paul. The phrase "Who is John Galt?" figures prominently in the book. My guess is that the sign is a play on this reference.

[Brilliant]

No, I’m referring to the election day polls. Looking at it realistically, a candidate who generates only 1% of the opponent’s support in terms of money is not going to make a meaningful electoral showing.

Not that I am anti-Paul in any way. Frankly, I would prefer him much more than Hillary. But the reality is that he’s not going to defeat Hillary.

[glorgau]

There was actually a yardsign I passed saturday am literally saying "Who's Ron Paul ?!

Was it next to car that with a "Where the hell is Wall Drug?" bumper sticker. ;-)

[Captain Kirk]

Any other candidate doing the same thing would be fined millions of dollars!

The smell the scent of sour grapes and envy.

[NCSteve]

Was that supposed to be an answer to my post? If so, I’m sorry, I missed your point. I asked if you were accusing Paul’s campaign, and if you had any evidence. You posted the procedures for making a complaint and a link to the PDF version of the campaign finance laws (I really hope you didn’t expect me to read that).

[Youngstown]

He will break existing treaties with true allies.

Tell it to the crew of the U.S.S. Liberty.

[George W. Bush]

Not sure how relevant it is but I did read elsewhere that John Edwards had been running a similar fundraising challenge to his supporters. Earlier today, he was at $900,000 and he'd been running his effort for ten days. RP succeeded in only six days and will likely make it to $1.2M by midnight (currently $1,147,800) despite having asked for only $500,000 to start with.

I thought it was interesting and showed, if nothing else, just how weak Edwards really is.

Some leading RP bloggers are saying they're sure he's broken $5M in 3Q fundraising. A few are talking $7-$8M and I saw one use $10M. To me, it'll be surprising if RP breaks $4 million. I do think RP will beat McCain and the rest of the second-tier candidates easily. I think Huckabee may pull his numbers up just a little. I think McCain is completely broke and several million in debt to boot.

It will be interesting to see official numbers being reported, especially when we get the official numbers in a few weeks.

I thought the earlier thread today on Fred raising $8 million was interesting. I guess I thought he'd easily raise more like $10-$15 million given how famous he is but I also didn't see him really spending a lot of time at big-money fundraisers in NYC, CA, etc. (like Rudy & Romney did) so he's done pretty well and has enough money to compete in 4Q as voters get more serious about picking and supporting a candidate financially.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Fred also has it over Rudy and Mitt in stature, presence, conservatism, eloquence and, dare I say it: folksiness. People can identify with him as a person, not just a politician (somewhat like President Reagan).