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| | From:  StRadical (Original Message) | Sent: 11/8/2007 12:19 PM |
Ron Paul celebrates an online fundraising coup
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Several commentators say his ability to raise $4.2 million so quickly enhances his credibility, forcing other candidates and the media to take the Texas congressman seriously.
By James Rainey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 8, 2007
He may be pushed to the edge of the stage, literally and figuratively, when the candidates debate. He languishes in the low single digits in polls.
But Rep. Ron Paul is getting his moment in the sun in his long-shot bid for the Republican presidential nomination after this week's formidable online fundraising -- a reported $4.2 million in a single day.
Rep. Ron Paul
Rep. Ron Paul
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The Texas congressman with the sharp libertarian bent thanked his supporters Wednesday for what is one of the best single-day fundraising totals in presidential campaign history. He insisted the event is not an anomaly but a sign of real progress, a claim supported by several Web commentators.
"Amazing! I have to admit being floored by the $4.2 million you raised yesterday for this campaign," Paul wrote to his supporters, adding: "What momentum we have! Please help me keep it up. As you and I know, and our opponents are only suspecting, we have success on our minds and in our hearts."
Assuming the fundraising pledges are fulfilled, the total would nearly match Paul's receipts for the entire previous quarter and put him well on the way to his goal of $12 million for the final three months of 2007. About half of the 36,672 donors (average contribution $103) were giving for the first time.
Mainstream political commentators continued to give Paul -- who advocates an immediate U.S. pullout from Iraq and the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Education -- little or no chance of winning the Republican nomination.
But several commentators said the ability to raise so much money so quickly had enhanced his credibility and would force other candidates and the media to take Paul seriously.
"This is the single biggest example of people-power this [election] cycle," wrote Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of the liberal-leaning website the Daily Kos. "And as annoying as it is that we're seeing it from a Republican -- and a crazy one at that -- it's nevertheless a beautiful thing to behold."
Salon.com commentator Glenn Greenwald wrote that the Paul campaign had become "a bona fide phenomenon of real significance."
Greenwald argued that Paul was catching on with people "hungry for a political movement which operates outside of our rotted political establishment and which fearlessly rejects its pieties, even if they disagree with some or even many of its particulars."
Paul's call for a reduction of the federal government and a reliance on the principles of the Constitution meets a particularly receptive audience online, said Michael Cornfield, an associate research professor at George Washington University.
"This idea of 'Don't Tread on Us,' we can fix things, we do just great on our own, creating wealth and knowledge for the world is very much part of the Silicon Valley, Internet ethic," Cornfield said. "And Ron Paul's philosophy jibes with that better than any other candidates."
Paul had established a formidable Internet following even before Tuesday's fundraising coup.
He has substantially more supporters on MySpace and Facebook -- two social networking sites -- than any other Republican. His videos have been viewed more often (nearly 5.9 million times) on YouTube than those of any other candidate, of either party.
Like many Internet advances, this week's fundraising bonanza was powered by Paul supporters rather than by his paid campaign staff.
Trevor Lyman, a 37-year-old Florida music promoter, conceived the idea of a single-day fundraiser on Nov. 5. That date was pegged to Guy Fawkes Day, which celebrates a failed attempt to blow up the British Parliament in 1605 -- a symbolic tie-in to Paul's minimal-government views.
Another online fundraising pitch next month will be centered around the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party and Bill of Rights Day.
"Ron Paul is in the Internet's sweet spot for politics," wrote Micah L. Sifry on techpresident .com. "That is, he is a remarkable candidate, with a clear message that the mainstream media has been ignoring."
Opinions are mixed as to how much of an impact Paul can have in early-primary states. The chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, Fergus Cullen, told the National Journal's "Hotline" that the congressman "has a shot at shaking up the GOP contest," particularly because of the strong antiwar sentiment in the state.
Paul is most likely to do better in states where independents can vote in the Republican primary, said Eric L. Davis, a political science professor at Middlebury College in Vermont.
"He will get support from people who mostly aren't Republicans -- people who are strongly antiwar, people who are for legalizing marijuana, tax protesters and the like," Davis said.
But Davis predicted that Paul would still have to fight to get to 5%, even in New Hampshire, which allows independents to vote in the primaries.
[email protected]
Times staff writer Scott Martelle contributed to this report. |
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In his own words: Ron Paul
Top of the Ticket is constantly cruising the Web seeking the most interesting and revealing political items and news. From time to time we've decided to publish the entire text of some presidential candidate's statement from his website.
This way, readers can get a feel for the candidate and form their own impressions free of any blog filter.
We start this series today with a statement from Rep. Ron Paul of Texas that we found on his campaign website. Here it is without intermission:
Sept. 20, 2007
Message from Ron Paul
Dear friend,
Our American way of life is under attack. And it is up to us to save it.
The world's elites are busy forming a North American Union. If they succeed, as they did in forming the European Union, the good ol�?USA will only be a memory. We cannot let that happen.
The UN wants to confiscate our firearms and impose a global tax. The UN elites want to control the oceans with the Law of the Sea Treaty. And they want to use our military to police the world.
Our right to own and use property is fading because bureaucrats and special interests are abusing eminent domain.
Our right to educate our children as we choose is under assault. "No Child Left Behind" is seeing to that. And our right to say "no" to forced mental screening of our school-aged children is nearly gone.
The elites gave us a national ID card. They also gave us the most misnamed legislation in history: The Patriot Act. And these same people are pushing to give amnesty to illegal immigrants and erase our national borders.
Record government debt is putting a burden on our children and grandchildren that is shameful.
Yes. Our American way of life is under attack. And it's understandable that many are concerned, even discouraged, about the kind of country our children and grandchildren will inherit.
But we must never let discouragement become surrender.
One reason I am NOT discouraged is because I know I am not fighting alone. Each day ...
I head out I know that you and thousands of other patriotic, freedom-loving Americans are right beside me, standing brave and true for what is good and right.
I need your help now, more than ever, to save the country we love ... for the people we love.
My wife, Carol, and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary early this year. We are proud parents of five children and 18 grandchildren. We love them very much, as I know you love your family.
As a U.S. congressman, I always think about the well-being of my family and of all the families of our great nation when I cast a vote or introduce legislation. I also remember that I have sworn a solemn oath to uphold and protect the Constitution of the United States.
For me, upholding that oath is the first and best way to preserve and protect the blessed American way of life for our children and grandchildren.
And now you know why I'm running for president of the United States.
I ask for your help. Please send your maximum donation today by going to https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/.
Sincerely,
Ron |
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Dear Dr. Paul
I wish you the best in your new political career and I hope you win the election. I am a Canadian and I am not that certain what all your views are, but the last time I opened an Atlas, Canada was presented as part of a great Country (Continent) called NORTH AMERICA. I like to think that this makes me an American. Perhaps you feel otherwise.
I believe in Jesus, in Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I believe in the healthy ideology of One Nation under GOD (not fascist tyrants). I am not a Statist and I am not sure that being a Statist (civilian of the U.S.A.) is really such a good thing anymore these days. I sincerely commend you for your noble fight to resurrect your Country's dead constitution, which your current President cursed and stated publicly was only a "{blank} piece of paper".
I like to think that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (also put on ice) still lives in the hearts of all TRUE AMERICANS. I still revere the Constitution of these united States of America even though I am a Canadian and I continue to regard it as one of the most beautiful documents ever written in the history of Humanity. I salute you.
I am still a legal resident of North America. My wife and daughter are civilians (I wish that I could call them citizens but this is no longer an accurate term)of the U.S.A. I want them to come home to Canada. My wife wants to come home too. The reason my wife and newborn daughter are not home with me is because of STATIST LAWS that are not Constitutional; LAWS that are totally UNAMERICAN, and LAWS that rob Humanity of LIFE, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of HAPPINESS. If AMERICANS are not entitled to these inalienable rights, then who is???
These UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAWS were written in the (former) SLAVE STATE of LOUISIANA in 1923 in the interests of controlling and monitoring the people for miscegenation ("mixed marriage" �?see Black's Law Dictionary) and later, in 1929, resulted in the ratification of the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act. I hope and pray that if you become the new President of the U.S.A. that you see to it that these inhumane and Unconstitutional laws are abolished.
I dearly miss my wife and I have not even held my newborn daughter in my arms because of these laws. I am angry at the existing compliance of the secular government of Canada for cooperating with the State of Louisiana concerning these laws. I realize that you can do nothing concerning this, but I also know that if the State of Louisiana had no such laws today, my wife and daughter would be with me. As I stated: These slave state laws are not Constitutional. These laws fly in the face of all that is AMERICAN. According to Canadian Federal Law, my daughter is also a CANADIAN CITIZEN but the State of Louisiana refuses to acknowledge this fact and has consequently abducted her.
I am asking your help in advance.
Thankyou and God bless you
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