On Monday November 5th, republican presidential candidate Ron Paul made the news headlines after his campaign generated $4.2 million dollars in little more than a day.
The extraordinary thing about the record setting campaign drive, is that it was not organized by the official staff working for Ron Paul 2008. Rather, the idea for the fundraiser came from “unofficial” grass-roots supporters acting on their own. This turns the tactic of grass-roots operations on its head.
Typically, political campaigns are top down operations where the official campaign manager will plan, organize, direct, and control all aspects of the campaign, including the grass-roots operations. The fundraiser of November 5th described as a Money-Bomb, had the desired effect and was successful. The event grabbed msm news headlines and then sparked the hottest topic on talk radio and cable news for several days afterward.
Since 9/11, the msm media, the neo cons, and the American socialist have not wanted to talk about the dirty details of American foreign policy. Patrick Buchanan, Paul Craig Roberts, and many other experts have been talking about “blow-back” since 9/11 and they, like many others, have been lableled as unpatriotic for doing so. Since the November 5th Money-Bomb, it is now permitted to have the discussion of blow-back in the msm. Mission Accomplished.
So, the question of the day is; Are we looking at another Howard Dean moment or is Ron Paul the real deal? By the “real deal” I mean, will the online fundraising efforts of the unofficial grass-roots supporters translate into votes.
For the past five days I have been watching Dr. Paul’s website and tracking the donations as they roll in. Over the past five days, there has been roughly $320,000. donated to the cause. According to the website, the average donation is about $50.00 and more than half of the donations are from first time contributors.
When you add up the numbers, it appears that Ron Paul is gaining 400 to 600 “NEW” supporters every day. If the people making the nonations are willing to put out their hard earned money on a dark horse candidate, I expect they will take the time to go to the polls and vote for that candidate. That is what you call very solid support, these people are in for the long haul.
The Ron Paul official campaign had set a goal of raising $12 million dollars by the end of December. Currently, the total dollars received is a little over the $9 million mark. It seems certain that the Paul campaign will easily hit their goal.
The grass-roots effort on the internet and on the ground by unofficial Ron Paul supporters is very impressive. Ron Paul signs are popping up everywhere. There are Ron Paul supporters standing at highway off ramps holding homemade signs. There are people stamping money with “Ron Paul For President” and various other forms of guerrilla marketing tactics are being employed.
The volunteers working for Ron Paul do not ask to be paid or compensated for expenses and they do not wait for instructions from any campaign official.
The Ron Paul internet supporters are able to create viral fundraisers seemingly at will, and whenever they feel Dr. Paul has been treated unfairly they can unleash thousands of e-mails on their mark leaving them battered and dizzy.
Dr. Paul continues to draw enthusiastic crowds and the numbers of supporters are growing daily. In the last four weeks the polls in New Hampshire have seen Dr. Paul double his numbers, going from 4% to 8%. The msm has shown Dr. Paul as the winner in the Fox, CNN, and ABC debates.
The msm has played down the results and even questioned the accuracy of their own polls. MSNBC even suggested that the Paul supporters skewed the results by cyber-trickery. The MSNBC reporter who made the comment…John Hargrove, paid the price and felt the wrath of thousands of Paulites just as many NFL teams are feeling the wrath of the Patriots for labeling them cheaters. The lesson here is Do Not Mess with Patriots!
If all of this isn’t enough, the unofficial supporters are now planning their biggest fundraising drive to date. To coincide with the December 16th rememberance of the Boston Tea-Party, Paul supporters are planning an even bigger Money-Bomb fundraiser called the Liber-Tea party. The goal is to raise $10 million dollars in one day. If successful, the media exposure that will result from a $10 million dollar fundraiser will be exponential.
In addition to the Liber-Tea fundraiser on 12/16, there is a smaller fundraiser set for Friday 11/30 that is designed to generate a quick $300,000. to be used for marketing efforts in New Hampshire. If the Ron Paul revolution “as it is being called” continues to grow at the current pace, there will no longer be any doubt that Ron Paul is the real deal.
I am cautious about making predictions because there are so many unknowns in political campaigns, polls are not accurate this early on, and anything can happen in politics. Having said that, I am coming out on record to say that if Dr. Paul’s supporters succeed in raising eight to ten million dollars on December 16th…Ron Paul will place in the top three in New Hampshire and in Iowa. A top three finish for Ron Paul in New Hampshire and Iowa and things could get very interesting.
You can monitor the donations and learn more about Ron Paul at his website www.ronpaul2008.com If you want Ron Paul merchandise and you want all the profits to go to the campaign you can go to www.cafepress.com/ronpaul08gear Until next time remember, Everything is possible!
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