OK, but at some point you’ve got to think “enough is enough.” When do you decide it’s time to throw in the towel?
I will keep campaigning for as long as people are supporting me and the money is there and that’s what they want. I feel badly about just quitting. We have 30,000 voters on our list in Pennsylvania, and if I just quit tomorrow–and people can make a case for that: how long should I do this?–I would feel badly. I would feel as though I had let them down. So for me, it’s indefinite.
Saying “my campaign is never over” Ron Paul told CNN “If you’re in a campaign for only gaining power, that’s one thing. If you’re in a campaign to influence ideas and future of the country, the campaign is never over.” Paul also shared that it is likely he will not support Republican nominee John McCain.
From Wired Magazine a story that will undoubtedly rile Paul supporters but offers a glimpse into where we are with “online campaigning.”
Pick any Web 2.0 phenomenon and you’ll find Paul’s supporters exploiting it. Digg? In just two months, a user-generated campaign video picked up more than 16,000 diggs, making it the sixth-most popular video of 2007. Flickr? A group photo pool offers a profusion of grassroots agitprop. (My favorite: a Star Wars-inspired logo declaring Paul “A New Hope.”) Facebook? 5,589 fans and counting, baby. For 24/7 Ron Paul, junkies can sign up for his Twitter feed or check out the campaign lifecast on Justin.tv. There are 10 Ron Paul Meetup groups within 20 miles of San Francisco alone; the biggest hosts near-daily events for its 432 members. (Sorry I missed the Irving Street Starbucks gathering, dudes.) The candidate has proven such a draw that pageview-starved webmasters publish lolRons — Paul-themed lolcats — as a cheap and easy way to boost their traffic. Paul’s people are so Web-savvy they’ve even achieved the impossible: a MySpace page that doesn’t induce seizures.
All that buzz might be easy to dismiss but for the fact that Paul — unlike most other Web 2.0 phenoms — has managed to convert eyeballs into dollars. On Guy Fawkes Day, he set a record for one-day fundraising by a Republican, pulling in $4.2 million in online contributions. He outdid himself just six weeks later, tapping the Internet for more than $6 million in a single day. Hey, if the presidential run doesn’t work out, maybe Paul could join Al Gore with the VCs on Sand Hill Road.
So the guy is wired. There’s just one problem with the Ron Paul story: Ron Paul. Sure, he seems like a decent guy, forthright and honest. Unfortunately, his paleo-libertarian policies make Ayn Rand look like Mother Teresa. I like the gold standard as much as the next guy, but I’m not sure we’re ready to overturn three decades of reasonably successful economic policy in order to reinstate it. I don’t agree that the minimum wage should be abolished. (Ever work in retail, Ron?) And while I like Paul’s stance on Iraq (let’s get the hell out), I’m not thrilled with his position on the United Nations (let’s get the hell out).
From Vauhini Vara in the The Wall Street Journal it appears that the Internets favorite Republican candidate Ron Paul is finding interest and support with voters in Alaska.
Within weeks of his announcement in March that he would run for the presidential nomination, Mr. Paul’s supporters in Alaska began informally campaigning. They clustered on cold, dark afternoons to wave Ron Paul signs at intersections. When Fox News left Mr. Paul out of a televised forum in New Hampshire with the other Republican candidates last month, they stood in front of a Fox News affiliate in Anchorage to protest.
Mr. Paul’s national campaign is now trying to harness the local support. A few weeks ago, Craig Bergman, a consultant for Mr. Paul’s campaign, phoned volunteers across the country to find pockets of local enthusiasm that he could tap. He was impressed with the “natural support” for Mr. Paul here — so just more than a week ago, he opened offices in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Mr. Paul now has eight full-time staffers in the state, more than he had in Michigan, Florida or South Carolina. Friday, Mr. Paul hosted a live phone call with Alaskan voters.
Will it turn into more than interest? We will see.
Perhaps the most surprising news out of Nevada is the fact that with 97% reporting Congressman Ron Paul appears to have won second place in the caucus. In addition Paul was already well on his way to dominating Republican fundraising and the win will no doubt help him continue the streak.
This is bad news for big names like Thompson and Giuliani who did terrible in the state despite a great deal of media attention and name recognition.
Paul has continued to defy expectations and it will be fun to see where he goes from here.
[techtags: Ron Paul, Nevada Caucus, Ron Paul Second Place Nevada]
Conressman Ron Paul, who was excluded from tonight’s Republican debate on FOX News, will be appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno show tomorrow night.
Also in a bit of counter-programming the Paul campaign is hosting their own LIVE Town Hall meeting at the campaign Web site. Sorry I did not get this up sooner.
I have to admit that many months ago I was a complete and total skeptic over this “Ron Paul Revolution” cry. I still am skeptical but over the last few months I have also seen a lot of Ron Paul support displayed on lawns, on buttons, on banners and in discussions with people.
I was also pretty happy to see that a local from Webster, NY which is just a few minutes away from my home is keeping a Ron Paul blog entitled Rochester Patriot. I always like seeing local blogs especially political ones and it is also nice to know that Ron Paul supporters are more than spambots but real people.
Ron Paul supporters raised over $6 MILLION DOLLARS in 24 hours. The event, known as a “money bomb” sought to raise as much money in 24 hour period online as possible. The media donation was reported as $50 per person.
The event was what is known as a “money bomb” which is an effort to raise as much money in a 24 hour period online. This event coincided with the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.
The interesting innovations surrounding Ron Paul continue as the Ron Paul Bimp takes to the air. The schedule has just been released. The inaugural launch is scheduled for December 10th from Elizabeth City, NC
and then to Boston, MA by December 15th, that is if 200,000 can be raised by midnight tonight to keep it afloat. Read the rest of this entry »
