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Flush With Moneybomb Cash, Paul Hits the Campaign Trail

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December 17, 2007 6:35 PM

ABC's Z. Byron Wolf Reports: Ron Paul was at home in Texas over the weekend, taking cover from the "moneybomb" (and some FEC mines) supporters were planting for him.

Pegged to the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Paul supporters donated en masse online and infused the Texas Congressman's Congressional campaign with more than $6 million, a record for online fundraising.

Paul emerged from his bunker Monday after the bomb went off and, with a more than $6 million infusion to his campaign coffers, was back on the campaign trail -- Iowa Monday and Tuesday, New Hampshire the rest of the week. And a whole lot of media exposure in between. After a press conference on Monday touting the change he'll bring to Washington and how it has resonated with his supporters, Paul will be all over the place on Tuesday: Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC are all set to interview Paul for their cable morning shows. Paul will also do a full hour interview with conservative talk show host Glenn Beck.

Later this week he'll do normal campaign-style events. He'll meet with ship workers in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, tour pewter shop, glad-hand at several different restaurants and go to a newspaper editorial board meeting. Paul has conventional television ads on healthcare -- the market should be trusted to solve problems in the health insurance industry, he argues -- running in New Hampshire.

And in campaigning in the future, there are signs that Rep. Paul will take a cue from other Republicans in the race and focus on immigration, a hot button issue for the Republican main stream and not high on Paul's list of talking points (or much discussed by the independent organizers who bombed him with inflated, devalued American dollars) heretofore.

In a written statement on Monday, Paul campaign manager Kent Snyder said, "There is an unprecedented outpouring of grassroots support for Dr. Paul. The message of freedom is powerful and uniting people across America. And, Dr. Paul is the only candidate offering real solutions to the issues Americans care about, with the record to back it up." But the reason for that frustration Snyder mentioned was immigration, not the war that Paul is alone among Republicans opposing or his ideological stands against big government.

"Americans are sick and tired of our broken borders and they know the other candidates are not serious about illegal immigration. Dr. Paul has proposed serious and sustentative legislation to fix our immigration problems once and for all," Snyder said, before mentioning foreign policy or the devalued dollar.

The moneybomb over the weekend means the libertarian-minded Republican has raised $18.2 million since October, likely more than any other Republican candidate despite his place at the bottom of both national and early primary state polls. And Paul's fourth quarter total is more than any Republican has reported since Mitt Romney raised just more than $20 million in the 1st quarter of the year. 4th quarter totals for candidates will not be officially declared until January.

Another money bomb in November raised more than $4 million for Paul. The two viral fundraising drives, which spread through emails and websites, account for more than $10 million of Paul's fundraising this quarter -more than half of his $18 million.

Paul's supporters are the ones who have been shaking the political apple cart. In addition to rallies in Boston and other cities commemorating the Tea Party fundraiser. Paul's supporters commissioned a blimp. While creative, the blimp was only half effective on its maiden voyage for Ron Paul supporters this weekend. Delays in the ordering of the 200 foot long decals that adorn the blimp to be decorated meant half was decorated "Who is Ron Paul? Google Ron Paul," but the side that was to have read "Ron Paul Revolution" was bland. Organizers at Ron Paul Blimp.com landed the dirigible today to put on the remaining decals before flying over more early primary states on the East Coast.

December 17, 2007 in McCain, John | Permalink | User Comments (30)

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As a Ron Paul supporter the "moneybombs" are the easiest way to show that democracy and freedom are important but mostly adherence to the Constitution is more important than the price of gas!

Posted by: GM | Dec 17, 2007 7:09:21 PM

The average donation was $102 with over 58,000 individual contributors, of whom an astounding 24,915 were first-time donors. And it was an entirely voluntary, self-organized, decentralized, independent effort on the internet.

It's real, folks, as real as the American people’s yearning for freedom, peace, and prosperity, as real as all the men and women who have sacrificed for our ideals, in the past and today.
This movement is about the love of liberty, and a determination to fix what is wrong with our country, from the Fed to the IRS, from warfare to welfare. With the wars and the spying, the spending and the taxing, the inflation and the credit crisis, Ron Paul's ideas have never been more needed.

Posted by: Greg | Dec 17, 2007 9:29:02 PM

The deeper reason to support Ron Paul is a simple one. The great forgotten principles of the current Republican party are freedom and toleration.
Paul's federalism, his deep suspicion of Washington power, his resistance to government spending, debt and inflation, his ability to grasp that not all human problems are soluble, least of all by government: these are principles that made me a conservative in the first place.

No one in the current field articulates them as clearly and understands them as deeply as Paul. He is a man of faith who nonetheless sees a clear line between religion and politics. More than all this, he has somehow ignited a new movement of those who love freedom and want to rescue it from the do-gooding bromides of the left to the Christianist meddling of the right.

The Paulites' enthusiasm for liberty, their unapologetic defense of core conservative principles, their awareness that in the new millennium, these principles of small government, self-reliance, cultural pluralism, and a humble foreign policy are more necessary than ever - no lover of liberty can stand by and not join them.

Posted by: Greg | Dec 17, 2007 9:34:17 PM

Thanks once again to ABC News for printing the facts and nothing but the facts. It's appreciated no matter which candidate an individual supports!

Posted by: Christopher Thurow Sr | Dec 17, 2007 9:37:29 PM

It wasn't just an "online" record -- it was THE record for single day fundraising in a presidential race.

This is BIG news. If Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama, or Mitt Romney, or Mike Huckabee had just raised $6 million in one day, from over 58,000 donors, it would be the lead story on ABC News, and you know it.

Posted by: Doug | Dec 17, 2007 10:40:17 PM

I would like to echo other posts and say THANKS FOR REPORTING the facts. It is reassuring that your news agency does not inflate with fluff or stray form the facts of the story.

Posted by: Matthew | Dec 17, 2007 11:11:44 PM

I desperately wonder who is going to report THIS fact – because so far CNN ISN'T... During Larry King's highly awaited interview of Mitt Romney on Monday, an Internet straw poll they ran simultaneously produced the following results:

Rudy Giuliani 3% 654
Mike Huckabee 25% 5563
Duncan Hunter 0% 68
John McCain 3% 564
Ron Paul 64% 13985
Mitt Romney 4% 779
Tom Tancredo 0% 98
Fred Thompson 1% 191

Of course, Larry conveniently cut to Anderson Cooper without announcing the results. Of course, Larry conveniently cut to Anderson Cooper without announcing the results. Funny how the "facts" disappear as soon as they become inconvenient.

Posted by: C Little | Dec 17, 2007 11:29:39 PM

OK - sorry - Mike Huckabee, not Mitt Romney. Big difference, little difference.

Posted by: C Little | Dec 17, 2007 11:50:03 PM

The corporate controlled media continues to show the world that they are not in the business of covering real news. Instead they prove yet again that they are in the business of creating a false reality for their viewers. Despite the amazing success breaking all fund raising records, the corporate controlled media decided that it was more important to focus in on Hillary Clinton's image, Joe Lieberman's endorsement of John McCain and various banter being thrown back
and forth between Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. Even when the media did talk about the Ron Paul fundraising story, they continued to refer to him as a longshot candidate that's trailing in the polls.

Posted by: Greg | Dec 18, 2007 1:22:20 AM

Ron Paul is a interesting canidate, but he has no chance of winning the Republican nomination. He is to far off base with republican ideals and his large focus group are a bunch of college students. College students like to talk, but they historically don't vote...It's a sad fact since I'm a student. Prove me wrong and more power to you.

Posted by: 2bowdown | Dec 18, 2007 2:18:01 AM

h5mind. No chance? And how many Republican platforms have you read? Try reading the Goldwater and Reagan Republican platforms and compare it to the positions held by the Republican candidates today. You will see that Ron Paul is more Republican than any of the others.

Posted by: Greg | Dec 18, 2007 3:21:56 AM

Ron Paul is the only conservative candidate running for president. I don't mean fundamentalist Christian, I mean financially conservative. He wants to take care of Americans, our borders, our freedoms and our economy.

Posted by: Jim | Dec 18, 2007 9:23:03 AM

i've attended support groups of Ron Paul and the majority of the people were middle aged, not just college students (as one person stated)

Posted by: paul | Dec 18, 2007 9:23:27 AM

Ron Paul raises his cash, and then goes Nuclear on the Christians: "When fascism comes it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross."

Let's see him show real guts and say something like that about Muslims. The Protestants will probably respond by sending him Christmas cookies. Extremist Muslims would respond a tad bit more harshly.

I guess Hillary's "likability factor" won't be the big story of the day.

Does everyone still believe that Ron Paul will steal a lot of Republican votes as an independent? ;^)

Posted by: carl | Dec 18, 2007 11:55:20 AM

Why is there so much emphasis on how much money Ron Paul has raised and not the reason behind it? I am a registered Democrat but I donated yesterday to his campaign like so many others because this man is quite simply the right man for the job. I firmly believe that those with any sense of intelligence agree. Ron Paul is the best Presidential solution for America especially in a post 911 world.

Posted by: Susan | Dec 18, 2007 12:38:33 PM

I agree with Susan's posting. ABC let's talk about why Ron Paul has so many supporters (Dem, Rep, and Indeps)!

Posted by: Michael | Dec 18, 2007 12:42:20 PM

College students: Prove ALL of us wrong. Please vote. You will probably look back on this election as one of the more important of your lifetime.

Posted by: Darryl Schmitz | Dec 18, 2007 1:06:30 PM

I agree! Interesting it is that there's so much chatter about Huckabee but when there's news about Ron Paul's campaign it's only covered for a couple seconds!

Posted by: Mireil | Dec 18, 2007 1:06:57 PM

I wish we lived in a world where Ron Paul would be the best choice for president. Unfortunately, we do not. Try as we might, we cannot shove 200 years worth of history, experience, and changes back in the box. I am constantly impressed by the depth of passion many of Ron Paul's supporters show. I think though that their time would be better spent working for change through a candidate who actually has a grasp on reality.

Posted by: Pete | Dec 18, 2007 1:49:56 PM

I wish we lived in a world where people had a brain and that people like the previous one would actually think before they wrote something so absurd. By reality I take it that the previous writer is alluding to the many lying politicians! We Ron Paul supporters refuse to give into people like you who obviously have very low IQs. Read a book and work your mind. Perhaps next time you'll have something more intelligent to say. It's because of people like you that this country is falling apart day by day

Posted by: Mary | Dec 18, 2007 2:07:56 PM

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