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Ron Paul Moneybombs Give Way to Fire Sale
May 29, 2008 11:05 AM
ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: If there was one overriding principle of the presidential campaign of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, it might be this: markets work.
But if you are going to trust the government, healthcare, and everything else to markets -- do the same principles of supply and demand apply to presidential campaigns?
What then to make of the first email by Ron Paul's campaign to supporters in a month -- not announcing a rally of seeking campaign fundraising, but advertising a fire sale of "Ron Paul '08" merchandise.
For a mere $25, Ron Paulians can order a grab bag of magnets, buttons, stickers, mouse pads, key chains, hats, wrist bands "and more!." The package will also include a single t-shirt. And if that's not enough to sway you, the $25 includes shipping.
Paul's spokesman, Jesse Benton, said not to infer anything from the sale.
"We're just trying to clear some stuff out because we're getting a little low on storage space," Benton said, pointing out there is less need for yard signs that say Ron Paul Iowa now that the Iowa primary is over.
Benton said the Paul campaign still gets anywhere from 20 to 50 orders per day for t-shirts and other items in the Ron Paul online store, although he admits there were "many times that" number of orders earlier in the campaign.
While Paul is trying to get rid of merchandise, other campaigns that may or may not be on their last legs are trying to jazz up their base with t-shirt contests.
To be fair, the market is also giving Paul mixed messages. He may have a glut of mouse pads and magnets, but the book he released last month, "The Revolution: A Manifesto," is still in the top 20 as far as sales on Amazon.com, the best selling book by a presidential candidate at the moment.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is next, at just outside the top 50, with "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream."
Paul made a career in the House of opposing the more paternalist nature of Washington and he made a splash early on in the Republican presidential campaign when his small-government, market-based, anti-interventionist, laissez-faire principles led to millions raised in an Internet groundswell.
Read more about that HERE and HERE.
But now that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, is the presumptive Republican nominee, it is a fine line that Paul is walking. He says he is winding down his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination (in large part because he is mathematically unable to win it).
He does not want to follow many of his most ardent supporters to the Libertarian party. He ran for President as a Libertarian once before, in 1988, and now says the American political system is too weighted against third parties. Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia won the Libertarian nomination this week.
But while he realizes he can't win, Paul is still encouraging people to vote for him. His plan is to take delegates to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis in September and demonstrate that the libertarian wing of the Republican party is not going away.
Benton said Paul is holding out hope for an invitation from the national party to speak in Minneapolis, but "we aren't holding our breath."
If snubbed, Paul's supporters and however many delegates he has amassed by then (the current ABC News scorecard gives Paul 14 delegates to McCain's 1267), Benton said, will make themselves seen in Minneapolis and Paul will speak at his own shadow events there in Minneapolis.
And moving on, Paul still plans to turn his vocal support into a permanent campaign to reclaim the Republican party for his small government ethos. And as Republicans find themselves with less power in Washington, DC, you can admittedly see the rank and file of the party start to adopt some of those very ideals as they oppose spending bills proposed by the Democrats who have run Congress since 2006.
May 29, 2008 in McCain, John, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (59)
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What is Ron Paul going to do there? Book a table for his 14 delegates at the Minneapolis Olive garden or something?
Posted by: geevill | May 29, 2008 11:28:27 AM
Ron Paul just finished winning 24% of Republican votes in the Idaho Primary - several times as many votes as Hillary or O'Bama got. So the best is yet to come with Ron Paul!
Posted by: Marilyn | May 29, 2008 11:29:04 AM
The only fire sale will be from the current morally bankrupt neo-con Republican party stronghold as it gives way to the constitutionaly based Ron Paul Republican party. They, like you ABC, have marginalized Dr. Paul every chance they get but you can't marginalize the message or the constitution. Outstanding piece of fluff reporting. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: fiatmoney | May 29, 2008 11:36:04 AM
I really like Ron Paul. Too bad he didn't get fair coverage, and to think Bill thinks Hillary was treated the worst. Ya right. I will vote Paul in New Mexico on June 3rd. Each vote that Paul gets is a wakeup call to the republican establishment.
Posted by: Ben Straub | May 29, 2008 11:51:59 AM
Jack - You are correct. Obama will win in a landslide. I pray he does a good job. I still wish Paul could have had a chance. I like Paul's ideas and integrity.
Posted by: Huh | May 29, 2008 11:53:28 AM
Hillary will not take the nomination and therefore will not win in the general.
If Obama really wants to rattle the cages, he might consider asking Mister Paul to serve as Veep.
Ever see a cat let loose among the pigeons?
Posted by: AHJ | May 29, 2008 12:17:59 PM
I love how Dr. Paul's book has been on the establishment's own ultimate measure of popularity, The New York Times bestseller list, for weeks, including a vaunted #1 spot for nonfiction the week of May 18 -- yet this dismissive "news" stories instead mention only the book's Amazon sales rank, presumably because that measure is less prestigious/impressive.
Hey Old Media, don't you know your game is up and we're on to you? You just look pathetic and embarrassing.
Posted by: Dave | May 29, 2008 2:02:32 PM
Pelosi hear us roar: Stop muscling democracy!
Posted by: S. Johnsen | May 29, 2008 2:13:50 PM
Thats a little wrong as far as the delegate count - Ron Paul has around 46 Delgates with the ones he picked up in Idaho, but those are committed delegates - its estimated that Ron Paul will bring about 600 delegates to the convention, that have won delegate positions from the caucus process - these delegates will not vote for McCain and instead will just cast an "abstain" vote - this will cause there to be a brokered convention, but Ron Paul still won't have enough to win the convention. It shall be interesting
Posted by: Joe Lawson | May 29, 2008 4:28:30 PM
RON PAUL WILL CARRY WASHINGTON STATE!!!
We Washingtonians are sick and tired of what we are getting, a vote for principle is never a wasted vote.
Posted by: whale,oil,beef,hooked | May 29, 2008 4:56:31 PM
Dr. Paul is still getting my vote no matter what. It's too bad the majority are a bunch of robots that don't have a clue.
Posted by: Truth | May 29, 2008 5:03:44 PM
It's exciting to see all the enthusiasm and passion that McCain is inspiring not only with his party but with Americans everywhere.
He is the perfect leader for these troubled times, and a beacon of hope for America.
(Actually I just wanted to see what that would look like typed- I've never seen anything like this written anywhere.)
Go Ron Paul! Save the Constitution!
Posted by: Idaho | May 29, 2008 5:25:33 PM
If news organizations had given him this much coverage when it mattered, he might not have to put his campaign merchandise on sale.
75% of Americans believe the country is going in the wrong direction, but when they had a chance to do something about it they caved in for more of the same, no matter who wins.
Posted by: JW | May 29, 2008 5:32:08 PM
92% of the voting population supported Ron Paul but didn't vote for him because they thought he didn't have a chance.
Posted by: Phil | May 29, 2008 5:43:47 PM
As a Ron Paul supporter, I will probably end up voting for Bob Barr on the Libertarian ticket in November. McCain would be absolutely the worst choice for America. He is an international adventurist that lives in the Teddy Roosevelt world view of attack first, talk never. America is on the verge of economic and credibility collapse. McCain get’s us there on a speeding bullet. Obama will be constrained by the economic mess that he inherits from Mr. Bush and Cheney and then again by his ability to see the consequences of unbalanced budgets and military hegemony.
America is in a constitutional death spiral brought on by the neo-con fear machine and a spineless congress and an utter lack of awareness by the American people of their responsibility and power to exert control over a two party system that gives us a choice between Hillary “Annihilate Iran” Clinton and John “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Iran” McCain.
If the GOP will not accept Ron Paul, the heir of Goldwater, Taft & to a lesser extent Reagen. Then, Obama is the clear choice for those who wish to slow the Empire in order to save our Republic. Obama will win by a landslide because 1 million+ Republicans will not vote for a neo-con like McCain.
Posted by: Jake in Salt Lake | May 29, 2008 5:48:28 PM
Ron Paul = truth
Posted by: Trudy | May 29, 2008 5:49:55 PM
I am voting for the person that I think is best for this country, regardless of the current polls. We, Americans have a responsibility to take the time, investigate and chose a Presidential candidate that we think is best for our country. This is extremely urgent and important and is detrimental to the future of our country. We have to investigate the people ourselves and not rely on the media. I am choosing Ron Paul.I am a business owner in California and I could not run my company like our country is being run. I would be below bankrupt. Investigate all of the candidates and choose wisely. May God Bless all that read this!
Posted by: Janis Davis | May 29, 2008 6:07:45 PM
I could care less who wins, Republocrat or Democon, there all CFR slime that got put there by the CFR. What should be important to everyone is whoever gets picked should fulfill their job according the country's rule book, the Constitution. When you are watching professional sports everyone expects the judges to not take sides or have their own agenda. They are expected to make sure that both sides stick to the rules. I don't see why a President or any other person "SWORN" to uphold and defend it should have a "platform" The platform has been laid out since 1776 and if the rules are to change, there are appropriate ways to do it and that doesn't meant voting for the next Dictator because you like the platform of that Dictator. For those of you that think America is a Democracy or that the Federal Reserve is Federal, please do your country and the rest of us a favor by staying home on election day. You are far too ignorant to be choosing our next leader. The only exception to this is if you were to go and write in Ron Paul's name.
Posted by: Jack D. | May 29, 2008 6:09:28 PM
"by then (the current ABC News scorecard gives Paul 14 delegates to McCain's 1267), Benton said, "
I am speechless again by MSM. Ron Paul has been listed with 14 delegates by most of the MSM for 3 months now. Just Tuesday Ron Paul picked up five additional national delegates from Idaho. Really, Ron Paul has about 650 national delegate’s most chosen through caucus state primaries. Your lack of ability to even add is astounding. Never mind and unrealistic reporting of journalistic integrity
Posted by: tim, minnesota | May 29, 2008 6:19:19 PM
McCain ain't called the 'presumptive' nominee for nothing....it will become interesting come the national convention. Nevadians, make sure your voices are heard!
Posted by: Aaron | May 29, 2008 6:33:02 PM
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