Interesting blog:
http://americandaily.com/article/20911
Why the Ron Paul Campaign is Dangerous
By JB Williams (11/11/07)
I am fast becoming the most unpopular man in America, among Ron Paul supporters that is. Truth is seldom popular among those at odds with that truth.
Paul supporters have worked diligently to convince voters that their candidate is the âreal dealâ constitutionalist conservative in the â08 presidential race and that he has a real chance of winning. But the facts simply donât support either of these claims and pointing this reality out seems to drive Paul supporters into a fit of unbridled rage.
The fact is, though Ron Paul himself is no threat to anyone or anything, his campaign is on a track that is very dangerous for America and the conservative movement in particular. Although he is highly unlikely to win anything, his campaign is increasingly likely to cause real trouble for the legitimate Republican nomination process.
Ron Paulâs fund raising
Recent headlines have been focused on the record fund raising day in the Paul campaign. It was a very effective campaign stunt. Although he still trails most other candidates in overall fund raising by a pretty wide margin, his campaign grabbed headlines by setting up an internet campaign stunt designed to raise as much as possible in a single day.
It worked - they got the desired headlines - but what does it really mean? In the end, it wonât change the outcome of the election process.
But the recent surge in campaign contributions did raise a more important question.
Whereâs all that money coming from?
At first, I assumed, and had even written, that Ron Paulâs financial support was coming from the Libertarian wing of the Republican Party. Then I was corrected by former Ron Paul aide and founder of the Libertarian Republican Caucus, Eric Dondero, who also founded MainstreamLibertarian.com and hosts blogtalk radio show Libertarian Politics Live.
In an interview with Dondero, he emphatically complained; âPlease refrain in the future from using the label "Libertarian Republican" in describing Ron Paul. Call him what he is: Some sort of populist leftwinger.â
Dondero continued, âSince 9/11 Paul has become a complete nutcase conspiratorialist quasi-Anti-Semitic leftwing American-hating nutball.â
These were strong words from a former aide to Mr. Paul (from 1997 â 2003) and words worthy of investigation in my mind. So I decided to investigate, which in politics always means, follow the money.
Where is all that money coming from?
Upon investigation, it appears that Mr. Dondero is exactly right. Much of Ron Paulâs money is not coming from mainstream Libertarians or Republicans.
Although he is running as a Republican, he actually has very little support from rank and file Republicans, as every national Republican poll confirms. But it turns out that he has very little support from mainstream Libertarians either. As Dondero pointed out, âRon Paul is only attracting support from the leftwing side of the libertarian spectrum, virtually none of whom are Republicans.â
According to official campaign fund raising filings posted at www.opensecrets.org, Ron Paulâs top contributor is well known internet giant Google. Google, with Al Gore on the board of directors, has a long history of progressive political activism, both in the way they censor search results to bury conservative slanted stories, and in their campaign contribution habits, which is solidly Democrat, with the exception of Ron Paul.
Like Howard Dean before him, Ron Paul first grabbed headlines with his very hi-tech internet campaign, which is now easily explained by the fact that his largest constituency is in the computer tech community. It also explains how Paul supporters have perfected the art of âspammingâ or âjammingâ online polls, creating a false impression of bigger support while invalidating poll after poll. Other tech giants like Microsoft and Verizon top his donors list as well.
Among Ron Paulâs top donor zip codes are of course parts of Texas, but also heavily liberal districts in Chicago (60614), San Francisco (94117), more than 80% of which supports Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer, and Los Angeles â Long Beach, which is his second largest donor area after Dallas.
What we have here is a candidate trying to win the Republican nomination by raising money from liberals across the political aisle.
This is why his fund-raising is not translating to improved poll positions
His donors are not Republicans. So no matter how much money he raises, it is not translating into Republican support in the polls. He remains at or below 5% support in every national Republican poll, no matter how much money he raises.
USA Today reports, âThe Iowa Republican Party put out an advisory Tuesday setting standards for participation in a Dec. 4 debate. Sponsors said participants need to average 5% support among Republicans in recent national or Iowa polls -- and so far, Texas Rep. Ron Paul is one of the candidates not making the cut.â
In Pollster.com's latest averaging of national poll results of Republicans, Paul's support comes in at 2.7%. The website calculates Paul's support among Republicans in Iowa, based on polls there, to be 3.8%.
http://americandaily.com/article/20911
Why the Ron Paul Campaign is Dangerous
By JB Williams (11/11/07)
I am fast becoming the most unpopular man in America, among Ron Paul supporters that is. Truth is seldom popular among those at odds with that truth.
Paul supporters have worked diligently to convince voters that their candidate is the âreal dealâ constitutionalist conservative in the â08 presidential race and that he has a real chance of winning. But the facts simply donât support either of these claims and pointing this reality out seems to drive Paul supporters into a fit of unbridled rage.
The fact is, though Ron Paul himself is no threat to anyone or anything, his campaign is on a track that is very dangerous for America and the conservative movement in particular. Although he is highly unlikely to win anything, his campaign is increasingly likely to cause real trouble for the legitimate Republican nomination process.
Ron Paulâs fund raising
Recent headlines have been focused on the record fund raising day in the Paul campaign. It was a very effective campaign stunt. Although he still trails most other candidates in overall fund raising by a pretty wide margin, his campaign grabbed headlines by setting up an internet campaign stunt designed to raise as much as possible in a single day.
It worked - they got the desired headlines - but what does it really mean? In the end, it wonât change the outcome of the election process.
But the recent surge in campaign contributions did raise a more important question.
Whereâs all that money coming from?
At first, I assumed, and had even written, that Ron Paulâs financial support was coming from the Libertarian wing of the Republican Party. Then I was corrected by former Ron Paul aide and founder of the Libertarian Republican Caucus, Eric Dondero, who also founded MainstreamLibertarian.com and hosts blogtalk radio show Libertarian Politics Live.
In an interview with Dondero, he emphatically complained; âPlease refrain in the future from using the label "Libertarian Republican" in describing Ron Paul. Call him what he is: Some sort of populist leftwinger.â
Dondero continued, âSince 9/11 Paul has become a complete nutcase conspiratorialist quasi-Anti-Semitic leftwing American-hating nutball.â
These were strong words from a former aide to Mr. Paul (from 1997 â 2003) and words worthy of investigation in my mind. So I decided to investigate, which in politics always means, follow the money.
Where is all that money coming from?
Upon investigation, it appears that Mr. Dondero is exactly right. Much of Ron Paulâs money is not coming from mainstream Libertarians or Republicans.
Although he is running as a Republican, he actually has very little support from rank and file Republicans, as every national Republican poll confirms. But it turns out that he has very little support from mainstream Libertarians either. As Dondero pointed out, âRon Paul is only attracting support from the leftwing side of the libertarian spectrum, virtually none of whom are Republicans.â
According to official campaign fund raising filings posted at www.opensecrets.org, Ron Paulâs top contributor is well known internet giant Google. Google, with Al Gore on the board of directors, has a long history of progressive political activism, both in the way they censor search results to bury conservative slanted stories, and in their campaign contribution habits, which is solidly Democrat, with the exception of Ron Paul.
Like Howard Dean before him, Ron Paul first grabbed headlines with his very hi-tech internet campaign, which is now easily explained by the fact that his largest constituency is in the computer tech community. It also explains how Paul supporters have perfected the art of âspammingâ or âjammingâ online polls, creating a false impression of bigger support while invalidating poll after poll. Other tech giants like Microsoft and Verizon top his donors list as well.
Among Ron Paulâs top donor zip codes are of course parts of Texas, but also heavily liberal districts in Chicago (60614), San Francisco (94117), more than 80% of which supports Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer, and Los Angeles â Long Beach, which is his second largest donor area after Dallas.
What we have here is a candidate trying to win the Republican nomination by raising money from liberals across the political aisle.
This is why his fund-raising is not translating to improved poll positions
His donors are not Republicans. So no matter how much money he raises, it is not translating into Republican support in the polls. He remains at or below 5% support in every national Republican poll, no matter how much money he raises.
USA Today reports, âThe Iowa Republican Party put out an advisory Tuesday setting standards for participation in a Dec. 4 debate. Sponsors said participants need to average 5% support among Republicans in recent national or Iowa polls -- and so far, Texas Rep. Ron Paul is one of the candidates not making the cut.â
In Pollster.com's latest averaging of national poll results of Republicans, Paul's support comes in at 2.7%. The website calculates Paul's support among Republicans in Iowa, based on polls there, to be 3.8%.