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Ron Paul Girl and the Money Bomb (November 5)

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Some Words of Wisdom from the Great Communicator...Sound like someone we know?

People do not make wars; governments do.
~Ronald Reagan

Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.
~Ronald Reagan

...no mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology.
~Ronald Reagan

A people free to choose will always choose peace.
~Ronald Reagan

Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
~Ronald Reagan

We must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.
~Ronald Reagan

Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will.
~Ronald Reagan

History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.
~Ronald Reagan

Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.
~Ronald Reagan

The defense policy of the United States is based on a simple premise: The United States does not start fights. We will never be an aggressor.
~Ronald Reagan

Great Ron Paul NYC Video

I love my job

Drew Carey, Debbie Hopper and me at Reason Magazine

Join the Ron Paul Money Bomb - Click on the image to learn how

The levee is beginning to break on the the best kept secret in politics

Amid Ron Paul's improving poll numbers and announcement of a large-scale TV, radio, and mail blitz in some early states, the major media has responded with ever-increasing attention. Dr. Paul's upcoming appearance on Jay Leno only fuels the headlong race to begin covering the premier conservative in the race for the White House.

MSNBC

CBS News

The Politico

New York Times

Ron Paul on the FOX News Joseph Goebbels

“(Frank) Luntz has lost all credibility. He is just a propagandist and everybody knows it. There is nothing objective about what he does. He is the one who is wrong and the American people are right.” – Ron Paul, 10/26/07

Hear the entire WHO interview here

Hillary Clinton's Worst Nightmare

By Noel Gibeson

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite her formidable political machine, Hillary Clinton’s worst fear may be that she could be running against Ron Paul in 2008.
Why? Because he may be the Republican that can garner more support from a younger demographic as it gets closer to the election. A recent Rasmussen Report data supports this. According to USA Election Poll, “Ron Paul Better in the General Election than Giuliani and Thompson Among 30 Year Olds; Leads Hillary Clinton 47% to 44% Among 40 Year Olds.”

Why? Because not only is he the only Republican in the contest who is against unnecessary and unconstitutional wars overseas, but because he actually follows the constitution. Young people eagerly support him and much of his support, perhaps as much as 70%, comes from the 20-30 age demographic. They are afraid for the future of this country and that they will have to give more and more of their money to the federal government to manage for them.

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Ron Paul in his own words

Ron Paul Rising, more gains expected

Ron Paul polling 7.4% in New Hampshire, hits Romney on Iran

Larry Fester

Published 10/26/2007 - 10:10 a.m. EDT

According to St. Anselm College’s Institute of Politics presidential poll, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is polling at 7.4% in New Hampshire and in fourth place behind Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain. Paul leads Fred Thompson in the state. Supporters say the poll may indicate that Paul is gaining momentum in New Hampshire. “By all accounts, Dr. Paul’s support is rising steadily,” said Paul campaign chairman Kent Snyder. “Americans are ready for a change and his unifying message of freedom, peace and prosperity is bringing more people together every day.” Continue Reading...

Increasing Media Coverage, Increasing Polls for Ron Paul

New York Times:

Flush With New Millions, Underdog Vies to Compete

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 — If media muscle is any measure of a candidate, Representative Ron Paul of Texas is getting ready to flex his.

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The Hill

Rep. Ron Paul plans ad blitz, personal appearances in N.H.

By Alexander Bolton

October 26, 2007

Rep. Ron Paul (R), the quirky Texas congressman who has amassed more presidential campaign cash than Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), plans a full-scale assault in New Hampshire, where he hopes Democratic support will give him the extra boost to grab a top-three finish in the upcoming primary.

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CBS News

Ron Paul: GOP Needs To Change
Political Players: Republican Candidate Discusses Iraq, Electability, and Third Parties

(CBS) Political Players is a weekly conversation with the leaders, consultants, and activists who are shaping American politics. This week, CBS News' Brian Goldsmith talked with Texas Rep. Ron Paul about his candidacy for president, his competitors for the Republican nomination, and the agenda driving his long-shot campaign.

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Texas congressman launches advertising effort in early states

By BENNETT ROTH

Houston Chronicle

WASHINGTON -- Hoping to defy more expectations, Texas Rep. Ron Paul of Surfside is ratcheting up his maverick Republican presidential campaign by launching TV and radio commercials in early primary states and setting an ambitious $12 million fundraising goal.

For a candidate often relegated by pundits to second- or third-tier status, Paul's ability to make a big entry into advertising wars is unusual.

With just over two months until the first primaries, experts question whether the libertarian-leaning congressman can expand his intense following to make a credible showing in these early contests.

Officials with Paul's campaign acknowledge that they have an uphill battle but say they plan to broaden his support with an ad campaign that includes $1.1 million in television spots that begin airing Monday in New Hampshire.

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FOX News Orlando Debate Pics

Pre-debate Interview with CBN

Post Debate Interview with Alan Colmes and Sean Hannity's head

Post Debate Rally in Orlando for a few hundred of Dr. Paul's closest friends

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, but the campaign is heating up and time is short. We were in Orlando this last weekend for the FOX News debate. We also had a successful fund-raiser and rally.

Ron Paul receives the most military donations among Republicans AGAIN in Q3

It appears our military backs Ron Paul in the most important issue facing the United States: Terrorism and our foreign policy. For the second time in a row, Ron Paul receives more donations among Republicans. Data for Democrats is not yet available, but Ron Paul crushed Democrats in this statistic last quarter as well.

Candidate [Air Force] [Army Navy] [Marines] [Coast Guard] [Other*] [Total]

Brownback [151.00] [0] [0] [0] [0] [250] [401]
Cox [0] [0] [0] [0] [0] [0] [0]
Guiliani [1,250] [750] [1,500] [1,000] [0] [0] [4,500]
Huckabee [2,050] [1,200] [2,850] [0] [250] [260] [6,610]
Hunter [0] [500] [0] [0] [0] [30] [530]
McCain [4,120] [7,972] [6,645] [1,721] [100] [800] [21,358]
Paul [7,450] [17,998.96] [7,227.76] [2,740] [800] [4200] [40,416.72]
Romney [500] [3,410] [750] [800] [0] [250] [5,710]
Thompson [4,800] [5,825] [6,350] [800] [23] [2,600] [20,398]

Ron Paul: $40K
McCain: $21K
Thompson: $20K

This data is sourced from FEC Quarterly Reports for Q3 and was compiled here by jfletch and RP4.US

*This list uses donators who listed their employer as some variation of Air Force, Army, National Guard, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Retired Vet, Veteran, Civilian Military employee, or Military (no branch indicated). This is preliminary data and may contain insignificant errors.

Ron Paul led in military contributions last quarter as well.

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Ron Paul Graphs

The REAL Q3 Numbers for Republican Candidates

Net Primary cash on hand, close of Q3 (Primary cash on hand minus outstanding debts)

Rudy Guiliani 11.4 million
Fred Thompson 6.4 million
Ron Paul 5.4 million
Mike Huckabee 602k
Sam Brownback 94k
Duncan Hunter 80k
John McCain -53k
Tom Tancredo -187k
Mitt Romney -8.1 million

Perspective on Immigration

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Ron Paul at the Robert Taft Club

Mr. Conservative 2.0

David Weigel | October 12, 2007, 2:32pm

Last night Rep. Ron Paul made a wistful kind of trip to the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia for a speech to the Robert Taft Club, a paleoconservative salon launched in 2006. Planning began long before news broke of Paul's $5.1 million summer fundraising haul. That news turned a small event into a monster lecture, around 300 people lining up and around stairs to get into a small, oak-panelled room at a chop house. Journalists from ABC News and C-Span set up cameras as print journalists milled around.

Paul arrived a bit after 8 p.m., agog at the crowd. "I asked how many people belonged to this club," he said, "and they said 'oh, about 35 people.' I'm used to speaking for... little groups of 35 people," he said.

I saw Paul speak to a smaller, younger crowd of conservatives at CPAC six months back and his speaking style's changed since then, if only slightly. He still wanted to barrel through a 30-minute address but was ready to pause and soak it in when people cheered at statements like "We need to go back to Revolutionary times and pick up the pieces!" Paul had a campaign to brag about, and re-enacted the moment from a Michigan rally (of 2000 people on the State campus) when he started talking abut fiat money and "some people started burning Federal Reserve notes!" He reared back his head and laughed. "Sometimes people will hand me a Fed note to sign and I ask them: 'Is this going to increase the value or is it going to drive it down?'"

The foreign policy bits of the speech were a little bit altered from Paul's usual spiel. There was the usual calling out of Republicans and Democrats who voted for the Iraq War (and to give the president authority to declare it), but when he worried that point he added a piss-and-vinegar disclaimer: "You declare war if you have to, and then you get in there and win it and then get out" It got applause, but Paul seemed a little startled at what he'd just said. And he spitballed what he would do if Congress obliterated the military budget and started scrapping overseas bases. He'd take $200 billion from the military budget, apply $100 billion to deficit payment, and apply $100 billion to paying for entitlements and infrastructure. That was unusual: Most of the time, when a practicality came up, it was the star of a joke.

"We're not going to get rid of the Federal Reserve in a day," Paul said. "It'll take two or three days."

Listening to this and looking at the camera and sound men staring intently as they record it, I realized that the days of Paul giving low-key philosophical speeches are over for a while. TV reporters don't follow a candidate unless he's making an impact on the race. Crowds this size include voters who honestly think their guy is going to win the nomination. Questions began with "When you become president..." and "What would a Paul presidency..." and fans from South Carolina assured Paul he was surging in their state. One questioner asked Paul to make a general election argument against Hillary Clinton. (I've seen this happen before. In the summer, when John McCain's campaign had really melted down, most of the questions he took from fans and bloggers were about the war. Only after his polls moved up in September did he start getting campaign questions again.)

I'm always curious about what Paul voters expect from this race and what they'll do if he doesn't win. Very, very few of the attendees had a second choice candidate. For them, it's Paul or nothing. "We are not going to win against any Democrat if we nominate a pro-war candidate," said Brandon Holmes, a 27-year old Leadership Institute employee who used to support the war. "Ron Paul's going to be on my ballot in November, whether or not I have to write him in."

Paul didn't seem to want much focus on him, personally, as opposed to libertarian ideas and old-style Bob Taft conservatism. "I am not the greatest orator," he said near the end of a long speech, "but this is the greatest message."

Meet the Neo-Cons

"The first strains of neo-conservatism were, of course, liberal. But liberal doesn’t quite get at it. Really, the first strains of neo-conservatism were militantly liberal. The New School (from whence Irving Kristol came) was where neo-conservatism was born, and its most important figure was Max Shachtman. These early neo-cons were nearly all of them Trotskyites, predominantly Jewish, New York liberal intelligentsia who placed a heavy emphasis on being anti-communist, anti-counterculture, pro-war socialists."

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Ron Paul is crashing the party (CNN)

Ron Paul on PBS (Part 1)

Ron Paul on PBS (Part 2)

A New Hope

Ron Paul Defying the Odds

From USA Daily
Larry Fester

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul continues to defy the odds and the media produced polls demonstrating support based on issues and ideas.

The cult of Ron Paul is truly a cult of individuals emanating from all walks of life. Still mostly Republican, Paul’s base of supporters includes many Independents and a growing number of Democrats.

Ron Paul has muscled his way just barely making it into the top tier of candidates by drawing large crowds at rallies across the country and raising 5 million in the third quarter. That number is five times what Mike Huckabee raised and leaves Paul with almost a couple million in cash above what John McCain has.

While the GOP frontrunner Rudy Giuliani has 16 million in cash, Ron Paul has 5.3 million on hand. Still far behind Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, Paul’s campaign must be encouraged by the success.

In fact, if the current trend of fund raising and spending were to continue by the candidates Paul could possible end up with as much cash in hand as the frontrunners by the time of the New Hampshire primary. Paul’s campaign is running a lean machine living off the land.

In some respects Ron Paul’s campaign is making history with his online fund raising efforts. The Ron Paul campaign true to free market form is letting it all hang out so to speak by showing online donations in real time on its website.

The move is bold and daring but it shows a growing confidence in a campaign that believes it can win the Republican nomination. While the GOP nomination is up for grabs one thing is clear, Ron Paul can win it.

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Nashville Rally

Ron’s Revolution - Could Dr. Paul really surprise us all?

From National Review Online

By Dave Kopel

This weekend, I attended and spoke at the Second Amendment Foundation’s annual Gun Rights Policy Conference, which was held at a convention center in northern Kentucky, a few miles away from Cincinnati. What I saw and heard there changed my mind about the viability of Ron Paul’s presidential candidacy; Paul is going to far outperform the expectations laid out for him.

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Ron Paul's rising stock

According to Intrade, Ron Paul is now trailing only Guiliani, Romney and Thompson for the GOP nod, having recently passed the fading McCain and Huckabee. We still have a long ways to go, but it is always more instructive to see where people are putting their money than it is to watch Sean Hannity.

2008 Republican Presidential Nominee
	2008.GOP.NOM.GIULIANI Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican Presidential Nominee in 2008	M	38.7	39.4	38.6	116911	0
	2008.GOP.NOM.ROMNEY Mitt Romney to be the Republican Presidential Nominee in 2008	M	23.6	24.9	25.7	97371	0
	2008.GOP.NOM.THOMPSON(F) Fred Thompson to be the Republican Presidential Nominee in 2008	M	22.0	22.1	21.9	85970	0
	2008.GOP.NOM.PAUL Ron Paul to be the Republican Presidential Nominee in 2008	M	5.9	6.7	6.9	64797	0
	2008.GOP.NOM.MCCAIN John McCain to be the Republican Presidential Nominee in 2008	M	5.2	5.3	5.2	145562	0
	2008.GOP.NOM.HUCKABEE Mike Huckabee to be the Republican Presidential Nominee in 2008	M	2.6	3.5	2.6	49862	0

Ron Paul Surging in the Polls Among Moderates

From: USAElectionPolls.com

There is more great news for the Ron Paul campaign, not just the money he raised in the third quarter but also that this is starting to translate into real life support. Among moderates in New Hampshire, Ron Paul is in the double digits. The sample size of moderates in this poll is only 203 but is as high as some of the University polls that are reported widely in the media.

John McCain	26%
Mitt Romney	17%
Rudy Giuliani	16%
Ron Paul	10%
Fred Thompson	5%
Mike Huckabee	4%
Unsure	21%
Source

In Michigan, out of a sample size of 307, Ron Paul is sitting at 8% among moderates.

John McCain	20%
Rudy Giuliani	16%
Ron Paul	8%
Mitt Romney	6%
Fred Thompson	5%
Mike Huckabee	5%
Sam Brownback	2%
Duncan Hunter	1%
Unsure	38%
Source

This is very promising news for Ron Paul because the moderates tend to be the most Undecided of all the voters. New Hampshire (21%), Michigan (39%) so as those voters learn of Ron Paul, more gains are expected. The other item to note is that Independents in New Hampshire are allowed to vote for Ron Paul in the primaries if they wish. Thus, Ron Paul will be gaining in the polls shortly.

More and more people are waking up to Ron Paul

When broadcast execs start telling other broadcast execs to pay attention to Ron Paul, you know that you are on to something.

From: Broadcastnewsroom.com

Must-Carry Foe Ron Paul Raises Profile

(Multichannel News) _ It might be time for cable operators to give Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul a closer look. They might like what they see from the Texas congressman.

Paul, a quirky libertarian physician described as an "isolationist" during an MSNBC report last week, raised $5 million in the third quarter, double the amount in the prior quarter, for his campaign war chest.

The money surge, which caught some political pundits by surprise, might give Paul a shot at being mentioned in the same breath as the frontrunners: former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

What's the cable connection? In September, he introduced a bill that would repeal the 1992 Cable Act's must-carry provisions, which enable every full-power TV station to demand cable carriage.

"These federal 'must carry' mandates deny cable companies the ability to provide the programming their customers' desire. Decisions about what programming to carry on a cable system should be made by consumers, not federal bureaucrats," Paul, a 72-year-old obstetrician who has delivered more than 4,000 babies, said in introducing the bill.

Some cable big shots might decide to snub Paul, though, because his bill would require cable operators to obtain permission to carry commercial TV stations.

Paul's bill (H.R. 3602), the Television Consumer Freedom Act, would reinstate some of satellite TV provider EchoStar Communications' court-lost legal authority to distribute Big Four network signals beyond their home markets. For the consumer electronics industry, Paul's bill would stop the Federal Communications Commission from requiring the installation of digital tuners in TV sets, which Paul says can add $250 to the price of a set.

51% of Republican Caucus Goers Support Iraq Withdrawal Within Six Months

Greg Sargent at TPM Election Central noticed this nugget in the latest Strategic Vision poll of likely caucus goers:

4. Do you favor a withdrawal of all United States military from Iraq within the next six months? (Republicans Only)
Yes 51%
No 39%
Undecided 10%

Frankly, the number does not surprise me. Candidates who have more hard-line positions on the war avoid wearing their positions on their sleeves when they are in town, and I think that while immigration hurt McCain here, his outspoken support of the surge caused him just as much trouble over the past six months. Iowa Republicans are social conservatives, not hawks.

Also worth noting — and this is something Greg Sargent misses in his write-up — is that the poll screen intended only to include caucus going Republicans, not Republicans as a whole, and the results may have been different had the screen been wider. Still, though, among the most influential group of Republicans in the state, support for withdrawal is high.

The Ron Paul Breakthrough - His antiwar message is the key to Paul's burgeoning success

Ron Paul is breaking through. His call to return to the vision of the Founders, and the principles embodied in the Constitution, is piercing the wall of silence that surrounds the conduct of our disgraceful foreign policy. Andrea Mitchell proclaims him the new Howard Dean, network television takes note of his fundraising prowess and the resonance of his message, and then we have this very favorable piece on CNN, not to mention this, this, and this – all of which points to the appearance – or, rather, reappearance – of a resurgent political movement on the horizon: an anti-interventionist wing of the GOP.

Commentators, including those who most definitely look on Paul's success with a very jaundiced eye, are baffled. Why is this happening? How could a mere blip on the electoral screen, a man nobody thought was worth even a footnote in the story of this presidential campaign, suddenly catapult into prominence?

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Ron Paul Positive Coverage on ABC

Nothing Succeeds like Success

Below is a letter I sent today to South Carolina GOP county chairs

My fellow Republicans -

I am writing to address a subject of the highest concern to us all, the success and continuing viability of the Republican party in 2008. It is an uncomfortable fact for us all that, in stark contrast to historic trends, the Democrats are raising far more money and polling much higher than we are in this cycle.

The reason for their new found success is clear...opposition to the continuing occupation of Iraq and general disapproval of the Bush administration is nearly universal. As of this moment, over 70% of all Americans oppose the continuation of the Iraq nation-building exercise.

The Republican base is shrinking. Although disappointment with the Democrats inability to change course since the 2006 mid-terms has resulted in a high level of frustration with their party as well, none of the media-deemed Republican front runners are situated to take advantage of this frustration.

However, one candidate continues to prove that he can expand the base and attract independents, disaffected Democrats, and traditional conservatives who have pulled away from the party as it continue to drift towards greater statism and paternalism and away from traditional conservative values such as liberty, sovereignty, individualism, and capitalism.

That candidate is Dr. Ron Paul.

With the Nation rejecting the welfare/warfare model of the Bush years, only a Republican who has his roots in our greatest traditions can hope to undermine the ambitions of Hillary Clinton.

Analysis shows that a pro-war Republican candidate WILL lose in 2008.

If Clinton wins, we all lose.

Dr. Paul's campaign announced today that it raised an impressive 5.1 million dollars in the third quarter. That is a 114% increase over the second quarter. This while the special interest-funded candidacies of John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Rudy Guiliani saw double digit declines in their fund-raising percentages during the same time period. Even more impressive is the fact that Dr. Paul's average donation was less than $50. This shows a broad base of support that the other campaigns could only hope for.

If you have attended a gun show, fair, parade or GOP event in the last few months, than you know that the Paul campaign has inspired a network of grassroots activists that is unmatched within either party's candidates. As of this writing, he has almost 10 times as many MeetUp volunteers as his closest rival. Every metric we use to measure the success of this campaign continues to climb at remarkable rates while those same metrics for the other candidates in the GOP field continue to fall.

Please consider the implications of these facts.

Ron Paul Campaign Raises 5.1 Million In Third Quarter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 3, 2007

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA -- The Ron Paul 2008 presidential campaign raised $5,080,000 during the third quarter of 2007. That is an impressive 114 percent increase from the second quarter.

Cash on hand for the Paul campaign is $5,300,000.

"Dr. Paul's message is freedom, peace and prosperity," said Paul campaign chairman Kent Snyder. "As these fundraising numbers show, more Americans each day are embracing Dr. Paul's message."

Ron Paul's 114 percent increase is in stark contrast to the decrease suffered by Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain. Romney's fundraising was down 29 percent. Giuliani was down 40 percent. McCain was down 55 percent.

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