When it comes to the polls, Ron Paul can’t quite top 5% in any scientific state or national survey. But when it comes to fundraising, results like these sure are impressive.
Proving again his ability to raise significant cash online, Ron Paul has raised nearly $2 million since midnight via his website.
In what is being called a “money bomb,” Paul’s fervent backers spread the word that today they’d blast their candidate with Internet contributions, setting up a website, “This November 5th,” to push the plan. An aide said they had nothing to do with the effort.
“Supporters have spontaneously organized what I can only refer to as a one-day attack of donations,” said Paul spokeswoman Kate Rick. “We started at midnight with $2.77 million raised for the quarter, and have, as of 9:36 am, climbed up to over $4.1.”
As of 12:27, Paul had raised $4.73 million total.
As far as I can tell, that’s $2 million in just 12 hours, all from a fundraising initiative that the campaign had practically nothing to do with. (Apparently, Paul staffers didn’t even alert its email list to the drive.)
How does today’s haul match up compared to his rivals? Consider this: Paul has raised about as much in the last 12 hours as Mike Huckabee raised in nine months.
The question, of course, is whether any of this matters.
To hear Paul supporters tell it, the Texas congressman’s ability to raise so much so quickly with very little effort proves that Paul has a large, loyal following. That much is obviously beyond question at this point.
But what will Paul do with his newly-filled coffers? Conceivably he could (and probably will) buy some airtime for his TV ads, but that won’t necessarily translate to added support — his TV ads are really awful, as even most Paul fans have conceded.
OK, but maybe he could use $2 million to get some better ads? Perhaps, but I suspect there’s a ceiling Paul will run up against. In today’s Republican Party, a die-hard libertarian who opposes the war in Iraq, hates the neocons, wants to eliminate most of the federal government, and wants a return to the gold standard can only generate so much support.
It’s not the money; it’s not the ads; it’s the message. Paul, love him or hate him, is not part of the Republican mainstream. There’s a reason he gets booed at many of the GOP debates.
It’s precisely why I’ve long believed Paul is better suited for a third-party campaign. If anything today’s fundraising totals reinforce this, because it shows that Paul doesn’t necessarily need the GOP, he just needs his army of followers, who, I suspect, would gladly follow him out of the Republican Party.
Stay tuned.