(...I would love to exactly how much Ron Paul is spending in the primary election process of all that money he has raised. My guess is that he is spending little, keeping most of it for a run as an Independent...) December 18, 2007 Read More: Ron Paul Will Ron Paul spend some of his cash now? The Times' Julie Bosman -- taking a break from her sledding and hot cocoa beat with the Edwards fam -- has Ron Paul not offering a Sherman-esque statement yesterday when asked about going indie. Mr. Paul, at a news conference on Monday in Des Moines, also declined to rule out the possibility of running as an independent, a move encouraged by many of his supporters. But, he added, âI canât foresee that happening.â A spokesman added that they would use the money in part to air more spots in New Hampshire and Iowa. But, even before this latest money bomb, they've been pretty flush. And they haven't had much of a television footprint in either state. According to one source familar with media buys, Paul only had 100 points on WMUR last week and wasn't even on Boston networks. In Iowa, he's only on the radio. Keep a close eye on his week-by-week TV spending. If his spending doesn't dramatically increase with all the cash he now has, we'll know more about exactly what his intentions are for '08.
November 20, 2007, 12:44 am Ron Paulâs Tight-fisted Campaign By Leslie Wayne Voters looking for a candidate who will be tight with their money might have found their man in Ron Paul, if campaign spending is any indication. At the moment, Mr. Paul, a Texas congressman who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, is rolling in cash. He already had raised $5 million this year when a one-day Internet drive tied to Guy Fawkes Day on Nov. 5 brought in another $4 million. Yet, spending is another matter. As of earlier this month, Mr. Paulâs campaign had spent only 46 cents for every dollar raised, compared to most campaigns that spend whatever comes in. Where other campaigns freely give out yard signs, posters and other handouts, the Paul campaign tells supporters to make their own or buy them from the campaign â at cost. Originally, this was born of necessity as Mr. Paul started out in January with just $25,000. But it has since helped generate grass roots involvement by supporters, who design and print up their own Paul promotions. Even a large pro-Paul billboard strategically placed outside the Des Moines airport was designed and paid for by a supporter, not the campaign. âThey call us and say, âCan you send me 20,000 handouts,â â said Kent Snyder, campaign chairman. âI tell them we canât afford it and to do whatever they want.â The campaign has been running television advertisements in New Hampshire, and more media spending is on the way. Supporters, though, have another one-day Internet fund-raiser planned for next month.
Paul has little influence now. If he can last until the convention and if the convention is deadlocked, he would have enormous leverage. If he continues to pick up delegates in every primary, those delegates could be like gold to a second place candidate. Conserving cash now is a rational move for him, particularly since he is getting more than his share of free publicity.
Paul is not in the running to win the presidency then...he is running for a different purpose than winning. He may be running to exercise some political capital, but I doubt it. Paul is not likely to throw his support to any of the candidates that might actually get the nomination. Can you honestly see Mitt, Rudy, or McCain picking Paul as a running mate, or promise him some high level cabinet post? I still think he just wants to run an independent campaign that will do nothing but potentially hurt the repubs in the general election. He is not a team player for the republican party, that is bloody obvious. Of course the side benefit will be that Paul can meet with all the Paulites and they can all generate conspiracy theories as to why he didn't win a single primary...how everyone else is to blame for his failures.
after super duper tuesday the strategy changes completely.... there will be a move to go independent depending on his status. the main thing now is to expose all the voting fraud.
Rat: > ... the main thing now is to expose all the voting fraud. And your doing a great job of getting your 'proof by assertion' messsage out there to the masses. Excellent work Rat, we're all grateful. Keep it up. JB
The Republican Party establishment sees in Paul a threat similar to that posed by Pat Buchanan. A candidate that the establishment cannot control and who articulates themes that resonate with important segments of the party's base. The mainstream candidates have handled the Paul threat badly, choosing to use ridicule and slander rather than recognizing that Paul represents a significant segment of voters they cannot win without. When Romney disparages Paul or Guiliani calls him unamerican, I am turned off bigtime. If they intend to handle criticism from Hillary or Obama the same way, they deserve to lose. The issues of why we need to have troops stationed all over the world and why rebuilding Iraq is the responsibility of the American taxpayer seem valid to me. Likewise, why are Israel and Egypt receiving billions of dollars of aid each year? What exactly are we getting for all that money? Obviously, the neo-cons and the Republican and Democrat establishments don't want to talk about these issues. Too many people are getting too much money out of them. As with the illegal immigration issue, the party elites are out of step with the voters and intend to defy them, no matter what they say on the campaign trail. Paul no doubt has already vastly exceeded whatever he had hoped to do in this campaign. He is getting into a position to insist on the establishment's worst nightmare, a prime time convention speech. Pat Buchanan forced that on Bush sr and the liberal networks had a great time hissing about how mean and harsh republicans were. I am pretty sure Paul has no interest in a cabinet post or other traditional perk. He hasn't sold out for 25 years, so why would he start now? An independent campaign is very hard to do because of all the roadblocks the two parties have erected. I think all Paul has to do is to threaten to tell his supporters to sit out the election. The Republicans simply cannot win if 5 or 10 % of their base boycotts the election.
great post AAA... although i don't think there will be a "ron paul" at the convention wanting to give a speech. we will be independent by then. at that point the dem's and repub's will be locked into their pro war CFR candidates of choice and we will punish them. right now there are so many... but once the field is narrowed down, we will focus in on all the corrupt ties these insiders have. i will personally spend every free hour i have exposing these whores for the traitors they truly are. not to mention the fake right news channel Faux Nooze.
A prime time convention speech is useless. We have seen them before, we will see them again, they don't bring a lasting change. Paul will be how old in 4 years? How relevant is Ross Perot right now?