Ron Paul is on a Roll
Texas Congressman Ron Paul's bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination is awash in good news in recent days, and gaining momentum that must be the envy of the rest of the field. Following up an impressive show of real-world popular support in Iowa last weekend, the first fundraising reports for the second quarter put the campaign's cash on hand ahead of one-time front-runner John McCain's, while straw polls across the country are beginning to show that Ron Paul's days as a "fringe," "long shot", or "second tier" candidate could be coming to an end. Capping off an incredible week are an appearance today before another large crowd in a key early primary state (Nevada this time), and a fifteen-minute interview on ABC's "This Week" tomorrow morning.
Ron Paul's growing band of supporters stepped up with $2.4 million in campaign contributions in the second quarter, nearly quadrupling his first quarter results. Prudent financial management and an enthusiastic volunteer base allowed Dr. Paul to run a cost-effective campaign, passing McCain in cash on hand despite raising substantially less. Ron Paul's first-quarter results were downplayed in the mainstream media, but had put him in sixth place in the field of ten, just behind Tom Tancredo and Sam Brownback. All of the second quarter results are not yet in, but Ron Paul has clearly moved to at least the top of the second tier, outraising Brownback by nearly a million dollars.
Another indication of the growing strength of the Ron Paul campaign is a series of impressive showings in local Republican straw polls around the nation. He placed a solid fourth (and ahead of Giuliani) in a California Republican Assembly straw poll on July 1st, with 12% of the vote. He placed an impressive second (behind only Fred Thompson) in the historic Cobb County Georgia Republican Party straw poll on July 5th, earning 17% support. A group that might be expected to like Ron Paul, the Coalition for New Hampshire Taxpayers, gave him his biggest win so far, a 62% blowout win today over the rest of the field. His closest competitor was Rudy Giuliani, at 8%.
The Ron Paul bandwagon keeps on rolling, with an appearance at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas today. His speech on "How to Win Without Compromising" drew a reported crowd of around 600, and was followed up by a separate rally at the Paris Hotel and a debate on the global war on terror with Dinesh D'souza of the Hoover Institution as this evening's headline event for the 1,000 participants at Freedom Fest.
Finally, Ron Paul breaks into the mainstream network news with an appearance on ABC's This Week on Sunday morning, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos. Those who get their political news solely from network TV should be seeing more of Ron Paul, given the momentum building around his campaign. That momentum continues next week with a visit to Google headquarters in California, broadcast to all Google employees worldwide, and accompanied by a Ron Paul rally in Charleston Park in Mountain View.
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Ron Paul's growing band of supporters stepped up with $2.4 million in campaign contributions in the second quarter, nearly quadrupling his first quarter results. Prudent financial management and an enthusiastic volunteer base allowed Dr. Paul to run a cost-effective campaign, passing McCain in cash on hand despite raising substantially less. Ron Paul's first-quarter results were downplayed in the mainstream media, but had put him in sixth place in the field of ten, just behind Tom Tancredo and Sam Brownback. All of the second quarter results are not yet in, but Ron Paul has clearly moved to at least the top of the second tier, outraising Brownback by nearly a million dollars.
Another indication of the growing strength of the Ron Paul campaign is a series of impressive showings in local Republican straw polls around the nation. He placed a solid fourth (and ahead of Giuliani) in a California Republican Assembly straw poll on July 1st, with 12% of the vote. He placed an impressive second (behind only Fred Thompson) in the historic Cobb County Georgia Republican Party straw poll on July 5th, earning 17% support. A group that might be expected to like Ron Paul, the Coalition for New Hampshire Taxpayers, gave him his biggest win so far, a 62% blowout win today over the rest of the field. His closest competitor was Rudy Giuliani, at 8%.
The Ron Paul bandwagon keeps on rolling, with an appearance at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas today. His speech on "How to Win Without Compromising" drew a reported crowd of around 600, and was followed up by a separate rally at the Paris Hotel and a debate on the global war on terror with Dinesh D'souza of the Hoover Institution as this evening's headline event for the 1,000 participants at Freedom Fest.
Finally, Ron Paul breaks into the mainstream network news with an appearance on ABC's This Week on Sunday morning, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos. Those who get their political news solely from network TV should be seeing more of Ron Paul, given the momentum building around his campaign. That momentum continues next week with a visit to Google headquarters in California, broadcast to all Google employees worldwide, and accompanied by a Ron Paul rally in Charleston Park in Mountain View.
