Ron Paul: Of Blimps and Pimps

The amazing Ron Paul grassroots machine continues to raise money. In 8 days, they’ve raised more than $380,000 to rent a blimp for a month in order to promote Paul’s campaign.

The effort will not be run by a campaign, but a PAC set up by Trevor Lyman. So Paul will get free advertising on a blimp. Will it be a good investment? No one really knows. As Lyman admits, no Presidential Candidate has ever had their own blimp before. It could be a flashy and expensive maneuver that doesn’t pay off. That Lyman got 49 folks to pony up $5,000 each (the maximum you can give to a PAC,) however, shows the Paul campaign continues to enjoys intense support.

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Much conversation has gone on in recent days over the Nevada Brothel owner who endorsed Ron Paul. It’s been an interesting guilt-by-association game for some days. However, Paul did not seek the endorsement of Tucker Carlso. As the campaign told the Reno Gazette Journal:

On a personal basis, he doesn’t condone those things. At the same time, from his campaign perspective, it’s not the role of federal government and it’s not in the Constitution for federal government to regulate these things.

And no candidate has yet to propose federalizing prostitution. The key to understanding Paul’s campaign is that it’s not necessarily a group of people who approve of everything Paul does. Rather, it’s a group of people that are either upset about the war or would just like to be left alone by the federal government. So, in a bizarre way, this brothel owner supports Ron Paul for the same reason quite a few homeschoolers and marijuana legalization backers do.

Paul rarely comments on what he would do on these issues if he were a governor or state legislator. This is key to the depth of his supporter base. He can have so many seemingly mismatched folks on his side, because he favors federalism. Except on issues like abortion and marriage, Paul’s views on what should happen if the issues get returned to the states are mostly unknown and, I think that’s the way he wants it.

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I’ve pretty much concluded that Paul isn’t going to do very well in Iowa, and certainly not have a shot at double digits. However, an interesting poll was conducted of University of Iowa students with a great sample that indicates Paul has some support among University students. Paul leads Mitt Romney on the campus, but it’s within the margin of error. However, if you extrapolate from this poll, where 104 students said they were pledged to Paul, to the entire campus, Paul could garner 1300 votes from one Campus, which if it’s repeated across the state could lead to a real surprise on Caucus night.

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The Daily Paul pointed to another source of Paul supporters, a Natural Health website. Apparently 1.3 million folks were e-mailed the story and 40,000 viewed it on the website. Their reasons for supporting Paul have little to do with the war. Again folks, it’s the leave us alone coalition.

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Dennis Kucinich wants a piece of the Ron Paul revolution (Hat Tip: Stop the ACLU.)

“I’m thinking about Ron Paul” as a running mate, Kucinich told a crowd of about 70 supporters at a house party here, one of numerous stops throughout New Hampshire over the Thanksgiving weekend. A Kucinich-Paul administration could bring people together “to balance the energies in this country,” Kucinich said.

Of course, only Dennis Kucinich would seriously be thinking about a running mate at a time when he’s in single digits in the polls. So, even though Ron Paul would “bring balance to the force,” it’s silly. I’m sad to see some conservative blogs running with it, particularly when Paul’s communications director says it’s not going to happen:

“Dr. Paul and Rep. Kucinich are friends and there is a lot of mutual respect,” Paul communications director Jesse Benton said in an e-mail when asked whether a running-mate spot on the Kucinich ticket would be attractive to Paul. “They have worked, and will continue to work, together on ending the war and protecting civil liberties.

“However, Ron wants to substantially cut the size and scope of the federal government. There are too many differences on issues such as taxes and spending to think a joint ticket would be possible.”

Keep your attacks reasonable. It’s not Ron Paul’s fault what Dennis Kucinich says about him.

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While Paul has been clear on most issues, there’s one thing he has been fuzzy about: the possibility of a third party run. Based on his answer in Wednesday Night’s Debate, the Politico ran a blog entry with the headline: “Paul Dodges on Indie Run” National Journal had one that said, “Ron Paul–No Indy Run.”

Now, those of you who think the door is firmly shut on a Ron Paul third party run are exercising wishful thinking. Paul is using the word “intend” and those of us in Idaho are familiar with how the word “intend” can mean “maybe, maybe not.” It’s doubtful someone whose campaign has succeeded in part because of his reputation as a straight shooter is clueless on the wiggle room he’s leaving here.

Of course, with hopes of winning the GOP primary, Paul can’t say, “Heck, yeah!” But he’d best be advised to come up with an answer that other people aren’t going to accuse him of misleading folks on, because that could hurt him worse than anything else.

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Finally, I found a guest blogger on my blog roll had joined Paul’s ranks, the reason: Unity.

I don’t pretend to agree with Dr. Paul on everything, but he has good ideas that he explains intelligently, and he is calling people back to their roots and their identity as free citizens, not as consumers and taxpayers. A republic needs that above everything else, and people are responding to that, and it crosses the usual barriers and talking-points that Balkanize American politics. This seems to be real unity in action.

Again, no mention of opposition to the war, just support for another aspect of the campaign. The fact is that the more I study this campaign and look at it, this is about more than the war, and it’s certainly about more than anti-war nuts. While I don’t support Ron Paul, the campaign is one of the more interesting and perhaps even more important topics that I’ve covered here. Where it leads and what happens to it should Paul lose will tell the tale of the next decade of American politics.