The Ron Paul Money Dud

The last Ron Paul Money Bomb was a  bit of a dud.  It was supposed to push Ron Paul over the $20 Million mark for the quarter. It came up about $450k short, as only $387K was raised. The fundraising nothing to sneeze at, but it does raise questions as to how long Paul supporters can continue to do this.

Trevor Lyman’s attempt to raise nearly $900k on the heels of the 12/17 money bomb may be considered key. New Year’s Eve, 6 days after Christmas isn’t the best time to pass the hat. But other Paul operations are having some difficulty. Call for Paul, a volunteer phone bank sent out an SOS for funds, while the blimp remains about $400K short of what’s needed for a 2nd month in the air and $200k short of its downpayment.

This suggests two things to me: 1) Ron Paul supporters may be maxing out, or as regular Americans may not have a whole lot to give this time of year, 2) Paul’s unique mix of official and unofficial efforts may be catching up.

Throughout the campaign, unofficial efforts like Tea Party, Calls for Paul, The Blimp, etc have operated independent of the campaign and been more efficient. Paul has made statements that he doesn’t even know what he’ll do what the money raised. I don’t think he’s kidding. Meanwhile, the efforts that are achieving something find themselves running low.

Of course, I could be wrong and donations could pick up again, but I think the grassroots has been tapped out to put it mildly.

Thompson Impresses

The man who asked Fred Thompson if he wanted to be President was quite impressed with the answer:

 The answer was exactly what I hope it would. It was a great answer. At points during the answer I was ashamed I had asked the question. I knew the answer.  Do I really want to support a candidate who lives to be President?  Is that type of candidate really interested in serving the nation or serving his own self-interest? Sen. Thompson positioned himself as willing to serve, not for an enlarged ego, but out of a deep desire to serve his nation. He has desire to make our nation better for his children and grandchildren.

It was a fabulous answer. I read it on my program and Andrea said, “If he’s for real…wow.” Perhaps, if Fred’s not successful, it’ll say a lot more about our process than him.

Low Blow

Attempts to suggest Huckabee did not really lose weight, but had a Gastric bypass are tacky, particularly without solid evidence to prove it. But this seems to be par for the course for anti-Huckabee extremists. There’s a strong desire to prove he’s never done a positive thing in his life.  (Hat Tip: The Corner.) All this does is build some sympathy for Huck on a personal level, at least in his corner of the blogosphere.

Romney’s Positive Negative Ads

There are many reasons not to like Mitt Romney, but can we people stop carping about his negative ads. Romney’s ads are not hard-edged. In fact if Romney’s campaign succeeds, he’ll have created the positive negative campaign ad. In one ad, he praises Huckabee for his family and pro-life position before explaing an issue with Romney’s immigration record. In an anti-McCain ad, he praises him as an American hero. If Candidates can’t talk about issues they have with their opponents, maybe we’re just too immature to govern ourselves.

Other 2008 Articles of Interest:

Scrappleface: Huckabee unveils dirt he won’t use against his rivals

Club for Growth: McCain would Vote Against Tax Cuts Again