Ron Paul, Guy Fawkes and some guy from Miami Beach you never heard of
Our friends over at Politico.com have the skinny on how Ron Paul managed to raise lottery-level cash in just one day this weekend. In a sense, it was outsourced, and reporter Kenneth P. Vogel traces it back to one Trevor Lyman, a 37-year-old Internet music promoter and political novice from Miami Beach.
Lyman's innovative "e-bundling" process will likely find its way into other campaigns as part of the evolution of Internet fundraising. Why? Because everyone likes success, and raising more than $4 million in one day is nothing to sneeze at.
Lyman's process merges basic Web fundraising with traditional bundling (gathering lots of donors' checks and delivering them at the same time) and smart marketing -- media coverage follows poll leaders and money-raisers. Paul has been notably light in poll support, but a longshot candidate raising Hillary Clinton-scale dollars generated a ton of mainstream media coverage (she raised nearly $6.2 million on June 30, the one-day record).
It didn't hurt that the fundraising day was timed to Guy Fawkes Day, celebrating a failed attempt to blow up the British Parliament -- a symbolic tie-in for Paul's libertarian minimal-government views. And Lyman is planning another round in December to coincide with the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party and Bill of Rights Day.
As much as most of us hate it, raising cash is a barometer of political viability, since donors tend to put their money where their vote is. But as we mentioned before, the key issue now for Paul is to translate the cash into broader support -- particularly in the early vote states, where the narrative for the nomination gets established.
-- Scott Martelle
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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not to mention that paul has 10 times the integrity that all other politicians have. he was against the neocon war lies from the beginning and he actually cares about the us citizen. vote neocon feinstein out!
Posted by: rp | November 07, 2007 at 01:37 PM
I agree, RP, I will NEVER vote for Feinstein again. Her and Schumer sold their souls to the neocons. I like Ron Paul too, and if he was pro-choice, I'd vote for him. But he's not, so I won't.
Posted by: Pam, Long Beach, California | November 07, 2007 at 02:20 PM
Wow, I don't get you one issue abortion people...
Like THAT is the most pressing issue facing the country.
It only affects less than a millon people out of a nation of 300 million.
What good will it do you to have an abortion if you are living in a broke, police state where your money is worthless and overrun with illegal aliens?
Ron Paul is personally against abortion, but is against any federal meddling in the area and leaves it up to the states to regulate.
I'm sure there will be at least one state where you will be able to get one.
>> Paul also opposes abortion, which he believes should be addressed at the state level, not the national one. He remembers seeing a late abortion performed during his residency, years before Roe v. Wade, and he maintains it left an impression on him. “It was pretty dramatic for me,” he says, “to see a two-and-a-half-pound baby taken out crying and breathing and put in a bucket.” and left to die. <<<
Is THIS what you choose over a strong America? You are a sick person.
Why don't you choose Birth Control, Condoms, Self Control, Morning after pills, Adoption, etc.
I
Posted by: /////ANDRE | November 08, 2007 at 12:02 PM
not pro choice???? hes all about pro choice. he has no say in what you can do about you're choices, he says leave it up to the states... like the constitution says.
Posted by: dave | November 08, 2007 at 02:41 PM