Ron Paul campaign packed with (paid) Ron Paul family members

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) is running for his party's presidential nomination. And so, it seems, are a whole bunch of Pauls and other assorted family members.

They're everywhere in the Paul campaign. And all, by the way, getting paid from the $34.5 million donated by the legions of loyal Paul supporters across the country.

The 72-year-old Paul, a onetime ob-gyn, has packed his campaign staff with what seems like a whole lot of the 4,000 babies he's said to have delivered over the years.

Although Paul, who turns out to be a multimillionaire, has... 

... acknowledged that winning the GOP nomination is hopeless, he continues to campaign while simultaneously pushing his new bestselling book, "The Revolution: A Manifesto."

Although Paul has said he believes Sen. Barack Obama will be elected president on Nov. 4, Paul's supporters continue to try to gain control of delegates at the local party levels and plot for a convention speech and possible platform skirmishes against the victorious forces of Sen. John McCain.

The Washington Post checked campaign finance records at the Federal Election Commission and found the 10-term libertarian-like House member, who allegedly doesn't like big government, does indeed like big family involvement in his campaign.

He's paid family members nearly $170,000.

It's not illegal. Unusual, yes, especially to the extent Paul has taken it.

One granddaughter got $17,157 for helping to organize fund-raisers. Another got $2,724 for helping ship Paul merchandise. A grandson gets $3,251 for managing Paul's MySpace profile. A daughter got $2,224 for helping with campaign logistics, according to the Post's story.

Two sons and a daughter have been paid for travel and surrogate speaking appearances. Paul's brother and daughter have been paid $62,740 to handle the bookkeeping on all these numbers and relatives.

"His family is very important to him," says the official Paul campaign spokesman, Jesse Benton.

Benton is, you may have suspected by now, about to become a member of the Paul family as well as of the Paul campaign family. He's engaged to a Paul granddaughter.

For his public relations work, including not returning countless Ticket phone calls over the months, he's received $54,573.

--Andrew Malcolm

Photo Credit: Associated Press

Comments

[spinnikerca]

With a family work ethic like his, we who donated to his campaign can only be grateful that he imposed on family members to take on these jobs.

You do remember that he refused to take matching fund, saying his campaign would not be run on 'stolen money', don't you? So this isn't a matter of questionable use of taxpayer funds, even if you really question hiring family to perform these events.

As for me, since I did max out on his campaign, I will say I think it's great. Family campaigns, family farms, family businesses....

What's unAmerican about that?

[spinnikerca]

P.S. However, I think Benton was underpaid for notreturning Ticket calls....

; )

[Gmartine]

I think this proves Ron Paul really does value his family and their support with the campaign. It shows how close his family is.

What a good guy!

[Tominellay]

I am reminded of a cartoon that appeared in MAD Magazine a few decades ago, in which a political candidate was railing against his opponent, charging that he had "performed a piscatorial act on a boat that was flying the American flag!"

[Jeff Smathers]

Yet, he is the only candidate who is still 'In the black' with regards to his campaign funds...... All the rest of the candidates are in debt and making financial promises they can't keep.

Go Ron Paul 2008 ! The only candidate with real fiscal and constitutional ethics.

[MIKE]

I don't have any problem at all with Ron Paul using these funds to hire family members as long as they are not paid more than is reasonable for the task they are performing.

I would be interested in seeing how much money McCain, Obama, and Clinton spent filling the same positions within their own campaigns.

Dr. Paul has run a very frugal campaign with little waste and is still in the black. Something that can not be said for the others who claim to be conservative.

[hmm]

the slight negative tone bugs me

[CHad]

I'd much rather have Paul paying family, who he trusts, than paying high profile lobbyists and interest groups like the other campaigns.

Everyone who follows Paul, knows his record, and knows his authentic integrity, also knows that trying to find some kind of unethical conduct in his campaign by having his family support him is ridiculous.

The Washington Post, and you Mr. Malcolm (whom I appreciate doing some good reporting on Paul's campaign), should be ashamed of yourselves for this one.

[terribly smart]

After watching one paper after another pick up on this 'non-story' today it's hard to believe you're all not just a bunch of controlled piranhas.

These trusted family members are probably the most underpaid, overworked campaign staffers ever. But that doesn't matter to you, does it? You're only concerned with doing your masters' bidding: trashing the truth, hacking to pieces the only honest candidate the American people have ever had.

I sure hope History is recording all this, you slimeballs.

[freedom]

Andrew Malcolm is an idiot

[Jake]

Oh my, a total of $170,000! You call this journalism?

[Matthew]

You quote your own blogs. Wow, you must live in some kind of fantasy land where your own misinterpretations pass as source material.

[Drestin]

I have put a curse on you, Andrew Malcolm. You clearly are an enemy of freedom, and so thus I've no problem unleashing the darkest forces of the universe on you.

Expect black things to come.

[NH]

And what is your point? Better he should have hired spies from the other side so they could do something illegal and get him knocked out of the campaign? Right.

Ron Paul ran the squeakiest clean campaign with regard to money.

To suggest this money is being used for personal gain is libelous.

There is a necessity in using one's family when unscrupulous people like yourself would be all too willing to infiltrate the campaign and do something to mess him up.

Apparently, Bill Clinton and his stolen millions, Obama's Communist advisors and his wife's $150K from the CFR, and McCain's heiress wife pose no threat, but little Valori who made less than $10K is.

This is just poor journalism once again from this yellow rag.
The Post is also propagating lies with the "isolationism" and "stick to your own kind" comments. Pure libel.

Ron Paul is hardly an isolationist and has never said, stick to your own kind, which suggests something else entirely.

I hope they sue the pants of WP, the dirtiest of dirty newspapers.

[TPMalone]

Wow, the nerve of Ron Paul to surround himself with people he trusts in the "honest" world of politics, especially when your message takes on the status quo by following the Constitution.

This is laughable. This is the best you have?!
Please discuss his "crazy" policies such as sound money, a humble non interventionist, not isolationist, foreign policy and preserving and protecting liberty.
Please...you have no real argument.

Thank you for this laugh in my day.

[Baba Padmanabhan]

Yeah, running a campaign with special interest lobbyists and corporate scumbags is better than running it with members of your family that you trust. Andrew Malcolm - this is a new low for you sir.

[Doug Bayless]

As somebody who donated to his campaign numerous times, let me also say that I have no problem with this.

Less than 0.05% (not 5% but less than half of one percent) of the money he raised went well documented (in very small amounts by political standards) to staff who happened to be family members.

The fact that so many in his family support him, none on his staff earned exorbitant fees, and that the campaign still has money in the bank is pretty impressive.

On the other hand the fact that the Washington Post story starts with libelous phrase "Stick with your own kind, says the maverick presidential candidate." says volumes about what kind of story the author was out to write.

In my view Paul is the least racist (despite the 'newsletter stories' [that he didn't author] he has the support of his local NAACP; he also seems one of the only candidates that is not anti-arab or anti-hispanic), Paul is the best supporter of the troops (one of the only veterans, he also out-raised other candidates in military contributions), and the least isolationist (what isolates us more than pre-emptive wars against people that didn't attack us?).

I don't think the Post author has ever personally read anything by Paul himself.

[Gregory Stachnik]

If Ron Paul's campaign is hopeless, and he is irrelevant, than how come the MSM is trying to smear him? Are they afraid that Dr. Paul and his legions of supporters are going to make a big enough stink at the convention? And by the way the Paul campaign in not in any debt, and has not used any taxpayer money. In fact his family was probably tapped because they are less expensive than professionals. IMHO I think the bankers are getting nervous about what might happen at the convention. We might yet get rid of the FED

[Brian]

Maybe LA Times should do some research about how much Michelle Obama has made, or Chelsea Clinton has earned, for campaigning for Barrack and Hillary? The answer is that this kind of thing happens all the time. This is a non-issue. Why doesn't LA Times decide to report on some real news worthy issues, like whether or not America should be the policeman of the world, or whether or not the government should plan the economy, or if we should have a Federal Reserve or not. Arggg,....MSM....Argggg!!!

[James]

Glad Dr. Paul is making sure that his family members are helping out! Just to make sure that neo-cons trojas are not screwing up his campaign!

Dr. Paul hiring family members and Mr Mccain hiring lobbyists!
That's why I support Dr. Paul he talks the talk and walks the walk!

[FreeMan from Florida]

What are you trying this time to insinuate? To be fair, let' s see you publish what the 3 supposed major candidates being shoved down our throats by people like yourselves, are paying their campaign staffers, relatives or not, & then comare the 4 of them. While your at it, include the staffers of all the Presidential candidates that have dropped out of the race. I think you will find Dr. Paul's paid staffers at the very bottom of this list, even though he has raised & retains more campaign contributions than almost all of them, & mostly from individual donors, unlike the others with corporate & lobbyist donations. Again, the most frugal & wisest, as well as the most Presidential man or woman to come along in most of our lifetimes, Ron Paul. Please spare us this drivel until you can write & report with as much honesty & integrity as this pure statesman, Ron Paul himself. Thanks for wasting our time. WAKE UP!

[Done with this trash]

"It's not illegal. Unusual, yes, especially to the extent Paul has taken it."

You lying piece of dog crap, Andrew. So family memeber have earned a grand total of LESS THAN ONE-HALF A PERCENT of Ron Paul's total campaign money by performing work.

THE HORROR!!!!!

Just added LATimes to my block internet sites list so I won't accidently read anymore of your trash journalism.

Thank you for that.

[Darryl Schmitz]

I recall that he had a bad experience during his Libertarian campaign in '88 with a few bad apples on his campaign staff who misappropriated funds in the latter days of his run. I think he is understandably more trusting of family members not to squander and steal the $35M balance but instead give him an honest day's campaign work for an honest dollar. Nope, I don't blame Paul one bit.

[Race]

Your blog sounds more like the National Enquirer every day. Extremely poor journalism, Mr. Malcolm.

[ellen]

It's legal, and thrifty. A very good use of campaign donations. The others are probably jealous they don't have such a cool family willing to help out for peanuts.

[Paul n]

As someone who cares very much about this country and is very sad about its downward spiral in my lifetime I often think about where we have gone wrong. I remember when I was growing up that my dad had a good solid job and could buy a nice house, raise 6 kids, help put them all through college with Mom staying at home. My country was respected throughout the world for its economy, freedoms and innovation. There were no renditions, illegal wiretapping, tortures, massive spending, rampant illegal immigration, etc. etc etc.. Why has this happened? I think primarily because of writers like Malcom here and papers like the LA Times. By focusing on nonsense like this and by constantly diverting and misleading the people, we have not focused on the larger, critical issues. Shame on you Malcom. Shame on you LA Times. You and your paper are a disgrace to your profession.

[Cara]

Done with this trash:
I think you are right! Im going to have to block reading Andrew Malcom's sorry excuse for journalism as well. Obviously the wretched MSM dogs have gotten to him, too. At this point I can only assume he gets his paycheck on the premise that he is trying his best to make an honest, decent man look like a greedy crook. I am totally disgusted by the treatment of Ron Paul by the MSM - I can't say I'm surprised, though. Mr Malcom, you wouldn't know the truth or integrity if it bit you in the bum - or you do know it when you see it and you have chosen instead to sell your SOUL for monetary gain? I hope for your sake you wake up and open your eyes - our country needs honesty and we need it NOW. If you think this is a story, make it an honest comparison of the other candidates campaign compensation reports. Thats what a REAL journalist would do. Thanks, but no thanks Mr. Malcom. My days of reading your column are over - unless, of course, you choose to come back to the TRUTH.

[Pauli]

"Dr. Paul has run a very frugal campaign with little waste and is still in the black. Something that can not be said for the others who claim to be conservative."

I don't know how "frugal" it is. He's spent more than Romney did per delegate, I believe.

[Charger]

And your point is...?

Why don't you discuss something of actual importance, you know, like the fact that John McCain is not an actual American born citizen, therefore is not allowed to run for president. Just google it! Sorry, I forgot - you don't do research.

[Scott Harmon]

You lost me on this one, Andrew. And I'm one of the people who does not want to bring out the tar and feathers.

Look, Paul's got some money. He wisely invested in gold while many of us are invested in U.S. corporations--an increasingly bad bet. And, so, he's got family members on the campaign staff? I don't know why that is a negative. It's not like it is that unusual, as you say. We have the Clinton Bozos and the Bush Bozos who have already set the bar very low for a meritocracy. And the money for Paul's campaigning is paltry, compared to the millions raked in by the Clinton Spin Machine. One speech from Clnton to the corporatist-dole crowd nets the amount you cited for Paul's entire campaign expenditure.

You should recognize that there is a difference between a "dynasty" in power and an association of family members who are working for a candidate. Even Bush I, to his credit (and I give him very little credit for anything), is reluctant to campaign for Bush II. Clinton I is another matter--a total embarrassment. There is no parallel between what Paul's family is doing to the conduct of an ex-President (i.e., Clinton), if that is your point.

[Joe]

So the jist of this hit piece is "paul pay's family members to do work"

So MSM scum ...Are you suggesting the family members did not work for there pay? Of course not! They worked for the money they earned.

You media scum will stop at no nothing to disparage the good name of Dr. Paul.

Go to hell

[Jive Dadson]

How utterly un-American! He hires his loyal family members and pays them a pittance? He is supposed to use that money to return political favors. He is supposed to hire media spin doctors and advisers - lots of them - and pay them millions! Everyone knows that. I'll bet his campaign isn't even in debt. Next thing you know he'll be voting against deficit spending bills in congress. Disgusting.

[ellen]

How exciting it would be if the LA Times would seriously discuss the important ideas outlined in Ron Paul's NY Times #1 Bestseller, "The Revolution: A Manifesto." May I challenge you to apply your journalistic skills to initiating that public
discussion?

I always read your blogs, and usually enjoy them and leave comments. Please consider my challenge. Thanks!

[z]

HOPE you're keeping an eye at opensecrets.org Mr. Malcolm and where all the money is coming and going for OBAMA, HILLARY, and MCCAIN. It'd be nice to see an article from you in THAT regard...rather than being a journalistic hack.

[SuperTruth]

At least Dr. Paul has a family who he can rely on to help his campaigns. How many other candidates can claim that?

[Mo]

I spent more on my knee and back surgeries. Considering the the huge public service Paul has provided Americans by re-introducing their long-lost Constitutional heritage, I would venture to say his investment in the services provided by his trusted family is at least ten times that much... in fact, it's priceless.

[Kevin]

Goes to show. Paul knows how to save money. How much would the campaign had to pay for a third party to run these task?

Poor story Andrew just to get hits on your blog.

[MC]

Hahahahaha...it's so funny how the LA Times can make a point like this when most of what they print is terrorism of the first order. Creating an environment of division is what you're paid to do. The type of terrorism that is the most insidious ever conceived. You belong to the largest family of terrorists, terrorists that works from the inside to divide and conquer. You are a threat to national security with your bought and paid for propaganda. You are the ones that shut people up with misinformation, distorting truth, and by simply yelling louder.

The LA Times is like the obnoxious family member that has very little education and strikes out at any opposition to what their masters desire because that is what they are paid to do. I already know who's on my side and I have known for some time you aren't.

You are a divider LA Times, a bought and paid for terrorist, that's all I need to know.

MC

[daniel makin]

i donated 500 and i would be the first one to say if this is a smear it did not work.... i respect him more and i say family first and if it was my family i would have payed them more... i think these numbers are very low for how much his family has done...... good job whora to the paul family

[Sandra]

That's the lowest I've seen a presidential campaign ever pay their staff. I'll bet however, they would just as soon do it for free. Well, I think the campaign deserves to be rewarded! We should have a "Los Angeles Times and Washington Post Has Crappy Articles Slamming Ron Paul Money Bomb"!. If anyone can think of a shorter name, then run with that.

[Paul]

Ron Paul has likely gotten the most for his money with his family as staff. $170,000 is a paltry sum considering what all has gone on, and for how long. Paul has probably spent the least of the campaigns still running, and gotten the biggest bang for it.

If you were trying to actually provide news, which you are not, you would research and write about the colossal sums of money spent by the Romney, McCain, Clinton and Obama campaigns. Those are where you would find some staggering figures, and individuals who were probably paid $170,000 or more each, not in total.

[nate]

who is this "Andrew Malcolm".... sounds like a self loathing nobody. An enemy of freedom.
Oh and the curse guy, I like that.
Ron Paul is the most honest man in Politics, and McCain even said this himself (before running)...Oh then again McCain has a history of saying things and then "adjusting" his stance later.

(Yeh, Malcolm is one of those guys who doesn't have to go to a Ron Paul chatroom to get instructions on where to go online and what to say in the comments section.)

[Kevin]

$170,000 to all of them? So what? That's nothing. My income is twice that and I'm barely getting by.

I agree about the non-family campaign staff thought. Many of them didn't do their jobs.

[Sabrina]

It's articles like these that can jolt a person back to reality!! I just gave Ron another $100.00....Thanks for the reminder, TOT

[badmedia]

Why don't you do a story on all the lobbyists the other candidates have, and the amount of money given to them?

Hmmm, lets see. Would I rather my candidate pay for a bunch of lobbyist and people connected to special interest groups, or his family. Yeah, ya know - I think I'm gonna have to go with the guy paying his family. Who's total among them all btw, is less than what I make in a year.

They weren't even really well paid. No less than a common profession job.

Seriously pathetic reporting. Unless of course you wanna do the right thing, actually do a bit of research rather than repeating talking points and write an article of the other candidates finances. Btw, Rudy Guilliani is a great one to start with.

[Travis]

By far the most pathetic attempt to smear Paul. I am so happy to see all the common sense responses in the comments here. Andrew Malcolm is a complete joke. However, it is just absolutely depressing how the Washington Post, what should be a respectable media outlet was so quick to try and make Paul look bad for this. The Paul campaign is out looking for trust worthy people and they try to make him look bad .. meanwhile all other candidates are giving millions and millions to crooks and liars and not a word .. just silence.

What an absolute shame. The institution that American media has come should be uprooted. It has become a plague on all virtue, common sense and intelligence.

[Matthew Tress]

That's awesome!! Family run businesses are always the best!! I'd rather support a family business anyday than one that hires corporate lobbyists and Washington insiders.

[Paul]

"nearly $170,000."

Nearly $170, 000? LOL!

Romney probably spends that much per month to have his family polished and whitened.

[Wendy]

Well that's a good way to ensure your campaign isn't just like Hillary's/McCain's...oh and who cares about $170,000. I'm sure other politicians would use that to pay ONE political adviser alone.

[Tominellay]

...thinking that any American who ever owned a 'Mom 'n' Pop' business, or who ever had a paper route or a lemonade stand, or mowed lawns, might like the idea of a principled family man running for office with the support of family and friends...Ron Paul is the candidate of American values...