Opinion: The Ron Paul Express keeps rolling

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Certain numbers keep calling attention to the phenomenon that is Ron Paul.

The most obvious one, of course, was the more than $4.2 million that his campaign reported raising in a single day via the Internet earlier this month. This week, other figures stand out: He attracted a crowd of more than 1,000 people in Nevada, and a new poll showed him doubling his support in New Hampshire.

As is increasingly the case with Paul, the audience that came to hear him speak Monday in Las Vegas was not only large, it was enthusiastic. A story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal has the details and the atmospherics.

In New Hampshire, the survey of likely Republican primary voters by CNN and Manchester-based television station WMUR found backing for Paul jumping from 4% in a September poll to 8% now. In July, Paul was at 2% in the poll; the geometric progression clearly is a trend the Paul camp wants to see continue.

Will it? The ‘smart’ political money would bet against it. Then again, who would have predicted a few months ago that Paul would be closing in on double digits in a New Hampshire poll.

GQ today joined the growing list of those paying more attention to Paul (though likely not enough to satisfy his ardent band of followers). The magazine named him an honoree in its annual Men of the Year issue; he’s part of a truly eclectic roster that includes Bill Clinton, actor Daniel Craig, hip-hop musician Kanye West, ‘Sopranos’ creator David Chase, tennis star Roger Federer, baseball’s Alex Rodriguez and flamboyant artist/filmmaker Julian Schnabel.

-- Don Frederick