Which Presidential Nominee Has the Most Awesome Supporters?

I think the question has now been answered:

http://www.ronpaulblimp.com/

An Exceptional Day for Ron Paul

From the AP regarding the donations Ron Paul received yesterday:

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, aided by an extraordinary outpouring of Internet support Monday, hauled in more than $4.2 million in nearly 24 hours.

Paul, the Texas congressman with a libertarian tilt and an out-of-Iraq pitch, entered heady fundraising territory with a surge of Web-based giving tied to the commemoration of Guy Fawkes Day.

…

The $4.2 million represented online contributions from more than 37,000 donors, fundraising director Jonathan Bydlak said Monday night.

Astounding. The other candidates could only dream of such grass-roots support. To put this $4.2 million in perspective, Paul (I’m only speculating here, based on figures from the end of last fundraising quarter) could have as much or more cash on hand as Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson. And forget about John McCain and the other second-tier candidates – Paul just left them in the dust.

The next big Ron Paul moneybombs look to be scheduled for November 11 (Veterans Day) and December 16 (Boston Tea Party). The Veterans Day moneybomb will probably suffer from being so close to Guy Fawkes Day, but I suspect the Boston Tea Party moneybomb will be the biggest of all – the amount of momentum that Paul will have as he sweeps into the primaries is going to be awesome.

When will the MSM start recognizing Paul as the first-tier candidate that he is? Only time will tell.

Ron Paul’s Jay Leno Appearance = 8.05 Republican Primary Debates

In my opinion, the biggest obstacle to Ron Paul’s nomination in the Republican primary is his lack of voter awareness. Paul has made some headway in this category through his participation in the Republican debates, but these debates are essentially beauty contests for MSM-approved candidates (of whose number Paul cannot be counted). This week, however, Paul appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. In two months, we may be looking back at this appearance as a true turning point in Paul’s campaign.

First, Paul got more meaningful face time on national TV than ever before. Paul had about six solid minutes on Leno (if we don’t count the time where Leno is talking or the audience is clapping). To put this into perspective, Paul had more time to talk on Leno than he did at at least one of the recent Republican debates.

Second, Paul was exposed to more viewers than in the debates. According to Wikipedia, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno has a nightly average of 5.7 million viewers. Compare this to the number of viewers for the primary debates, which, according to the Washington Post, has ranged in 2007 from a high of almost 2.9 million viewers down to just over 1.0 million viewers. Paul reached two to five times more viewers on Leno than he did in any of the debates thus far.

Third, Paul truly hit his stride in terms of marrying genuineness with polish and principle with charisma. Though he has done well thus far in the debates, in my opinion he has never been better. It didn’t hurt that, unlike debate moderators, Leno was respectful and asked meaningful questions.

So, to sum it all up, on Jay Leno, as compared to previous debates: Paul had as much time to speak; Paul reached an estimated 2 to 5 (say, 3.5) times as many viewers; and the quality of Paul’s time was (in my sober judgment) 2.3 times higher. Based on my unassailable assumptions and logic, Paul’s Jay Leno appearance was worth approximately 8.05 primary debates. In other words, Paul got more value out of one appearance on nighttime TV than in all of the televised debates thus far put together!

Ron Paul on Jay Leno

In case you missed Ron Paul’s terrific appearance last night on Jay Leno, here you go:

Don’t Forget!

Ron Paul will be on Jay Leno tonight.  I wish I had cable…

The Ron Paul Principle Versus the Anti-Principle

GOP debates are so depressing – the audience (Ron Paul supporters aside) is always cheering at the wrong moments. For instance, when one of the blowhard candidates fires off a prepackaged soundbite promising to increase torturing of suspected terrorists. Or, like last night, when the moderator in the New Hampshire Republican Debate (sponsored by Fox News) spun Ron Paul’s acknowledgment of blowback in the Middle East as Paul wanting to take “marching orders from Al Queda.” Or, again from last night, when Huckabee said that the US can’t pull out of Iraq because it would dishonor the soldiers. Thankfully, Paul correctly retorted (and earned his own applause) by pointing out that it would be wrong to sacrifice more soldiers simply to save face.

Refusing to do what is in one’s best interests only to spite one’s enemies is childish – and refusing to stop doing what is not in one’s best interests only to avoid admitting defeat is equally so. Those decisions do not result from an application of reason, but from emotional reactions. The results can only be destructive.

Unlike any of the other candidates, Ron Paul is a man of principle. Specifically, he is a constitutionalist, meaning that he wants to return the federal government to the boundaries placed upon it by the US Constitution. Though the US Constitution is not the embodiment of libertarianism (i.e., the non-aggression principle), it represents a huge improvement over the status quo. Strict adherence to the Constitution would at least eliminate (or minimize) the federal government as a source of invasion in your life. I would take Paul over an unprincipled and unpredictable candidate (that is to say, any of the others) any day of the week.