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Ron Paul's Base Could Give Him Post-Primary Influence, Experts Say
Josiah Ryan
Staff Writer
(CNSNews.com) - In the wake of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul raking in more than $6 million in campaign contributions in a single day on Sunday, experts are predicting that his influence could extend well beyond a presidential primary campaign that he is likely to lose.
In an Internet fundraising event that was scheduled to coincide with the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Paul reportedly brought in $6.04 million from 58,407 individual donors. With this take, Paul's campaign is now likely to raise more money in the fourth quarter of this year than any of the other Republican presidential campaigns.
Some experts believe the passionate network of supporters Paul has generated so far gives him the potential to be a significant factor in the 2008 presidential race and beyond, even if, as is likely, he fails to win his party's nomination.
NPR's Senior Strategist for Social Media Andy Carvin told Cybercast News Service that Ron Paul's database of supporters creates a tremendous reserve of potential influence.
"If he is not the nominee, he will still have in his hands an enormous network of communities and individuals who are very interested in supporting, if not him personally, his policy issues," said Carvin. "If he is able to tap into that network, he may be able to create the libertarian version of Howard Dean's Democracy for America or MoveOn.org."
Democracy for America is an influential Political Action Committee (PAC) created by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean out of the remnants of the network of supporters he built during his 2004 presidential bid. MoveOn.org is the influential liberal political group originally founded to advocate "moving on" past the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
Professor Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said that Ron Paul will remain an influential figure in the 2008 race even if he is not nominated.
"The most important question of all is, does Ron Paul end up supporting the Republican nominee or not? And if he does, does he do so with enthusiasm? We are talking about millions of votes that will potentially be added or subtracted from the GOP ticket," he said.
Sabato noted that it is the raw passion Ron Paul has managed to awake in his supporters that composes this strength that may live beyond his candidacy.
"Ron Paul has supporters willing to show some skin," he said. "He has intense support among a segment of the population. They are doing something that people are ordinarily loathed to do, which is part with their own money."
Make media inquiries or request an interview about this article.
E-mail a comment or news tip to Josiah Ryan
In an Internet fundraising event that was scheduled to coincide with the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Paul reportedly brought in $6.04 million from 58,407 individual donors. With this take, Paul's campaign is now likely to raise more money in the fourth quarter of this year than any of the other Republican presidential campaigns.
Some experts believe the passionate network of supporters Paul has generated so far gives him the potential to be a significant factor in the 2008 presidential race and beyond, even if, as is likely, he fails to win his party's nomination.
NPR's Senior Strategist for Social Media Andy Carvin told Cybercast News Service that Ron Paul's database of supporters creates a tremendous reserve of potential influence.
"If he is not the nominee, he will still have in his hands an enormous network of communities and individuals who are very interested in supporting, if not him personally, his policy issues," said Carvin. "If he is able to tap into that network, he may be able to create the libertarian version of Howard Dean's Democracy for America or MoveOn.org."
Democracy for America is an influential Political Action Committee (PAC) created by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean out of the remnants of the network of supporters he built during his 2004 presidential bid. MoveOn.org is the influential liberal political group originally founded to advocate "moving on" past the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
Professor Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said that Ron Paul will remain an influential figure in the 2008 race even if he is not nominated.
"The most important question of all is, does Ron Paul end up supporting the Republican nominee or not? And if he does, does he do so with enthusiasm? We are talking about millions of votes that will potentially be added or subtracted from the GOP ticket," he said.
Sabato noted that it is the raw passion Ron Paul has managed to awake in his supporters that composes this strength that may live beyond his candidacy.
"Ron Paul has supporters willing to show some skin," he said. "He has intense support among a segment of the population. They are doing something that people are ordinarily loathed to do, which is part with their own money."
Make media inquiries or request an interview about this article.
E-mail a comment or news tip to Josiah Ryan
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Bones1389
12/18/2007 9:53 AM
I agree that Ron Paul may lead his rEVOLution beyond the Republican nomination should he not get it. But I seriously doubt he wil support any of the other candidates at all. He is so different from them on all policy positions. I'd say he's more likely to retain his Congressional seat but havemore influence in Congress than he has so far enjoyed. He is often the lone vote but others may join him if they see it to be politically expedient, or better yet he may inspire others to run for Congressional seats as Ron Paul Republicans or Ron Paul Democrats, or he may give a boost to the Libertarian or Constitution Parties chances at getting congresspersons elected.
If he doesn't win the nomination I would like to see him be asked by the networks to comment after debates and during the rest of the 2008 political race. He needs to continue to expose the big two party cnadidate for what they are, special interest advocates rather than Constitutional advocates for the American people.
If he doesn't win the nomination I would like to see him be asked by the networks to comment after debates and during the rest of the 2008 political race. He needs to continue to expose the big two party cnadidate for what they are, special interest advocates rather than Constitutional advocates for the American people.
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Crosswalk has asked us what we think about this article. Have you thought about it? A "news" article with comments like these:
"experts are predicting that his influence could extend well beyond a presidential primary campaign that he is likely to lose," and "even if, as is likely, he fails to win his party's nomination."
"Likely to lose?" "As is likely, he fails to win?"
Whatever happened to actually reporting the news? Does this staff writer have a pipeline to God telling him the "likely" outcome of the election?
For a reality-check on what is "likely", please read my article -- "Repeat After Me: "Ron Paul Is NOT Electable!" -- at http://www.nolanchart.com/article579.html and follow the links to some other articles there. :)
Blessings!