Ron Paul Will STUN the Talking Heads and PUNDITS?
Ron Paul’s followers aim to stun the pundits The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 12/26/07 FULL ARTICLE HERE. Don’t tell Ron Paul’s supporters that their man is not going be the next U.S. president.
No matter the evidence — the no more than 7 percent standing in early state polls, the lack of high-profile national campaign operation or the fact that the long-time Texas congressman hardly fits the modern Republican profile — Paul’s legion of supporters believe, loudly, that their man will win the GOP nomination in 2008.
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That enthusiasm is as strong in Georgia as anywhere and his supporters here are flat determined to deliver the state for Paul when Republicans hold their primary Feb. 5.
Ike Hall, 40, Paul’s Georgia campaign director and a radiation safety officer at Emory University Hospital, believes it will happen
“Yes, I do,” Hall said. “Yes, I do. Mostly because of his phenomenally deep and diverse grassroots community. American politics hasn’t seen anything like this.”
The Paul grass-roots community is impressive. He owns the Internet, whether it’s the more than 65,000 videos supporters have uploaded to YouTube, or the more than 50,000 “friends” Paul has on Facebook, the social networking site.
In metro Atlanta, Paul’s backers also use Meetup.com to plan events and to communicate with other supporters. They have organized weekly rallies each Saturday at Freedom Park, sign-waving parties along busy intersections and canvassing groups to spread the word. The campaign opened its Georgia headquarters Dec. 16.
But the biggest reason Paul could actually make a run at the nomination is the more than $6 million he and his supporters raised online Dec. 16. The one-day event, believed to be the largest amount ever raised by an American political campaign in a single day, included contributions from more than 58,000 people. It helped give Paul a fourth-quarter fund-raising total of more than
$12 million. That’s expected to lead the GOP pack.
In presidential politics, money is life.