As I sat in front of my monitor last night watching the dollars come into the Ron Paul for President Campaign, at the end of their Boston Tea Party fundraising event, it reminded me of watching the tote board for the Jerry Lewis telethon held each year for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Absent though was the voice of Ed McMahon to interrupt Jerry Lewis as he spoke with those afflicted by Muscular Dystrophy or other noted guests. But, one could almost hear the voice of Mr. McMahon.
Instead of hearing the phones ringing as each donor phoned in pledged a certain amount, the whir of computers took their place. None the less, it is still exciting to see that ‘Ron Paul Tote Board’ increase even at the moment of writing this column. So far the ‘Tote Board’ is tallying $18,157,704.00 raised for the fourth quarter cycle. By the time you read this column, the numbers will have increased. That amount is no chump change as people are making these pledges because they are tired of being thought of as chumps by the Washington elite.
As reported by Politico.com, Ron Paul became the $6 million dollar man and what that figure shows is that the American people donating to his campaign are a force to be reckoned with and even more powerful than the fictional bionic man.
In their reporting, Politico.com wrote, “Sunday, his campaign said, almost certainly guaranteeing he’ll outraise his rivals for the Republican nomination in the fourth quarter and likely will be able to fund a presence in many of states that vote Feb. 5.” This is the same man that the Republican Party wanted to keep out of their debates and has marginalized. This is the same man that the main stream media barely speaks of. Well, the people who donated this vast sum of money are having their say and rightfully so.
In my opinion this is the way it should be where those who lead us are decided from the bottom up and not the top down. I believe that is exactly what our framers had in mind and would loathe our current political system which is a system they fled in the first place. As our framers have been turning in their graves these past seven years, I do believe they are now smiling. Maybe through the spirits of Ron Paul supporters we are truly hearing the first words of our United States Constitution which reads as follows: “We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
This same document has all but been obliterated in these past seven years and perhaps, perhaps, these Ron Paul supporters led by their candidate only wish it to be restored to its former glory. Ron Paul lives and breathes the Constitution and can any other candidate say the same especially when some of them voted for the Patriot Acts and the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
To be honest, I had to smile in reading where, Rudy Giuliani is hoping for a miracle as reported by Newsday to revitalize his Florida campaign. Newsday wrote that Rudy was “hoping to remind Republican voters why they liked him in the first place and to right a campaign that is on the defensive.” While Newsday reports that Giuliani is trailing third behind Romney and Huckabee in Iowa, it is my hope that Ron Paul delivers all of them a January surprise a February surprise and goes onto surprise the power-elites by locking in the nomination.
The Paul campaign even eclipsed the amount raised by Senator John F. Kerry in his bid to become president back in 2004 which was $5.7 the day after he “locked up the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination – arguably the largest single-day fundraising haul in U.S. political history.” While Paul has not locked up the nomination of the Republican Party, still surpassing the amount raised by Kerry says something to the party elites. What it says is, “Don’t tread on us”
Speaking of the media, the Des Moine Register endorsed Senator John McCain and maybe Paul supporters are confronting this print medium. Perhaps they are saying to the Des Moine Register is that we are tired of the same old politics and want a new direction and not the continuance of the Bush Doctrine.
In their reporting, Politico.com wrote “Still, the libertarian-leaning Paul is considered a distant long-shot by conventional political calculations and has languished in the mid-single digits in most national polls.” Maybe these supporters are fighting back against conventional politics and to our benefit. One can honestly state they are not following the ‘Pied Piper’. What we are truly seeing is a grass roots campaign in which the people themselves want to take control of our shared destiny. Imagine that!
Similar to the ‘Tote Board’ at the MDA Telethon, the names of donors can be seen on the Ron Paul for President web site. In reading them last night and this morning, they are coming from all states. They are not only your neighbors but mine as well.
These funds will be used to hire more staff and to bring in “300 students to Iowa to canvass over winter break.” These funds will also be used to “air more ads in early states.”
On both sides of the political aisle, I have seen folks attack Ron Paul and through this wave of support coming from all corners of America, perhaps the people themselves are speaking back to both the right and the left.
Some may not agree with Paul and his positions, but what we are witnessing is true democracy at work when the will of the people is being asserted through the power of the purse. These donors are not corporate America, but Americans themselves. This morning, it is my hope that corporate-America is scratching their heads. One can only hope so.
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