Ron Paul raises $2 million in Half a Day- Presidential Fundraising

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has continued his unbelievable online fundraising efforts by raising nearly 2 million dollars in half a day. When we checked at midnight, Paul had raised $2,779,000 ( and some change). As of this writing ( just after noon), Paul's real-time contribution graphic shows $4,737,000. See RonpaulGraphs.com

We don't normally write much about politics here. We like to keep you entertained, but sometimes politics is entertaining. Plus, we like to write about things the manstream media ignores. Ron Paul is a perfect example of that.

The media pretty much ignores Ron Paul, an old-school libertarian conservative who wants to end The Iraq War. Even though the majority of U.S. voters want to end the Iraq occupation, he is the only Republican to take this stance. He also wants to end the War on Drugs and abolish the IRS, among other things. He has been painted by the post-9/11 neoconservative GOP establishment as an "extreme nut." However, his views are actually most consistent with traditional conservative values and the Founding Fathers. In fact, as recently as the 1994 "Republican Revolution" and "Contract with America," most elected Republicans shared Dr. Paul's small government views. When some Republicans say that "9/11 Changed everything", apparently this means Republicans stopped being Republicans. Now they smear Congressman Ron Paul, a 10 term Republican Congressman who endorsed ROnald Reagan in 1976, as "not a real Republican."

The mainstream media justifies ignoring people like Ron Paul because he doesn't perform well in the "scientific polls." The typical pollster calls old people ( on Social Security and Medicare, or possibly already dead) who voted in the previous primary and have landline phones. This eliminates all young people who were not eligible to vote in 2004 ( or 2000, since Bush was unopposed in 2004 and there was little reason to vote)or belonged to another political party. Most people I know who are my age ( late 20s) and younger do not even have landline phones. Cellular phones replaced landlines for practical use and price long ago. Many people who have been polled have reported not even being asked about Ron Paul or allowed to mention him as an answer. It's hard to perform well in the media's "polls" when your name is not even mentioned as an option.

Even if the polls are somewhat accurate, Ron Paul has a passionate support base. What is most incredible about today's fundraising effort? It is entirely fueled by the grassroots. The official Ron Paul campaign has nothing to do with this effort and has barely acknowledged it. Regular supporters of Dr. Paul came up with the concept to execute a Ron Paul "money bomb" for the 5th of November ( "Remember the 5th of November"). There was even some negative reaction from supporters who did not want to be associated with "V for Vendetta" and Guy Fawkes. However, the website ThisNovember5th.com was setup and over 18,000 people pledged to donate $100 on November 5. Originally, the goal was to recruit 100,000 donors and raise over $10 million in one day. While this ambitious goal will not be reached, this should not be seen as a failure.

For a candidate who is virtually ignored by the press ( except when they ridicule his views and his supporters), raising $3-4 Million dollars in 1 day and inspiring thousands of people enough to actually open their wallets is no small feat.