Phantom
04-29-2008, 08:20 PM
Paul out pushing his book, ideology
By John Tompkins
April 29, 2008
Though he’s been campaigning for almost a year and a half for the Republican presidential nomination, Ron Paul finally has identified a stopping point — September, just in time for the Republican National Convention.
The only thing the Lake Jackson congressman has to think about now is selling his new book and what he’ll do with leftover campaign funding and a list of 160,000 donors who are new to politics.
Even though Arizona Sen. John McCain has locked up the GOP nomination, Paul still is touring the country, making campaign stops as well as promoting his new book.
Paul said he will campaign up until September, when the Republican National Convention takes place in New York.
“We’re still in the political race,” he said Monday. “I’m just fulfilling my promise to stay in the race as long as I have supporters.”
Paul attended a book-signing Monday in New York for “The Revolution: A Manifesto,” in which he lays out his ideals and his solutions for the country’s economic and foreign policy problems. It is No. 16 on the list of best-selling books with the online retailer Amazon.com.
Trying to make his campaign funds last, Paul said the money is used sparingly. He’ll often fly on a commercial flight rather than a private one now.
“We’re doing things very cautiously,” he said. “Just like I do with my own money, just like I do with the taxpayers’ money.”
Paul said his rallies at campaign stops still draw crowds between 1,000 and 1,500, and he continues to campaign to spread his message of limited government, returning the dollar to the gold standard, ending the federal income tax and ending the Iraq War.
Right now, Paul has $4 million in campaign funding which he said he’s still using. He has not yet decided what he will do with any remaining campaign funds in September.
Paul can use the funds for expenses in his campaign, donate it to charity, his expenses as an office-holder, unlimited donations to a national, state or political party and to a state candidate if the state law allows, according to Federal Election Commission guidelines.
“Those funds can be used for any lawful purpose except for personal use,” said George Smaragdis, an FEC spokesman.
Most candidates often used leftover campaign funding for other candidates or save it for a future campaign, such as 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry did, said Richard Murray, University of Houston political science professor.
“Usually they don’t have much money” left over after the campaign, Murray said.
An “unorthodox” or “message” candidate like Paul, who espouses a certain ideology, likely will use his money for a non-profit education effort instead of choosing another candidate to back financially, Murray said.
“He’s probably trying to think of some way to use the financial situation he has to keep getting his message out,” he said.
Paul said he has not yet decided what he’ll do with the funds.
“I haven’t looked in great detail of the options I have,” he said.
He said he would consider giving the funds to a foundation that would promote free markets, such as his FREE Foundation. Most likely the money will be given to some type of non-profit educational foundation that would teach people about Paul’s brand of political thought, he said.
“I think that would be high on my list,” Paul said.
Paul’s campaign also has generated one other politically and financially valuable asset — his 160,000-member donor list, which is made up of many people who ordinarily aren’t involved in politics, political consultants said.
For another Libertarian-leaning candidate like Paul, the list “would be very valuable to them,” said Craig Murphy, a political consultant with Murphy Turner and Associates.
The list could sell for up to $21,600 a pop, the Associated Press reported.
Its value rests primarily in the type of people who donated as well as the fact many donated through the Internet. Many of the voters donated an average of $100 each, said Jess Benton, Paul’s presidential campaign spokesman.
“That’s quite a valuable commodity,” Murray said. “It’s fresh blood.”
It is common practice for presidential candidates to sell donor lists after their campaign, Murray said. Kerry sold his donor list to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who is in a tight race with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president, he said.
Even though Paul could sell the list to other candidates, there is a catch, Murphy said.
“The money would go back to his campaign,” he said.
Though Paul has sold the list a couple times, once to his congressional campaign as well as another candidate he endorses, he never would sell it for a private purpose nor would he give it to a candidate his supporters would not like, Paul said.
Putting the list up for the highest bidder would not be what his supporters want, given they support him in part for his believe of individual rights, he said.
“I would never do that,” he said. “I would never do anything private with that.”
But he would consider passing his donors’ names to candidates who think as he does, Paul said.
Link (http://thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=cd2f10c5df43e288)
For more articles on Ron Paul and the Revolution, please visit this Link (http://www.presidentronpaul.741.com/news.html#newsroom)
By John Tompkins
April 29, 2008
Though he’s been campaigning for almost a year and a half for the Republican presidential nomination, Ron Paul finally has identified a stopping point — September, just in time for the Republican National Convention.
The only thing the Lake Jackson congressman has to think about now is selling his new book and what he’ll do with leftover campaign funding and a list of 160,000 donors who are new to politics.
Even though Arizona Sen. John McCain has locked up the GOP nomination, Paul still is touring the country, making campaign stops as well as promoting his new book.
Paul said he will campaign up until September, when the Republican National Convention takes place in New York.
“We’re still in the political race,” he said Monday. “I’m just fulfilling my promise to stay in the race as long as I have supporters.”
Paul attended a book-signing Monday in New York for “The Revolution: A Manifesto,” in which he lays out his ideals and his solutions for the country’s economic and foreign policy problems. It is No. 16 on the list of best-selling books with the online retailer Amazon.com.
Trying to make his campaign funds last, Paul said the money is used sparingly. He’ll often fly on a commercial flight rather than a private one now.
“We’re doing things very cautiously,” he said. “Just like I do with my own money, just like I do with the taxpayers’ money.”
Paul said his rallies at campaign stops still draw crowds between 1,000 and 1,500, and he continues to campaign to spread his message of limited government, returning the dollar to the gold standard, ending the federal income tax and ending the Iraq War.
Right now, Paul has $4 million in campaign funding which he said he’s still using. He has not yet decided what he will do with any remaining campaign funds in September.
Paul can use the funds for expenses in his campaign, donate it to charity, his expenses as an office-holder, unlimited donations to a national, state or political party and to a state candidate if the state law allows, according to Federal Election Commission guidelines.
“Those funds can be used for any lawful purpose except for personal use,” said George Smaragdis, an FEC spokesman.
Most candidates often used leftover campaign funding for other candidates or save it for a future campaign, such as 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry did, said Richard Murray, University of Houston political science professor.
“Usually they don’t have much money” left over after the campaign, Murray said.
An “unorthodox” or “message” candidate like Paul, who espouses a certain ideology, likely will use his money for a non-profit education effort instead of choosing another candidate to back financially, Murray said.
“He’s probably trying to think of some way to use the financial situation he has to keep getting his message out,” he said.
Paul said he has not yet decided what he’ll do with the funds.
“I haven’t looked in great detail of the options I have,” he said.
He said he would consider giving the funds to a foundation that would promote free markets, such as his FREE Foundation. Most likely the money will be given to some type of non-profit educational foundation that would teach people about Paul’s brand of political thought, he said.
“I think that would be high on my list,” Paul said.
Paul’s campaign also has generated one other politically and financially valuable asset — his 160,000-member donor list, which is made up of many people who ordinarily aren’t involved in politics, political consultants said.
For another Libertarian-leaning candidate like Paul, the list “would be very valuable to them,” said Craig Murphy, a political consultant with Murphy Turner and Associates.
The list could sell for up to $21,600 a pop, the Associated Press reported.
Its value rests primarily in the type of people who donated as well as the fact many donated through the Internet. Many of the voters donated an average of $100 each, said Jess Benton, Paul’s presidential campaign spokesman.
“That’s quite a valuable commodity,” Murray said. “It’s fresh blood.”
It is common practice for presidential candidates to sell donor lists after their campaign, Murray said. Kerry sold his donor list to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who is in a tight race with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president, he said.
Even though Paul could sell the list to other candidates, there is a catch, Murphy said.
“The money would go back to his campaign,” he said.
Though Paul has sold the list a couple times, once to his congressional campaign as well as another candidate he endorses, he never would sell it for a private purpose nor would he give it to a candidate his supporters would not like, Paul said.
Putting the list up for the highest bidder would not be what his supporters want, given they support him in part for his believe of individual rights, he said.
“I would never do that,” he said. “I would never do anything private with that.”
But he would consider passing his donors’ names to candidates who think as he does, Paul said.
Link (http://thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=cd2f10c5df43e288)
For more articles on Ron Paul and the Revolution, please visit this Link (http://www.presidentronpaul.741.com/news.html#newsroom)