Taking notes from Howard Dean

[m4ff3w]

I really feel the RP campaign is very similar to the Howard Dean campaign (in terms of growth of support and donations).

From the Howard Dean Wikipedia page

In the "invisible primary" of raising campaign dollars, Howard Dean led the Democratic pack in the early stages of the 2004 campaign. Among the candidates, he ranked first in total raised ($25.4 million as of September 30, 2003) and first in cash-on-hand ($12.4 million). However, even this performance paled next to that of George W. Bush, who by that date had raised $84.6 million for the Republican primary campaign, in which he had no real challenger. Prior to the 2004 primary season, the Democratic record for most money raised in one quarter by a primary candidate was held by Bill Clinton in 1995, raising $10.3 million during a campaign in which he had no primary opponent. In the third quarter of 2003, the Dean campaign raised $14.8 million, shattering Clinton's record. All told, Dean's campaign raised around $50 million.

While presidential campaigns have traditionally obtained finance by tapping wealthy, established political donors, Dean's funds came largely in small dontions over the Internet; the average overall donation size was just under $80. This method of fundraising offered several important advantages over traditional fundraising, in addition to the inherent media interest in what was then a novelty. First, raising money on the Internet was relatively inexpensive, compared to conventional methods such as events, telemarketing, and direct mail campaigns. Secondly, as donors on average contributed far less than the legal limit ($2,000 per individual), the campaign could continue to resolicit them throughout the election season.

Dean's director of grassroots fundraising, Larry Biddle, came up with the idea of the popular fundraising "bat", an image of a cartoon baseball player and bat which appeared on the site every time the campaign launched a fundraising challenge. The bat encouraged Web site visitors to contribute money immediately through their credit cards. This would lead to the bat filling up like a thermometer with the red color indicating the total funds. The site often took suggestions from the netroots on their blog. One of these suggestions led to one of the campaigns biggest accomplishments — an image of Dean eating a turkey sandwich encouraged supporters to donate $250,000 in three days to match a big-donor dinner by Vice President Dick Cheney. The online contributions from that day matched what Cheney made from his fundraiser.[14]

Ron Paul HQ really needs something online that shows a live (or nearly live) count of donations received and total amount. I think a tally of the number of donators would excite people.

[Arkris]

That sounds perfect. I know I got excited when I saw that Ron Paul had raised 5 million, and am anxious to know just how much he's up to now.

A ticker on www.ronpaul2008.com that shows the ammount that he's raised is a must, especially in demonstrating that he actually has a good chance at winning and that your donations aren't just a waste. I could see his donations sky rocketing with this.

[angelatc]

The $5 million is an unsubstantiated rumor!

I'd like to see a barometer of sorts though - the would be fun.

[beermotor]

The $5 million is an unsunstantiated rumor!

I'd like to see a barometer of sorts though - the would be fun.

Psst - there was also an "unsubstantiated rumor" that he was going to run. :) I was pleasantly suprised!

I think we are all going to be surprised very soon.

One of the things he could really shine on is showing where the money is being spent - accountability! NO WASTE! A campaign staff of 6 is great... It could even appeal to grassroots folks to work for free, so that they can conserve money to tackle TV ads.

One of the things that killed Dean was he paid his campaigners, apparently too much. So we're learning from that mistake here.

[rockfree33]

I agree, showing how much the campaign has raised in live time will show people that their donation has really made a difference and show the momentum of the support.

[Nathan Hale]

Even if you assume that all the other candidates doubled their numbers, Ron Paul would still be firmly ahead of all the second tier candidates. He'd have half the funding of McCain. That's huge and could potentially propel Paul into the upper echelon of the race.

[m4ff3w]

I'm glad to see a donation "thermometer" was finally added. It is exciting to watch it increase!

[dirknb@hotmail.com]

Would like to see that thermometer for the total. I do think it would create excitement and fuel more donations.

[RonpaulSupporter7777]

I'm hoping that Ron will have somewhere in the range of 10 million total cash on hand by the end of this third quarter. I know that this estimate is very high, but I feel that he must have something close to this to have a chance at shining the other candidates.

John McCain spends a majority of the money that his campaign takes in. If Ron can have more cash on hand than McCain, the media will notice once again that an antiwar candidate like Ron Paul has a better shot at pulling in the votes during the Republican primary than war mongering neocons like McCain.

With Ron it is going to be mostly about votes and state delegates. If he can get by the first hurdle (the primary), then I'm sure he will garner enough support to rival any Democratic Candidate.

The Democrats are hoping that somebody like Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson will win in the primary. This will allow them to keep the general election strategy that they are already refining right now. Ron Paul would throw them for a loop because he could be unpredictable in every electoral and political variable.

The Iraq War will be the major issue and this is where Ron has more credibility than any of the leading Democratic contenders. People will follow the person with credibility that matches their current character. Actors such as Hillary or Obama will not be able to hide their hypocrisy in a debate with Paul.

If things heat up with Iran we can only hope that more people will wake up and face the facts; that the current administration uses the false fear of immenent death and destruction to manipulate the American people into faithfully justifying aggression towards another country that has not attacked the United States neither has the capability of launching an attack on the United States.

The weak leadership of the newly elected Democratic congress will surely bow to the Bush Administrations demands out of polical neccessity rather than moral conscience. Ron will once again be among the lonely, yet principled, opposition in the United States House of Representatives.

So far, his credibility on Foreign Policy has recieved enthusiatic support among true conservatives, swing voting democrats, independents, third party voters, and undecided or otherwise non-voting Americans. Lets only hope that this praise ultimately leads to primary votes and generous campaign cash. Ron surely needs lots of both!

[ghemminger]

[QUOTE=RonpaulSupporter7777;212137]I'm hoping that Ron will have somewhere in the range of --------------------- total cash on hand by the end of this third quarter. I know that this estimate is very high, but I feel that he must have something close to this to have a chance at shining the other candidates.
[QUOTE]

Welcome - realize that if you are a TRUE RP supporter - posting ridiculous $$$ Totals is foolish!

[bbachtung]

[QUOTE=RonpaulSupporter7777;212137]I'm hoping that Ron will have somewhere in the range of --------------------- total cash on hand by the end of this third quarter. I know that this estimate is very high, but I feel that he must have something close to this to have a chance at shining the other candidates.
[QUOTE]

Welcome - realize that if you are a TRUE RP supporter - posting ridiculous $$$ Totals is foolish!

And subject to a $25 "fine" payable to the Ron Paul campaign.

[RonpaulSupporter7777]

I was merely reiterating the point that has been echoed by many others, by posting an estimate, that Ron is gonna need lots of cash on hand and people better be prepared to empty their wallets with the maximum amount payable ($2300) if they want to see their candidate win.

This is a money game as well as a voter turnout. I have already donated my maximum (I find it to be a worthwhile investment) and hope that others will feel the need, as I have, to do the same if finances permit.

In reality, Ron should have somewhere around 10 million dollars, give or take. I personally feel that he is capable of coming close to this amount by the end of the third quarter. This may be the last chance to vote for a true conservative libertarian candidate that has a shot. I'm merely pointing out the obvious.

[jacmicwag]

Guess you don't have to pay the $25 fine then.

[katao]

I was merely reiterating the point that has been echoed by many others, by posting an estimate, that Ron is gonna need lots of cash on hand and people better be prepared to empty their wallets with the maximum amount payable ($2300) if they want to see their candidate win.

This is a money game as well as a voter turnout. I have already donated my maximum (I find it to be a worthwhile investment) and hope that others will feel the need, as I have, to do the same if finances permit.

In reality, Ron should have somewhere around 10 million dollars, give or take. I personally feel that he is capable of coming close to this amount by the end of the third quarter. This may be the last chance to vote for a true conservative libertarian candidate that has a shot. I'm merely pointing out the obvious.

Welcome RonPaulSupporter7777! Thanks for maxing out! We're kinda sensitive around here to over-estimates, based on last quarter's rumors based on false information. But you are right, the campaign needs big money to win.

Keep up the fight everyone. Ask every Ron Paul supporter you know to sacrifice - it's the only way we're gonna to take our country back.

[Primbs]

[QUOTE=RonpaulSupporter7777;214806]I was merely reiterating the point that has been echoed by many others, by posting an estimate, that Ron is gonna need lots of cash on hand and people better be prepared to empty their wallets with the maximum amount payable ($2300) if they want to see their candidate win.

This is a money game as well as a voter turnout. I have already donated my maximum (I find it to be a worthwhile investment) and hope that others will feel the need, as I have, to do the same if finances permit.

Ron is a great investment. Win or lose, in 2009 there will be a push in congress to raise the income tax, raise the cap on social security taxes. Many small businesses will be paying and extra ten percent in taxes and they will try to make it retroactive to this year.

Only if Ron Paul does well, can we send a message not to increase government spending and not to increase taxes.

[TooConservative]

Ron Paul HQ really needs something online that shows a live (or nearly live) count of donations received and total amount. I think a tally of the number of donators would excite people.

Actually, Fred Thompson has proposed dumping the McCain-Feingold-Thompson campaign laws which are so contrary to the First Amendment in favor of candidates having no limits on their fundraising but having to report their donations almost immediately online.

Maybe Ron Paul should challenge ol' Fred and the others to start disclosing immediately all their donations, who they got the money from, what events they were at to raise the money.