Dec. 16th too late? Campaign needs money NOW...

[JeffersonThomas]

I just got this e-mail from the campaign as I'm sure most or all of you did too. How can we better balance constant donations and still make Dec 16th a big day?

E-mail:
November 20, 2007


During the first few days of October, we announced our fundraising goal for the fourth quarter: $12 million raised by December 31.

But there's more: we need to have spent it by then, too.

If we were to raise the entire $12 million in the last week of December, we would meet our fundraising goal for the quarter. But Ron Paul would stand little chance of winning the Republican nomination, because that money would have come in too late.

Time is of the essence. You see, we need to raise money well before we plan to spend it. That's because most of the expenditures that we make need to be paid for weeks in advance. For example, we need to buy crucial airtime for the end of December right now.

The sooner we raise this money, the sooner that we can spread Dr. Paul's message - our message - in the early primary states. Time truly is money.

Fact is, we only have about two weeks to raise money for the early primaries.

If you wait a month from now to donate, your money will only be spent after Iowa caucus-goers and New Hampshire primary voters have made up their minds.

We are rapidly running out of time. The Iowa caucus is just 44 days away. New Hampshire is in 49 days. With so much ground to make up, we can't afford to waste a single day.

As a result, we are spending faster than the rate at which we are raising money. In October alone, we raised $2.8 million, but our campaign spent over $3.1 million.

We cannot afford to wait for bursts of press activity. What we need is sustained attention in the news. What better way to do this than by continuing to raise money at a rapid pace now? We need to keep our momentum going.

Help us win in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, and Nevada.

Make your most generous contribution as soon as you can: https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate.

Jonathan Bydlak
Fundraising Director
Ron Paul 2008



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[traviskicks]

well, they could go in debt a few million as they know at least a few million is going to come in.

[colin1]

Honestly, I was wondering the same thing when the December 16th event came up. I thought, "isn't that going to be too late to help out the campaign?" I think it was a great idea, just shortsighted. How many people are waiting until the 16th to donate? I think the organizers of the December 16th need to review the idea in light of this letter from HQ. Personally, I'm maxed out, but my wife will be donating, and we're not going to wait for the
16th. After all, what good will it be if we raise $10 million, if Ron loses the early primaries?

[JoshLowry]

They have 8 million plus... I think that can take care of Iowa and New Hampshire just fine.

[Brutus]

The campaign go into debt? Not happening. And I hope that they don't. Ron is 72 years old, and he isn't doing this for himself. We aren't doing it for him. We're doing it for ourselves and our families.

Debt isn't an option.

[Janet0116]

I still plan on donating $100 on Dec. 16th, but I went ahead and gave $50 today... it only hurt a little ;)

[Brutus]

You can't plan a campaign around money you HOPE will come in at irregular intervals.

[Brutus]

And the TeaParty subscription curve has flattened out.

[jenius]

If they NEED money they probably could borrow, KNOWING That they'll be able to pay it off on the 16th, which is now 26 days away. They might not even pay any interest on it if they pay off their debts within a month.

They should have approx $4.5 million cash on hand right now at least. If they can stretch that for a couple of weeks, and then borrow until the 26th, they should be just fine.

I'm not suggesting they don't need cash, I guess I'm mostly stating that changing the Dec. 16th goal is not at all feasible at this point, and they're going to mostly need to make due.

[jenninlouisiana]

I don't think it is in Ron Paul's blood to borrow money today based on a promise of tomorrow.

I'm going to split my money... give half now and half on the 16th.

[JohnCrabtree]

I can see how it could be frustrating to the campaign to wait for the money. They had said earlier before Nov. 5th that they had spent tons of the cash eserve on ads in a single buy. The $5.5 million raised from Nov. 5th til now is great, but when they see that daily we are only getting in $25,000 rather than say 150,00 whihc would be more typical I think if we werent saving for the 16th. I think that the 16th is very important and we shoud get $5 million with it, but there needs to be sustaining donations in between.

[jumpyg1258]

$5.3 Million on hand at end of Quarter + $2.8 Million in October raised = $8.1 Million on hand

$8.1 Million on hand - $3.1 Million spent in October = $5 Million on hand at beginning of November.

$5 Million on hand + $6 Million approx. raised in November so far = $11 Million on hand.

So my question is, why are they acting like they are broke?

[paulpwns]

how did they spend 14 million dollars already?

[paulpwns]

$5.3 Million on hand at end of Quarter + $2.8 Million in October raised = $8.1 Million on hand

$8.1 Million on hand - $3.1 Million spent in October = $5 Million on hand at beginning of November.

$5 Million on hand + $6 Million approx. raised in November so far = $11 Million on hand.

So my question is, why are they acting like they are broke?

I am with this dude...

[Eli]

he's still spending on the 5.4 million cash on hand after last quarter (although its getting close to gone i'm sure). He's still got the 8.6m to win NH, and iowa and hopefully SC and nevada. The 10m for dec. 16th will be perfect timing for helping him win the big tuesday in early february. He can do it, we just need to make sure he keeps the fundraising steady until then, and they need to quit spending .46 on the dollar. Spend it all, I agree don't go into debt but more will come so might as well spend all of what they have now.

[Ron Paul Fan]

I'm not sure why they're acting like they have no money either. Maybe they're planning a huge ad buy to play television ads in more than just New Hampshire and Iowa. At any rate, I'll be giving what I can now but I will still be saving for the 16th! December 16th will be historical and will lead to more advertising so it should not be derailed!

[me3]

he's still spending on the 5.4 million cash on hand after last quarter (although its getting close to gone i'm sure). He's still got the 8.6m to win NH, and iowa and hopefully SC and nevada. The 10m for dec. 16th will be perfect timing for helping him win the big tuesday in early february. He can do it, we just need to make sure he keeps the fundraising steady until then, and they need to quit spending .46 on the dollar. Spend it all, I agree don't go into debt but more will come so might as well spend all of what they have now.
I wouldn't guess he is still working off of Q3 money. The campaign has done a lot more advertising than the initial buys that were announced.

They've added offices, stumped around the country, added staff, sent out glossy mailers, launched automated phone campaigns and a whole lot more.

Assume they have 1/2 of the Q4 money left. Use it as motivation.

[TheIndependent]

Guys, stop speculating as to their financial situation.

They know more about their plans than we do, and I think we should take heed.

[colin1]

Guys, stop speculating as to their financial situation.

They know more about their plans than we do, and I think we should take heed.

I agree. If the campaign says they need the money now, chances are they need it now.

[expatinireland]

I am sure the campaign has a forward strategy that involves placing X amount of ads
costing X dollars in X markets. They need to place the ads now to get prime time and space. If I am not incorrect political campaigns must pay when they place their ads hence the request for more donations NOW! I am sending
some cash now.

[CableNewsJunkie]

Guys, the infrastructure to do this is already in place.

It just hasn't gotten nearly as much attention as the major money b0mbs.

Go sign up at www.ronpaulmoneybomb.com and donate $25 a week. Heck, give more if you want! The idea is to get at least 40,000 people signed up, which will cause money injections of $1 million per week.

If you haven't signed up there already, just do it! Spread it far and wide.

[JohnCrabtree]

The drive has been successful, looks like about $50,000 in just 1 hour. It was an effective email.

[Ron Paul News]

From the Ron Paul Campaign Email:
"If you wait a month from now to donate, your money will only be spent after Iowa caucus-goers and New Hampshire primary voters have made up their minds."

It seems to me that the campaign is telling people, fairly directly, that if they were going to wait until the mid-December Tea Party to donate, to donate now instead.

This is a more activist role than the campaign has generally taken to date.

I've been saying that the Ron Paul campaign progress is fantastic (money raised, poll numbers, etc.) but needs to be accelerated (IMHO)
Link: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=37402

I for one am very glad that the campaign (and by extension Ron Paul himself) are being very realistic. What sort of President would he make otherwise?

[all J's in IL for RP]

Indeed, if we think the main impetus behind the Dec 16th money drive is to win some desperately needed media attention, we've lost focus. He ought to have a bigger profile by that time and the campaign is right to point this out.

[Karrl]

They are saying their spending has accelerated and they need the money now what they plan to do in Dec. The campaign has clearly asked for people to not wait until Dec 16th on their donations. They know their plans better than we do.

[Brent H]

I have seen an issue raised on several threads along the lines of "Why can't Dr. Paul just take out a bank loan to run the campaign to December 16th?" The question that doesn't get asked is "Would the banking system loan money to someone who is a supporter or sound money, and has vowed to terminate the Federal Reserve?"

I would like to suggest that there is no way that any bank is going to be allowed to fund the campaign of a candidate who intends to put a stop to their fraudulent practices.

Send Dr. Paul money now and send him some money later. He's putting his life on the line by taking on the banking cartel. The least we can do is jump when he says jump.

[tarmactrr]

I think this is just because fundraising has fallen flat over the last week or so.

They have PLENTY of cash on hand. Think of it this way.

Oct1 - 5.4Mil cash on hand
Oct30 - 2.8mil raised, 3.1mil spent = 5.1mil cash on hand
Nov - ??? spent, 5.9mil raised = 11Mil cash on hand minus expenses.

Figure they've spend 3mil sofar this year, that lives 8mil cash on hand. That's enough for the time being until the HUGE amount of money the teaparty will bring.

[tarmactrr]

$5.3 Million on hand at end of Quarter + $2.8 Million in October raised = $8.1 Million on hand

$8.1 Million on hand - $3.1 Million spent in October = $5 Million on hand at beginning of November.

$5 Million on hand + $6 Million approx. raised in November so far = $11 Million on hand.

So my question is, why are they acting like they are broke?

LOL didn't realize you did this before me hahahaha

[Ron Paul News]

They're not broke but spending a few million has only bumped them up a few percentage points (they are climbing) so they may need to spend more heavily now. Primaries are in short number of weeks, relatively speaking.

[KCIndy]

I would bet that the cost of TV ads in NH, IA, NV and SC are through the roof right now - I wouldn't put it past the TV stations to raise the rates considerably in the months before a primary. And lets face it - radio and print ads are great, but to really play the game you have to be able to afford TV. Lots and lots of TV.

Look at good ol' Mitt - that boy can write himself a check whenever he wants. Ron Paul doesn't have that luxury.

And the email from campaign HQ is, sadly, correct - if Dr. Paul is going to win in Iowa or New Hampshire, the Paul campaign needs to start the ad blitz NOW.

On of the reasons Dr. Paul is so popular is his frugal style. He's not going to spend money he doesn't have, whether it is in a campaign OR as president. Let's not let the man down.

From now on, I'm sending in $50 per week, starting now. I'll keep it up until I "max out." If that means a little less on 16 December, so be it... although I'll certainly try to triple or quadruple the donation on that date.

One more thing - there are A LOT of people signed up for the Tea Party who AREN'T members of this forum - so the Tea Party will be a success even if everyone reading these words sends in half their planned "Tea Party" donation... today!

C'mon. Let's give 'em a boost and get the TV ads kicked off right!

[Kandilynn]

I don't have the money now. I have to save up to be able to donate on the 16th.

[Heather in WI]

And the email from campaign HQ is, sadly, correct - if Dr. Paul is going to win in Iowa or New Hampshire, the Paul campaign needs to start the ad blitz NOW.

On of the reasons Dr. Paul is so popular is his frugal style. He's not going to spend money he doesn't have, whether it is in a campaign OR as president. Let's not let the man down.


Woo-hoo! I don't want to let him down. I just donated $50 and bought one of the really cool new fleece jackets for $50. I'm so glad they finally came out with winter wear! :-)

[JustAnotherV]

First off, he needs to just spend the money he has. This extra-conservative spending crap needs to stop. We all love Ron Paul but he is still trailing signiificantly and he needs to spend his money as if he is in an early primary battle, because at this point we can't be sure it will stay viable through that point. He needs the solid showing to continue to survive as viable past January/Super Tuesday.


Second, and maybe more important for us, this is exactly why just thinking of fundraiser ideas is not enough. Timing, amount of money, etc., etc. We need press and we need people and there are additional (note, not mutually exclusive) ways to do that.

While it's nice that RP can raise money, my guess is that an inordinately high number of his supporters are actually donating already, which leaves some people cleaned out for more donations. We need both new recruits and media attention that IS NOT FROM A MONEY BOMB.

This is why I thought we should push for a press-attention-getting substitute event on December 4th. We have not much time to think of ways to get Ron Paul large and POSITIVE press coverage and that was a meat ball for some political jujitsu. Some people said it sounded OK and then it was dropped, and no answer from campaign staff. The window is about gone at this point, oh well.

There are two things being fumbled here: 1) The campaign staff is too reliant on grassroots supporters and is not coming up with much for good strategy of its own (even to the extent of just having RP discuss his views on certain subjects more to respond to voter concerns), and 2) online grass roots supporters are too busy patting themselves on the back, particularly for the 5th, and are not thinking outside the box. All they want to do is repeat the same thing again.


It is aggravating to not have more time to devote to this cause while watching the opportunity go by, but as it stands I have enough trouble getting the time just to make posts like this. This may or may not be ignored, but BOTH sides of the campaign are lacking the effectiveness of the trained political machines that we are up against, and we need to compensate. We need to be quick, bold, aggressively pursue any possibilities for exposure while remaining POLITE and SENSIBLE which some people occasionally also forget. We need the press and they are not going to come on board via slews of complaint spam every time their coverage isn't that hot, and we need to reach more people offline, with or without the media, even if we have to find free ways to do it.

[american.swan]

$5.3 Million on hand at end of Quarter + $2.8 Million in October raised = $8.1 Million on hand

$8.1 Million on hand - $3.1 Million spent in October = $5 Million on hand at beginning of November.

$5 Million on hand + $6 Million approx. raised in November so far = $11 Million on hand.

So my question is, why are they acting like they are broke?

cause this is a frugal campaign and their scared/nervous. And they have to pay a bunch of minimum wage people to make phone calls to voters that we should be calling for them.

[Eric23]

Guys, the infrastructure to do this is already in place.

It just hasn't gotten nearly as much attention as the major money b0mbs.

Go sign up at www.ronpaulmoneybomb.com and donate $25 a week. Heck, give more if you want! The idea is to get at least 40,000 people signed up, which will cause money injections of $1 million per week.

If you haven't signed up there already, just do it! Spread it far and wide.

Absolutely brilliant. I have never seen this before and am planning on joining up. I don't know why people are bitching about this situation. If the campaign says they need cash then who the hell are we to doubt them?

[american.swan]

I'll second this.


First off, he needs to just spend the money he has. This extra-conservative spending crap needs to stop. We all love Ron Paul but he is still trailing signiificantly and he needs to spend his money as if he is in an early primary battle, because at this point we can't be sure it will stay viable through that point. He needs the solid showing to continue to survive as viable past January/Super Tuesday.


Second, and maybe more important for us, this is exactly why just thinking of fundraiser ideas is not enough. Timing, amount of money, etc., etc. We need press and we need people and there are additional (note, not mutually exclusive) ways to do that.

While it's nice that RP can raise money, my guess is that an inordinately high number of his supporters are actually donating already, which leaves some people cleaned out for more donations. We need both new recruits and media attention that IS NOT FROM A MONEY BOMB.

This is why I thought we should push for a press-attention-getting substitute event on December 4th. We have not much time to think of ways to get Ron Paul large and POSITIVE press coverage and that was a meat ball for some political jujitsu. Some people said it sounded OK and then it was dropped, and no answer from campaign staff. The window is about gone at this point, oh well.

There are two things being fumbled here: 1) The campaign staff is too reliant on grassroots supporters and is not coming up with much for good strategy of its own (even to the extent of just having RP discuss his views on certain subjects more to respond to voter concerns), and 2) online grass roots supporters are too busy patting themselves on the back, particularly for the 5th, and are not thinking outside the box. All they want to do is repeat the same thing again.


It is aggravating to not have more time to devote to this cause while watching the opportunity go by, but as it stands I have enough trouble getting the time just to make posts like this. This may or may not be ignored, but BOTH sides of the campaign are lacking the effectiveness of the trained political machines that we are up against, and we need to compensate. We need to be quick, bold, aggressively pursue any possibilities for exposure while remaining POLITE and SENSIBLE which some people occasionally also forget. We need the press and they are not going to come on board via slews of complaint spam every time their coverage isn't that hot, and we need to reach more people offline, with or without the media, even if we have to find free ways to do it.

[jenninlouisiana]

You can't go by what the FEC website says. I donated 4 times already, the longest about a month ago and I'm not on the website as a donor and I searched by city and by zip code.

Apparently the FEC website isn't "real time" numbers... and from my information is at least a month behind....

We all talk about Dr. Paul's honesty. If they say they need money now, *they need money now*.

[merlin]

You can't go by what the FEC website says. I donated 4 times already, the longest about a month ago and I'm not on the website as a donor and I searched by city and by zip code.

Apparently the FEC website isn't "real time" numbers... and from my information is at least a month behind....

We all talk about Dr. Paul's honesty. If they say they need money now, *they need money now*.

I'm more than a little bothered by that. I've made 7 separate donations totalling $2200 (the first donation way back on June 7.) I know they've gotten the money because the charges hit my credit card right on schedule. But my name doesn't show up in the FEC database either. I can only give another $100; may as well do it now :)

[Heather in WI]

This is why I thought we should push for a press-attention-getting substitute event on December 4th.

I think this is a brilliant idea! Maybe a "Paint your Town Ron" type event? It still seems his biggest problem is name recognition.

[Midnight77]

I think the 16th was a mistake, to be totally honest with everyone. It's a great theme ... I don't dispute that, but I think it is pretty late in the Campaign, compared to Iowa and New Hampshire.

If we would have dropped this big money bomb in very early December, like the 1st or 2nd ... then we would have more time to place the ads, and would get another burst of publicity, so the voters would have time to research our candidate.

[literatim]

I think the 16th was a mistake, to be totally honest with everyone. It's a great theme ... I don't dispute that, but I think it is pretty late in the Campaign, compared to Iowa and New Hampshire.

If we would have dropped this big money bomb in very early December, like the 1st or 2nd ... then we would have more time to place the ads, and would get another burst of publicity, so the voters would have time to research our candidate.

The 16th was chosen because we donated about 4.3 million not so long ago. People have mouths to feed and bills to pay.

[The Only Woj]

if they want money for something SPECIFIC, we'll donate.

if they say, hey, we just bought 2 million in ads today and we NEED 2 million, we'll step up and make that happen.

but the 16th is our day.

[jrich4rpaul]

We are way, way ahead of schedule. The campaign has more than what they planned on. They can make it.

If they need the money, they'll let us know.

Otherwise, stop with these f'ing threads.

[Midnight77]

We are way, way ahead of schedule. The campaign has more than what they planned on. They can make it.

If they need the money, they'll let us know.

Otherwise, stop with these f'ing threads.

^^^ Um, they just did let us know. Did you see the letter?


The 16th was chosen because we donated about 4.3 million not so long ago. People have mouths to feed and bills to pay.

Agreed. But by doing one at the very beginning of December, this would give everyone enough time to save up and give the campaign more time to place their ads. The 16th is very late in the game. Great theme ... but very late in the game.

[integrity]

I urge everyone to give now if they got it! Lets totally blow hucky out of the water while we are at it....

http://ronpaulgraphs.com/rp_vs_huck_today.html

stick it on your credit card....... cheaper presents for xmas all around, but one big freedom present is worth it!

[Bigboyen]

It seems like a nice bluff. It's to get people to donate as much they can, since they anyway will donate on the 16th.

It's no way the campaign will use 14 million in New Hampshire and Iowa. If that's the plan they will need 100 million to get through Super Tuesday.

But it's nothing wrong with pushing to get donations :)

[Man from La Mancha]

Again, where is the transparency? We are ahead of what they wanted, I don't understand this. Are they spending their money wisely, are they getting the discounts they should? Just looked what happened with the Philly rally, they were going to get charged over a $100,000 to use independence sq. but thanks to the grassroots we got it much cheaper. Without transparency we can't help and they could be wasting vast sums of our money.

.

[MalcolmGandi]

I can agree that the 16th is a bit late, but the advantage is that it will be fresh in the minds of the voters when they go to the polls. Also, it gives everyone time to stabilize their finances after Nov 5. Why not get a second job for a while? Pizza delivery pays pretty good, and hours are very flexible.

[Mithridates]

I urge everyone to give now if they got it! Lets totally blow hucky out of the water while we are at it....

http://ronpaulgraphs.com/rp_vs_huck_today.html

stick it on your credit card....... cheaper presents for xmas all around, but one big freedom present is worth it!

Yep, I was wondering that myself when I woke up (I live in Asia) and checked my email. Lo and behold, it's working:

http://ronpaulgraphs.com/thumb_rp_vs_huck_today.png

I wonder if the goal of the email wasn't to show that RP's followers can blow Huckabee's planned money bomb out of the water with a single impromptu email.

[Corydoras]

Paying staffers is very, very, very expensive. I think that that is probably what is eating up their money other than the advertising campaigns.

[Shaun]

Everyone: STAY FOCUSED on Dec 16th. It is so VITAL in this campaign that words can't describe it. I run a company with hundreds of people working for us all over the world, we have had thousands of media stories written about our company and our Live Gaming invention, I can tell you this I would never, EVER let a numbers guy get anywhere near my marketing or PR area. Neither would any of my other business CEO friends out of Los Angeles or Hollywood. Ever. It's a total disconnect. Finance guys just don't get PR. I'll put it bluntly; If Ron raises 10milllion on December 16th. I believe he will then have a real chance at the nomination. If he raises over 7 million I believe he'll have a slightly lower chance. IF THE EVENT didn't go ahead or if it bombed then I believe that it's over for Ron Paul.
The guy who wrote the letter needs to wake up to the reality of RP being asked to do interview after interview all over America in the run up to the first Primaries.
Anything else other than a full, frontal all out promotion of Dec 16th is madness.
So, let's regroup and focus in behind the team and move to 30,000 pledges and raise the 10m and make history.
Let's go get em..'
*U** YOU FRANK!

[JoeTB]

Ron asked for money today. He needs money today. He's getting it from me.

[Johncjackson]

In October alone, we raised $2.8 million, but our campaign spent over $3.1 million.


AND you already had $5 mil + in hand. So you aren't going into debt. Thats the whole point, you are supposed to be spending that $5 mil+ from last quarter, not hording it. Plus November has around $ 6 mil so far. Not going into debt any time soon.

To be blunt, if the campaign is spending the money wisely it should be bringing in fresh donors and new money. I thought this was the case. if it isn't there are serious problems.

There are news stories about how "tightfisted" the campaign is, and there have only been a couple semi-large expenditures. Granted, the campaign is adding staff, but it is still very frugal compared to the other first tier.

If they actually spent the money NOW, it should bring in so much more money and they know they can count on the Money bombs and grassroots support.

Not to mention grassroots out there spending their own money on advertising. IMHO, the campaign needs to step something up or else it's going to look like Alen Hacker is the campaign manager.

I am very supportive of the campaign and hope everyone who wants to give now, gives NOW. but i'm just being honest.

p.s. Also, even though it may be a "surprise" to some people, RP has ALWAYS been a very good fundraiser, IMHO. He has always had a nationwide base of fans and supporters. Despite any criticism on my part, I think they know what they are doing.

[JustAnotherV]

I think this is a brilliant idea! Maybe a "Paint your Town Ron" type event? It still seems his biggest problem is name recognition.


Most specifically I had posted about massing in Iowa to get press and recognition there in the vacuum of the cancelled debate.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=38032


This seemed to fizzle after a bit with no response form the campaign. There is also apparently another debate nearby on the 12th, but my point here and there is that there is not enough time for "the next week" to be satisfactory.

I honestly think this campaign would have a lot better shot if we had a few extra months, but we don't, so a chance to really get Iowa voter and media attention as well as get on Iowa's good side is crtical.

Iowa + nearby meetups could run with it some, but the campaign really needs to be on board for any Q&A/debate type thing or even a super-sized rally.

[mathamagician]

The single largest positive event for this campaign was November 5th. If you want to give now fine but please don't take away from the December 16th day! This will be the day that blows away everyone.

If the campaign really needs the money now they could easily get a line of credit with a bank to focus that money now.

I think it's a bad move to undermine the December 16th thing. Remember this guy who's focus is conventional campaigning and I respect that but the Revolution wasn't spread by conventional campaigning it was spread by us and by the words of Paul himself.

So again I urge to NOT reduce your contribution on December 16th!

The OP is right, remember how we got here November 5th. and no Ron Paul did NOT ask you for money today a guy named Jonathan Bydlak did. Jonathan did not get Ron Paul to where he is now. Ron Paul's words combined with our hard work got him to where he is now. Please do not take away from the 16th!

[Brutus]

I gave something today. I'll give on the 16th.

[AlexK]

That's weird... I thought the campaign barely spent any money. But suddenly then need more money TODAY?

Either way, they're actually ahead of their goal (they only needed to reach 8M this month), so wtf is the problem? I think it's pretty fucked up that the official campaign is undermining this possibly historical fund-raising opportunity.

[all J's in IL for RP]

Whatever cash is raised Dec 16th will be allocated towards Super Tuesday... But in order for it to be of any value, he must already have huge momentum from the early primaries. Purposely denying the campaign funding needed to build an organization and buy media access necessary to generating that momentum in order to make a shallow media splash a month from now makes little sense.

I'll give today. If I have any to give Dec 16th, I'll give then too.

[lbadragan]

Someone who is paid for fundraising will ask for funds. Even if Paul would have 50 million in the bank, we would've got that email today.

No fundraising manager will stand by and allow someone else (us) to do "his" job, even if that's best for the campaign. Because face it, raising $10,000,000 on 12/16 means 50 million in publicity. But at the end of the day a fundraiser will try to raise funds.

That being said, I answered the call and made a donation today. Let's just flex our muslces a little bit to let them know we'll be there at the December 16th show.

[AlexK]

Whatever cash is raised Dec 16th will be allocated towards Super Tuesday... But in order for it to be of any value, he must already have huge momentum from the early primaries. Purposely denying the campaign funding needed to build an organization and buy media access necessary to generating that momentum in order to make a shallow media splash a month from now makes little sense.

I'll give today. If I have any to give Dec 16th, I'll give then too.


The point is that there's no indication that they're running out of money. They've raised more than they could imagine.

And are you calling Nov 5th a "shallow media splash"? He got tons of publicity just because of that day.

[weatherbill]

I heard the call. I gave today. Will give on the 16th as well!

[Devil_rules_in_extremes]

I heard the call. I gave today. Will give on the 16th as well!

SEE! THIS IS THE SPIRIT! PEOPLE ARE GETTING IT NOW!

Donate today, next week, and on DEC 16! ITS VERY SIMPLE PEOPLE!

[shell]

http://paulcash.slact.net/today-paulcash.png
http://paulcash.slact.net/today-paulflow.png (http://paulcash.slact.net)
keep it up!

[stevedasbach]

Question: is there anyone reading this who signed up to participate in the Dec 16th teaparty (i.e donate at least $100), donated today in response to the email from HQ, and therefore won't be able to contribute $100 or more on the 16th?

As long as everyone who can donates $100 or more on the 16th, the teaparty will be a smashing success and we will get tons of earned media. Beyond that, the sooner you can donate the rest of what you can, the more the campaign will be able to do in the early states. We need victories in those states if we want to secure the nomination.

[dcatman]

My intention is to max out on the 16th for myself (still have about 1800 left). I gave today because I believe in this man and his message. My wife will be donating into the next year for an y other money event that comes up. The goal here is to give the campaign the tools needed to win. If they need money, then money is what I can give...

[microchip]

I see it this way ...

Any money given now (and the next week or so) helps fund ads in not only New Hampshire and Iowa, but South Carolina, Michigan, Nevada, Florida and Wyoming (all in January).

Any money given on December 16th not only brings another burst of publicity, but funds ads for Super Tuesday and beyond.

I donated today. I will donate on December 16th. And at least one more time before then. I'd like to see the campaign get to $10 million before the end of the month - and I know it can happen.

Despite the fact that the fundraising for Ron Paul continues to increase, it still doesn't come close to what Giuliani has (16 mil on hand at end of Q3) and is nothing compared to what Romney can spend. They are going to spend boatloads of money on advertising ... Ron Paul has to do as much as he can to counter them.

- Chip

[all J's in IL for RP]

The point is that there's no indication that they're running out of money. They've raised more than they could imagine.

I disagree with the sentiment that there's a definable amount the campaign "should" have that might preclude one from donating what money they can afford and are willing to part with. There's no reason to purposefully put the campaign on a starvation diet. Having money on hand allows the campaign to react to the changing strategies of their opponents.


And are you calling Nov 5th a "shallow media splash"? He got tons of publicity just because of that day.

I'm saying that Dec 16th will be viewed as a shallow media splash if circumstances haven't materially changed in the 41 days since the last event.

[Ron Paul News]

I see from http://www.ronpaulgraphs.com/ that the campaign is at almost $8.9 million for the quarter now, and seems set for a second good day today following yesterday (if it keeps up).

Although the campaign had been posting $12 million quarter to win, while Ron Paul has been climbing in the polls it looks like victory is going to be more expensive than that $12 million figure, so more money will be needed. Even $12 million is great after people were shocked he raised $5 million just last quarter, but I believe that double, and much more likely triple (or more) the $12 million figure for the quarter would be needed to actually put Ron Paul now in the lead above all candidates.

It's expensive to catch up this quickly. Just my opinion.

[Zack]

$5.3 Million on hand at end of Quarter + $2.8 Million in October raised = $8.1 Million on hand

$8.1 Million on hand - $3.1 Million spent in October = $5 Million on hand at beginning of November.

$5 Million on hand + $6 Million approx. raised in November so far = $11 Million on hand.

So my question is, why are they acting like they are broke?


The only question that's important is the thing that wasn't mentioned in the letter: Does the campaign strategy require them to spend MORE THAN 12 million (i threw in an extra mil) between Nov. 1st and Dec 17th? If they plan to spend more, than they're right to ask for the money now. That's not likely, in my opinion. If, on the other hand, they're just nervous about watching the reserves dwindle between now and mid Dec... than this letter is one of the most destructive things this campaign has ever seen. "Operation: Shoot Self In Foot"

[lemur]

My husband and I will be donating as soon as we can. The tea party is a good goal for us as it gives us a few weeks to gather funds. As it is, we're broke. Bills are late and our roommate has leukemia and isn't able to work. But SOMEHOW we plan on having some money to donate by then.

We aren't having Christmas presents this year, because we feel that the best gifts we can give ourselves and our country is a president we can believe in.

So, I understand the campaign needs money sooner rather than later, but kindly understand that many of the givers are those who are bleeding (bills overdue and not getting paid) just so we can give a few extra bucks to the campaign. Yeah, we wish it was more and sooner.

[Midnight77]

After thinking about this, I think we should stay the course on the 16th, unless you can afford to give twice. It is vital that we beat Hillary's alleged one day Fundraising Total of $6.3 Million, and this will give us a huge boost of publicity on the 16th and 17th, with the Iowa Caucus not until January 3rd. For those that can afford to donate twice, feel free to do so on the 30th. But my best advice is to hold off for the 16th, IF you can only afford to give once.

[lemur]

Question: is there anyone reading this who signed up to participate in the Dec 16th teaparty (i.e donate at least $100), donated today in response to the email from HQ, and therefore won't be able to contribute $100 or more on the 16th?

As long as everyone who can donates $100 or more on the 16th, the teaparty will be a smashing success and we will get tons of earned media. Beyond that, the sooner you can donate the rest of what you can, the more the campaign will be able to do in the early states. We need victories in those states if we want to secure the nomination.

Consider too, that there are a lot of us who can't promise $100, but will be donating WHAT WE CAN on that day. And yeah, I think it's worth waiting for that day. 1) because by then I might be able to raise more than what I think I can at the moment and 2) because even if the campaign thinks they need the money NOW, the publicity that will happen from a massive income on that day will generate more than our average dollars can buy in FREE press, just cause of the crazy spending that will happen.