randolphus maximus
11-28-2007, 03:00 PM
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/11/ron-paul-inspir.html
ABC's Z. Byron Wolf Reports: If there was any doubt that there is something special about the online synergy of the Ron Paul community, look no further than the attempts to replicate his November 5th "moneybomb."
Paul supporters raised more than 4.2 million from over 30,000 donors, on Nov. 5th chosen to commemorate Guy Fawkes Day. (Or anti-commemorating it since in England they celebrate the failure of Fawkes and the Paul people were presumably commemorating, at least Fawkes' attempt to blow up Parliament ... Its confusing, but in the new world of online political fundraising -- it worked.)
Attempts by other campaigns to light their own money bombs have flopped.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, for instance, by some accounts has an online following bigger than Paul's. One example is Obama's 165,000 Facebook friends to Paul's 40,000.
But when Obama's campaign tried to light a money bomb online recently attempting to raise $5 million on "Barack Friday," on November 16th, they was no boom. Not even a fizz. Just some empty wind and $4,600 from 72 people, according to the temperature gauge on Obama's website.
In all fairness, however, it must be pointed out that Obama raised more than four times what Paul did in the last financial quarter that ended in September -- and has consistently outraised him in every quarter.
Meanwhile, the website that was meant to explode on November 21st is already offline --but if you Google "Fred Thompson moneybomb" it asks if you meant "Fred Thompson Honeybomb." Supporters of Iowa darling former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., did no better.
The question then becomes, can Paul's supporters recreate their own "Remember the 5th of November" magic with new efforts?
The provenance of the term "moneybomb" and who came up with the Guy Fawkes Day drive is up for dispute among Paul supporters, who have been waging an editing war on the Wikipedia entry for "Moneybomb."
Previous ABC reports on the effort gave most of the credit to Florida based music promoter Trevor Lyman. Apparently, if Wikipedia is correct (and you never know) we also should have given a bit of credit to a New York Jazz musician and some others. But while they disagree on who deserves the credit, Paul supporters are working in loose tandem for future projects.
Some of those people, specifically the people behind http://ronpaulmoneybomb.com/m, which claims to be the very first moneybomb site, are plotting a mini moneybomb for Friday. Lyman has gotten in that game too, launching http://rudysreadinglist.com/.
It has pledges from more than 2,000 people so far. The angle -- highlighting Paul's disagreements with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at previous debates about what exactly caused the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001.
Perhaps Paul and Giuliani will make some more kindling at tonight's CNN/YouTube debate. Paul supporters have been encouraged at Paul's website to contribute video questions.
But the big event is coming up on December 16th, when Paul supporters will commemorate Constitution Day and the Boston Tea Party. Paul supporters argue the inflation of the dollar represents a tax akin to the tax on tea, which started a revolution.
And Tea Party '07 may have the best chance to make another splash for Paul. At Lyman's site, there are already more than 21,000 pledges for donations. If each is for $100, as the site suggests they should be, that puts Paul halfway toward matching his November 5th Haul.
ABC's Z. Byron Wolf Reports: If there was any doubt that there is something special about the online synergy of the Ron Paul community, look no further than the attempts to replicate his November 5th "moneybomb."
Paul supporters raised more than 4.2 million from over 30,000 donors, on Nov. 5th chosen to commemorate Guy Fawkes Day. (Or anti-commemorating it since in England they celebrate the failure of Fawkes and the Paul people were presumably commemorating, at least Fawkes' attempt to blow up Parliament ... Its confusing, but in the new world of online political fundraising -- it worked.)
Attempts by other campaigns to light their own money bombs have flopped.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, for instance, by some accounts has an online following bigger than Paul's. One example is Obama's 165,000 Facebook friends to Paul's 40,000.
But when Obama's campaign tried to light a money bomb online recently attempting to raise $5 million on "Barack Friday," on November 16th, they was no boom. Not even a fizz. Just some empty wind and $4,600 from 72 people, according to the temperature gauge on Obama's website.
In all fairness, however, it must be pointed out that Obama raised more than four times what Paul did in the last financial quarter that ended in September -- and has consistently outraised him in every quarter.
Meanwhile, the website that was meant to explode on November 21st is already offline --but if you Google "Fred Thompson moneybomb" it asks if you meant "Fred Thompson Honeybomb." Supporters of Iowa darling former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., did no better.
The question then becomes, can Paul's supporters recreate their own "Remember the 5th of November" magic with new efforts?
The provenance of the term "moneybomb" and who came up with the Guy Fawkes Day drive is up for dispute among Paul supporters, who have been waging an editing war on the Wikipedia entry for "Moneybomb."
Previous ABC reports on the effort gave most of the credit to Florida based music promoter Trevor Lyman. Apparently, if Wikipedia is correct (and you never know) we also should have given a bit of credit to a New York Jazz musician and some others. But while they disagree on who deserves the credit, Paul supporters are working in loose tandem for future projects.
Some of those people, specifically the people behind http://ronpaulmoneybomb.com/m, which claims to be the very first moneybomb site, are plotting a mini moneybomb for Friday. Lyman has gotten in that game too, launching http://rudysreadinglist.com/.
It has pledges from more than 2,000 people so far. The angle -- highlighting Paul's disagreements with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at previous debates about what exactly caused the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001.
Perhaps Paul and Giuliani will make some more kindling at tonight's CNN/YouTube debate. Paul supporters have been encouraged at Paul's website to contribute video questions.
But the big event is coming up on December 16th, when Paul supporters will commemorate Constitution Day and the Boston Tea Party. Paul supporters argue the inflation of the dollar represents a tax akin to the tax on tea, which started a revolution.
And Tea Party '07 may have the best chance to make another splash for Paul. At Lyman's site, there are already more than 21,000 pledges for donations. If each is for $100, as the site suggests they should be, that puts Paul halfway toward matching his November 5th Haul.