[NYTr] Ron Paul rakes in millions on his Boston Tea Party Day

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

CNN - Dec 18, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/18/paul.fundraising/index.html?eref=rss_latest

Paul rakes in millions despite low polling among GOP

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) -- GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul is raking
in millions of dollars even as he remains one of the candidates with
the least face time in mainstream media.

His campaign said it raised $6 million-plus in 24 hours earlier this
week -- one of the largest single-day fundraising totals in U.S.
election history -- but he remains low in the polls.

Paul says those polls might be mistaken and insists he has a wide
following.

Much of Paul's money comes from individuals contributing smaller
amounts, according to his campaign and records dating back to September
filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Paul said Monday that his source of funding distinguished himself from
other Republican presidential candidates because his cash did not come
from "powerful special interests." VideoWatch Paul describe his
fundraising prowess »

"In our case, it came from individuals who were concerned about what
was happening," Paul said, "and I have offered an alternative both
economically speaking, monetarily, as well as in foreign policy.

"I believe this is the reason they have come and joined the campaign."

As of last quarter, the Paul campaign received more than $8 million in
contributions from individuals. About half of that came from donations
of $200 or less, according to reports filed with the FEC. See where the
money is coming from »

Percentage-wise, Paul's fund-raising depends on these smaller donations
far more than the other Republican candidates do.

As of last quarter's filings, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani
reported about $3.77 million in donations of less than $200, with
individual contributions totaling $44.3 million. Former Arkansas Gov.
Mike Huckabee reported about $585,000 in donations of less $200, with
individual contributions totaling $2.3 million. And former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney reported about $6 million in donations
of less $200, with individual contributions totaling $43.7 million.

Campaign officials for Paul now say they have raised $18 million for
their man, but the figures won't be independently confirmed until FEC
reports are filed at the end of the year.

"It's nice to know that we are comfortable and can pay the bills," said
Paul, a Texas congressman, at a press conference Monday, a day after
the campaign said it raked in more than $6 million in an Internet-based
drive in 24 hours.

The average donation during the drive was $102, according to the
campaign.

Sunday's totals, raised by supporters acting independently of Paul's
campaign, follow a similar November effort that the campaign said
brought in $4.3 million.

"Toward the end it was difficult to keep up with all the accounting,"
Paul said.

Although so much money was raised on the Internet, the campaign said it
knows "good old-fashioned politics" such as knocking on doors in New
Hampshire is needed to get votes, according to a campaign spokesman.

And votes are crucial for Paul, who shows up in the low single digits
in national polls of the GOP field.

But a CNN/WMUR poll in New Hampshire, released last week, found Paul
drawing 7 percent support among Republicans in that first primary state
-- and he broke double digits with 11 percent in a CNN/Opinion Research
Corp. poll in South Carolina, home of another early contest. The New
Hampshire poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage
points, and the margin of error for the South Carolina survey is plus
or minus 4 percentage points.

Paul has a strong Internet campaign, as evidenced by his successful
online drives.

"We appeal to a lot of independent voters and disgruntled
Republicans ... who might not have voted in the last go-around, so
they're not being polled. We also attract a lot of young people who
have not voted before," he said on CNN's "American Morning."

Paul said the money raised Sunday -- the 234th anniversary of the
Boston Tea Party -- was "a pleasant surprise for me and a shocker for
some other people." Paul's supporters staged a re-enactment Sunday of
the 1773 Colonial protest against British tea taxes as part of their
fundraising efforts.

But he said he was disappointed that his fundraising efforts -- not his
policies -- had gained so much attention.

"It looks to me like money talks, and I like to say ideas talk ... [and
that it's] my position on foreign policy and the monetary system that
should have gotten the attention of the media," he said.

Paul's campaign plans to beef up staff in Florida and other states
voting in February 5's "Super Tuesday" contests, when more than 20
states will hold primaries or caucuses, a spokesman for the Paul camp
said.

The campaign also will spend money on airtime in the early-voting
states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

Paul, who ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988, is the sole
Republican candidate to call for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

Earlier this year, Romney's presidential exploratory committee said it
had pulled in around $6.5 million in a 24-hour period, though that haul
included both donations and pledges for future donations. The current
record belongs to Democrat John Kerry, whose presidential campaign
received $5.7 million in a single day during the 2004 race.

[CNN's Rebecca Sinderbrand, Mary Snow, Kristi Keck and Chris Welch
contributed to this report.]