Oddball Crank Raises $5 Million

Well, when you live in your mother's basement, don't get out much since you're busy spamming Internet polls, and probably haven't had a date in years, if ever, then why not send your money to Ron Paul?

Just think, if you get to 3% in the polls, you've accomplished something.

Ron Paul raises $5 million for bid

WASHINGTON - Long-shot Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul raised a surprising $5 million during the past three months, capitalizing on his stance as the only anti-war contender in the GOP field.

Paul, a Texas congressman who once ran for president as a Libertarian, also will report having $5.3 million cash on hand, campaign spokesman Jesse Benton said.

The amount places Paul well ahead of all but the Republican front-runners in the race. His fundraising for the quarter almost matches what Sen. John McCain is expected to report. His total is half the amount that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is reported to have raised.

Paul barely registers in polls of Republican voters, a sign of low name recognition nationally. Since he entered the campaign, he has operated with little media attention, getting the spotlight only during debates. But that has been enough to attract an avid Internet following.

Benton said most of Paul's money has come from online contributions. He said the donations had placed a strain on the relatively small campaign staff, which was trying to keep up with the accounting challenge.

Meanwhile, Republican Mike Huckabee was expected to report raising about $1 million for the quarter, according to a Republican familiar with his fundraising. Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, had been considered the most likely candidate to emerge from the back of the Republican field because of his charismatic appeal. But his fundraising has been far less than expected. His third-quarter total would bring his overall fundraising for the year to about $2.3 million.

Paul, meanwhile, turned some heads at midyear when he reported having $2.3 million cash on hand. Since then, Benton said, the campaign has increased its staffing from 10 to 40 employees. "We're adding employees as we speak," he said.

It says little for Huckabee's hopes, not that he had much of a chance, though he'll easily outdistance Paul if they both get to the primaries.

As for Paul, maybe he envisions himself as the modern-day Ross Perot, sans personality. He may even grab 0.5% as a third party candidate come November 2008.

Mrs. Clinton should probably be the only one worried about losing the closet-case vote.

UPDATE: I see a lot of Ron Paul supporters are visiting. It occurs to me that not only are they delusional, they're also completely devoid of any semblance of a sense of humor. One idiot even claims that if Ron Paul were president on 9/11, then the WTC would still be standing.

Pathetic.