According to Ron Paul's website, the record for the highest amount of contributions in just 1 day was $3.1 million, set by Mitt Romney. Their goal is to break that record. It will be close, but it looks like they might be on track to do it.

He may not have a real chance in the GOP field, but he and his supporters are determined to have their opinions heard. You have to give them points for determination.

Come on seth don't say that, people are just used to the way we live today, thats why people call him "insane" or "wacky".

You know whats wacky or insane???

Spending TRILLIONS of dollars on a war, running our national debt up, vetoing childs health care bills and than asking for 49 billion more for a war, raising oil prices, and man I could go on.

Now.. ask yourself, who's "sane" ??

I don't disagree on any given point. I do strongly take issue with running a government in a position like the one we're in today with a basically libertarian approach.

We need a Department of Education. We need welfare. We need "socialized" medicine. We need these things because these things are the products of a compassionate government in its actions toward its people. The government is and must be of its people and its sole purpose is to serve them. Take away the government and you take away much of our ability to serve ourselves.

Anyway, I don't think he's wacky because of any idiosyncrasies he happens to possess. I find those qualities endearing. I call him insane because he seems to lack a fundamental understanding of what makes a modern progressive government great. The solution to a broken system is not to do away with the system.

"And the day is not yet even done."

But when the day is done: they're gonna take Ron Paul seriously.

Ron Paul doesn't believe we should get rid of all welfare immediately. He knows people are dependent on the government.

He does know Medicare and Social Security are essentially bankrupt. And most Americans know the system cannot pay for itself.

Ron has said if we stop policing the world (Germany, Korea, Middle East), we will save 100's of billions. Then Ron said we should use half of those savings to cut the deficit, and use the other half to take care of people on Social Security, Medicare, etc.

Then the ones who want out can get out (of Social Security, etc.). I do want out. And that plan makes fiscal sense.

Seth,

The STATES can still perform the functions you think are essential.

Do you want Bush/Hillary dictating how welfare and heathcare is going to be for you and your community, or do you think that you and your local community/state know what they want and need better?

The crux is this: the federal government is WORSE at performing these functions than states would be because states are closer to their people.

So please, think critically and logically before calling people insane. You make yourself look like a fool.

Ha ha, great stuff, Ron Paul is the candidate for everyone:

Brief Overview of Congressman Paul’s Record:

He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.

He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

Congressman Paul introduces numerous pieces of substantive legislation each year, probably more than any single member of Congress.

Central economic planning simply does not work. Take some time and read Rothbard's "Man, Economy, and State," or "Human Action" by Ludwig von Mises. All socialist systems eventually cripple themselves, as their control of the market cannot ever predict demand efficiently and is unable to create wealth, let alone as well as a system based on individual freedom. The idea that you can make everyone's life easier or better through government intervention is a noble goal to be sure, but it cannot work.

C'mon now....

All of you Ron Paul naysayers would do the whole world, America, your fellow citizens, yourselves and your children a great service by learning about this true statesman and lending him your support.

The time HAS COME to fix this country and our politics!

Accept this gift that has been laid before you. This could very well be your last chance.

I'm a progressive and I gave $100 today. And dammit, it felt good.

(Also gave Dodd $50 more.)

Kossaks, remember that Kos is more interested in getting the Democratic Party elected than he is in things like restoring the Constitution or ending the War. He admits it himself. Be wary of what you read of Paul. Understand that the positions he holds he won't apply to the US federal government because he essentially believes there shouldn't be much of one.

Anyway, I've notice that the criticism of the Democrats has died down in the progressive blogosphere when if anything it should be getting more vocal.

And since when did Media Matters become Hillary Matters?

Restoring the Constitution and ending the War. Nothing else really matters to me anymore.

Hey Amy,

Paul opposes abortion. Maybe that's fine with you, but it's not fine with the majority.

Mike wrote:

"Paul opposes abortion"

Sort of. He is a constitutionalist on this as on every other issue, and thinks it should be left to the states to decide.

It's no accident that Storm Front and other American nazi sites, organizations, and a lot of just plain racist people are pouring their political support behind Paul.

During the 1990s, Paul was the darling of the racist, violent militias. He can only get worse from there at this stage, the way he continues to pander to them.

Yes, I've been very grateful that Paul has spoken out loudly and clearly, and for years now, to stop foreign wars, but his ideology wants to totally dismantle the federal government, which will eventually leave large areas of the country vulnerable to violent anti-immigrant and other pro-white separatist movements, that would not, will not, and some of which already do not hesitate to use violence and intimidation to get their way. Think of how they would use the U.S. military and the private mercenary corporations: They have sure thought about it!

"It's no accident that Storm Front and other American nazi sites, organizations, and a lot of just plain racist people are pouring their political support behind Paul."

And there's also a group called Jews for Ron Paul, and he also pulls in way more African-American support than any other Republican candidate.

Because you know who likes the Constitution? EVERYONE. And you can bet a Ron Paul presidency will soften, not harden, the racial edges of our society on all fronts.

Unlike, say, a Hillary presidency, which thrives and encourages racial animosity under the guise of ameliorating it.

There is nothing "compassionate" about stealing from one and giving to another with your name on the "gift" as the federal government does. If you don't agree to donate your taxes to their programs they will throw you out of your house, imprison you, and if need be, kill you in the name of this societal "compassion" This, the same compassionate society which has killed nigh a million in Iraq. Thank you no, we need less of this compassion and a return to individual liberties and responsibilities as originally intended.

To Seth and others,

"Compassion" is not compassion at the point of a gun, i.e., when provided by government. Government is simply institutionalized violence, and can NEVER be compassionate. Compassion can only be provided voluntarily, and can only flow from the individual.

It's sad how many such as yourself have neither an inkling of what the word "liberty" means, nor the principles upon which this country was founded.

Medicare saved my grandmother's life!

mike wrote on November 5, 2007 7:57 PM:

Hey Amy,

Paul opposes abortion. Maybe that's fine with you, but it's not fine with the majority.

Mike,
While he does personally oppose abortion, he correctly believes it is a mater for the states to decide, per the Constitution. Therefore, no federal ban on abortion.

Yo Liberal Larry!

See my post at 8:11. Provide us details of your grandmother's situation or STFU and quit using her as propaganda!

Medical trivia: Dr. Ron Paul delivered Selena. Yes, that Selena. Lack Jackson, Texas.

My grandmother used to buy me toys and cook us Christmas dinner.
Medicare gave her another chance.

"It seems to be a forgotten skill where fringe candidates would cash in their following for something useful on the platform of the winner."

Party platforms aren't worth spit. Ron Paul is more likely to win the GOP nomination than to get a VP offer from the eventual nominee. These guys, particularly Rudy the Gopher have been openly contemptuous and rude to Ron Paul during the debates. They are not interested in anything Ron Paul has stood for.

Anonymous, it's hard to take you seriously when you don't use a name.

Now, do you really think Sen. Clinton is taking advice from George W.? I find that pretty darn funny.

Besides the fact that he is intellectually challenged, she has one of the best politicians of all right in the family.

Get real! Where on earth did you hear that or were you in the room or do you work for NSA and were on the phone?

NICE TRY

Pledges aren't cash.

Could RP cultists pony up $3.7 million? Sure.

Did they? I'll believe when they FEC it.

Paulie Shored must've stopped listening when Blitzer ASSUMED they were pledges. So sorry to bear the news for you, but these were donations. Not pledges. Donations.

I always wonder why this country is in such sad shape. Thanks for reminding me what the middle of the bell curve sounds like.

healthydose wrote on November 5, 2007 10:13 PM:
"Why would any adult WANT a nanny gov."

Yeah, we should do away with fire fighters and police officers too. Who needs nannies?

And the federal shouldn't steal from the rich and give to the poor, because it ain't Uncle Sam's fault you can't find a decent paying job due to your lack of qualifications! You should have been able to afford college like the rich kids!

In fact, we should revert back to the days before FDR's New Deal! I mean, nobody needed social security or health benefits in the days of Herbert Hoover, right?

I figure they'll bring out the guns now on paul - not gonna let him steal rudy's limelight. heck of an accomplishment.

Sarcastic Same, if ony the federsl government did steal from the rich (not that I think we were supposed to be a Robin Hood country), but government especially as it is run now STEALS FROM THE POOR!! and enrichs the rich.

Hey, some of my beliefs are considered libertarian - guns, OK; drug war, generally bad; spying on citizens, bad; etc. - but I am reminded of the libertarian psychiatrist (who wants to curtail the power of those in his field) Dr. Thomas Szasz whenever I hear about so-called libertarian-style "freedom."

Dr. Szasz was talking about "dignity" when he said this, but I think he inadvertently undermined his own libertarian stance: with freedom, there might be a case where one person's increased freedom will lead to another person's decreased freedom; but you can never increase one person's dignity by decreasing someone else's.

So the Dr., considered a leading libertarian thinker, basically admitted that freedom's a slippery thing.

But Paul is still a breath of fresh air.

Myself, I'm more of a Robin Hood Democrat. The founding fathers wanted the government to be able to REVOKE CORPORATE CHARTERS for malfeasance and they did so in the old days. Jefferson himself was wary of "corporations and monied interests."

THERE'S your most anti-american threat to the "general welfare," IMHO.

Although as per my description above, I am a white upper middle class nerdy male, I don't support Paul. I am angry, but he's not the cure.

I agree that elites have hijacked American institutions and Paul speaks rather well to that, but I find his notion of governance too puerile.

If you think corporations dominate now, wait until Paul is elected and he further weakens the central government. Our central government is deeply flawed, but it does, to a degree, attempt to represent our interests.

Decide which Democrat will actually fight for middle class interests and select that person.

I believe in a progressive tax structure and the notion of sharing risk against the personal problems we all face. This leads to a strong middle class and a generally healthy society.

As for abortion, not that Paul could or really even would try to overturn Roe, but the fact that he wants to comes close to making him a deal-breaker for me. All that would mean is that rich girls in Kansas would get safe abortions while poor girls would die.

Wake up status quo morons. RP is what this country needs if we are to return to the priciples this country was founded on. I believe the others are partly correct about terrorism. It's just that the current administration is the biggest terrorist threat we face. I believe a revolt from this countries' citizens may be coming soon if our nazi gov't is not stopped. RP gives us a peaceful chance. Go RP. Impeach, indict, and imprison the warmongerors!

It is truly sad how many of the Ron Paul advocates think they are "constitutionalists" when they don't know jack about the U.S. Constitution. The States AND the People are the ones that retain all Rights not given the Federal Government in the Constitution.

Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The Federal Government and The Supreme Court have every right and responsibilty to ensure and enforce the Rights of the People to not be infringed upon by the whims of any State.

Amendment 13 - Slavery Abolished

1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Forcing a women to perform as an incubator for a fetus/blastocyst (if you operate in a make believe world that a fetus/blastocyst is an independent life capable of sustaining itself in the world outside of the womb) is forcing her to enter involuntary servitude to that fetus/blastocyst. As noted above involuntary servitude is both unconstitutional AND the Federal Government is given the authority to enforce the proscription of involuntary servitude. Of course that would again assume that Ron Paul and his supporters actually were "constitutionalists."

Amendment 14 - Citizenship Rights

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Clearly, the 14th Amendment spells out when privileges and immunities are explicitly granted and explicitly states that No State can enact or prosecute any laws that are contrary to privileges (implicit Rights of the People) and immunities (explicit proscription of involuntary servitude) of Citizens. It also implicitly derives the first point at which a person is a distinct and separate individual as being the point where they are born. Until that point, a fetus/blastocyst is just another part of the woman's anatomy. As such and once again, if Ron Paul and his supporters truly are "constitutionalists" they must once again recognize that the Right of a Woman to do with her body as she will is inalienable. If she does not want to house the fetus/blastocyst that is her prerogative. That by Constitutional mandate, which also supercedes any and all Federal or State Laws and State Constitutions, the Federal Government is not only allowed but required to enforce a woman's right to remove a part of her body that she does not want in her over any State or Federal attempt to usurp.

Stand aside, bitchez. The Revolution will not be stopt.

RP08!

You cannot have guilt through association. Ron Paul is not his supporters, he is himself. He is a decent and honest man.

Name calling is childish and intellectually lazy. If we are to have a civil discourse about policy, let's cite policies we want clarified or have certain opinions about.

As for Ron Paul's supporters, its easy to see where they have come from. His supporters have chosen him for a variety of reasons but the basic reason is opposition to big government. You can either have more (as every other candidate from both parties advocates) or less (as Dr. Paul advocates). Anyone who wants less govt or feels oppressed by the federal government would naturally support Dr. Paul for president.

In our history there have only ever been federalists and antifederalists going back to the beginning. The two sides united but have always had frictions.

The rise of decentralized media such as the Internet enables people to personally decide what they want to learn and whom they'd like to associate with.

The new medium will allow us to coordinate very closely while keeping power safely decentralized. For example, states can all check licenses from other states and agree among themselves on common standards without the feds becoming involved and usurping this power directly from the states as has happened under the Patriot Act and Real ID Act.

Our representatives and media personalities do not know us, care about us, or listen to us. They just feed us increasingly tyrannical garbage. We have voted with money, the language they speak, to wake them up and put them on notice that they had better change course or they will find their careers at an abrupt end.

I see an alliance of greens working at the local and state levels with libertarians at the national level emerging. This is a way to transition and deal with our real situation now with the minimum harm.

Dr. Paul, for example, is not radical enough to just simply end Social Security and Medicare. Those dependent on the system will receive benefits. In fact, Dr. Paul is the only congressman who voted consistently to not allow raids on the Social Security budget, which have bankrupted it.

With our debt obligations and sinking currency valuations, we have no real choice but to abandon either guns or butter. Dr. Paul has proposed we save our social entitlement system and wean off it slowly, paying for this by ending our military adventurism abroad (which will actually make us safer).

The decision to follow to Constitution will always result in a more peaceful, secure, free, and prosperous society for all. Trust in your fellow citizen, not in big government.

Let's work for each other and trade with one another for our mutual gain rather than fight as special interest groups over a pot of federal money stolen from hard working people at what is essentially gunpoint.

OMFG! The Government is good. It is designed to protect and support those who make it up. We, the People, are good. Attempting to run a government on a shoestring makes it look ineffective.

Libertarians are about I the one.

Ron Paul is almost a strict Libertarian . . . EXCEPT once it comes down a woman's womb.

Yep. Ron Paul is wrong about damn near everything.

It's amazing how many of your who don't like Ron Paul have no idea how our government was setup. You have no clue about checks and balances, nor do you understand the difference between federal, state and local control.

This is likely because you actually do not understand the constitution. Which is no suprise considering the public school system doesn't teach you how to think, rather they teach you what to think. Nationalism is taught from day 1 in public schools, just like in Nazi Germany before ww2.

You see, the constitution is the law the government is supposed to follow. And when the government is ignoring the constitution, then you have a tyrannical and unlawful government.

Most issues are supposed to be decided on state and local levels. The federal governments job is mostly to look over that, and make sure the states aren't infringing on the rights of it's citizens. It is supposed to be a check to keep the states from getting too powerful. But when the federal government does it, then there is no longer a check. And there is no one left to insure the people's rights aren't being infringed on.

Those who think issues come down to you either being for or against an issue, are just polarized and uninformed. You've been polarized by design so that you will limit your options on a topic. No different than Bush's you are for us or against us quote.

But no matter, the country is waking up in huge numbers, and will continue to as well. Being someone who supported a 3rd party in 2004, I know what low support looks like. I see more support for Ron Paul than I did for bush or kerry in 2004. And why is that?

Because in this election, for the first time in a long time, it's not just a polarized election. Instead of choosing the lesser of 2 evils, where you are still choosing evil, people actually have a candidate they support, rather than in the 2004 election where you were either voting against Bush, or against Kerry.

And that is a huge difference, and exactly why Ron Paul is going to win. I know it's hard to understand for those of you who are still polarized. But once you realize and understand how this country is supposed to work, and how it worked when the US was ranked #1 in all matters of measure. The things Ron Paul wants to get back to are the same things that had us ranked #1 in healthcare, education and freedoms, rather than being ranked in the 70's for healthcare no, in the 30's for freedom, and also in the 30's for education.

I know government sounds good, and thats what most politicians want you to think. But in the end, you are still asking a bunch of lawyers who are paid for by lobbyists to provide you with the best healthcare, education and security. It's really no wonder why it hasn't been working, they are lawyers.

"Tearing down what appears inconvenient is childish."

You and I are on completely different planets if you believe the problems we face today as a nation are mere "inconveniences".

So what is Ron Paul going to do with the money after he loses the nomination?

Fzappa,

The old I am liar defense? If you are too lazy to read up on your candidate, I am too lazy to do the work for you. Google Ron Paul White Supremecy or Ron Paul Anti Semite. Any group that thinks a Jewish Conspiracy runs the world or the banks is not a group who any presidential candidate should speak to. Anyone who supports the John Birch Society should not be President. Birch took out ads advocating the assasination of a US President, sadly it happened. If Paul does not support Stormfront, he could have the ads pulled and send the money back. This would just be silly if so many disaffected people did not fall for a guy like Ron Paul. After he drops out of the race, are you going to ask to get your money back?

Jews for Ron Paul? Self loathing I guess.

I have no respect for people who want to tear things down as a way to fix them. Our government needs to improve but Guy Fawkes? That is just immature.

You rebel against the very system that got you where you are today. I know, you pulled yourself up by the bootstraps, blah, blah....

The funny thing is how silly people who worship old documents look. Biblethumpers are bad enough, now we have to sit through a few more months of "The Constitution". At what point does a text become irrelavent based on age?