Revised Prediction

Earlier at "The Meltdown is Coming" I predicted Paul would raise 4 million this quarter and have 5 on hand, I think I might be way off. He's far surpassing the previous quarter, so I think twice last quarter isn't out of line plus his meetup competition is doing incredible. We'll know soon but just taking the top 25 and assuming that #25 gave $0 (with over 700 groups #25 is really much more than $0), they've raised just short of $400,000 as of this post. So it's reasonable to say Paul will raise 6 million or MORE this quarter. And my previous post assumed the campaign spending about 2 million this quarter, expenses have increased with a new headquarters and all but a 4X increase might be a bit much. Paul realizes his bank account is a big factor in getting media attention so the cheaper he is now the better, plus the money is better spent closer to the primaries. So Paul could have close to 8 million on hand which could put him short only Guliani for true debt free cash on the Republican side.
Another meetup bonus, is the diversity of the crowd. Other candidate's groups stay in their own "class structure". With the meetup groups it's likely that a few individuals that have maxed out could funnel money to those who haven't. That'll be rare and won't come anywhere close to the Hillary scandals but once Paul's cash numbers come out they'll likely be some reporting on shady fundraising, afterall how can a few spammers give millions of dollars?

Strippers for Paul

Ban Smoking

Clinton and Huckabee want to ban smoking in all public places.

Clinton shows how pompous she is by stating "Well, personally, I think so", hell if Hillary thinks it's a good idea then screw the law lets do what she thinks. She also shows her ignorance of free markets by saying how bars are more profitable in NY with the smoking ban. Good thing the government kept those bar owners from making less money.

Huckabee states second hand smoke IS deadly

Speed of Thompson

Fred Thompson may be the slowest man ever, on why his staff has high turnover:

it was only natural that there would be some initial stumbles given the demands of putting together a national campaign on the fly.

On the fly isn't how I'd describe his campaign which has been thinking of starting since March.

This article implies Fred isn't raising money as fast as they had planned, I sill think they'll raise over 10 mil this quarter but I bet they're wasting it pretty quick too, especially for a campaign that hasn't begun and apparently has no organization and is "on the fly". So I stand by my earlier prediction that Thompson will have 5 to 10 million in the bank come October.
Thompson struggles as launch looms

Normal Paul

This is a good C-SPAN video, especially the last few minutes.
He thanks the guy for loaning him a phone, then discribes the 12lb baby he helped out with, makes sure the glare doesn't mess up people's pictures, all pretty funny:

Brit's fight National (Child) ID

Safety fears over new register of all children

Federal Reserve

This has some great quotes:

The Meltdown is Coming

October 15th will be the day the media will let out a giant "Oh Crap"
This is when the next campaign funds results are due in. My guess is Ron Paul will have at least 4 million raised for the quarter, plus still have nearly a million left, so he'll have around 5 million. On the republican side Guliani will have 15-20 mil, Fred Thompson will have 5-10 mil, and Romney about 5 mil but the press will ignore debt so it'll be reported as 10-15. No one else will have over 1 mil.
The press will try to continue to ignore Paul but by being in the top 4 of cash on hand it will be very difficult for them.
I expect many news rooms to think, "Nice, we're down to Romney, Guliani, and Thompson, oh crap and that Paul guy too." How will they respond? I predict a few days of reporting on Paul then the snubbing will begin again, he'll not be invited to a major debate on the grounds that McCain, Brownback, Huckabee, etc weren't invited either.
It reminds me of when Alan Keyes wasn't invited to a debate but showed up anyway to participate, after this clip he continued to say, "release me or arrest me".

Uggh

I think this is one of Ron Paul's big challenges, a lot of the people that agree simply don't think it can be fixed without more government.

Mike gets it:

yea. i'm not too far away from buying gold bullion and burying it somewhere...

i sold off all my stock about a month ago, right as the market began to shit all over
itself.

i think the fiat system is a joke, backed only by our govt's credibility.
so what happens when we're not credible anymore?

it's not only the fed printing money recently - other governments
have been doing it in response to the mortgage fiasco as well.

But when asked why he doesn't support Ron Paul he said:

i don't believe in the "miracle" of the free market. i think business needs boundaries.

i also don't believe all government is bad. ours has become bad. but they are not inherently bad.

The Knack

This one goes around every few years:

Declare a tax loss

The constitution states gold and silver and the only currency, but if I make a profit (or loss) when I buy and sell gold I pay capital gains taxes.
What about the cash I have? Shouldn't I get count it as a loss because of the inflation of the paper currency?

Google Brandenburg

Google Damian Brandenburg
Google Aaron Brandenburg

They all pretty quickly get you to RonPaul2008.com

Strippers Behind Paul

Tucker Carlson will be interviewing Michelle, who is a former stripper, Libertarian Party activist, co-blogger in several places, and hardcore Ron Paul supporter. The interview is tentatively scheduled for Friday evening at 6:45PM EST.

But for now here's rumbling of big support from strippers in general:
Skip to about 2 mintues left:

Granddaughter

I've seen Ron Paul's Granddaughters before, here's one here, not bad looking. How can I meet one of them? Maybe the other half of B-Burg can work on that.

Germany loves Ron Paul, translation

Mr. Carmichael, aka Ron's brother translated this video for us:

Now, you Germans!
Anxious about the elections in the U.S.?
How does a woman as President sit with you?
or the first Black President?
or this (guy) here?
Democrats or Republicans?

SIgning of the Constitution

and (yet) what is it with (what about) the other candidates?
for example, Ron Paul?
Ron Paul voted against the Patriot Act.
He has never voted for higher taxes.
He has never voted for higher Congressional salaries.
He has voted against Internet censorship.
He has never voted for the expansion of the power of the executive.
He did not take part in the lucrative pension program of Congress.
and........
he voted against the Iraq War.
Ron Paul opposed (sood himself against) the plans for a North American Union.
Ron Paul fought against the surveillance state and for freedom.
Ron Paul is for nonintervention (noninterference) of the U.S. with foreign political questions.
That means: no offensive wars in conflict with international law
Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq War.
She holds fast (to the idea of ) possible entry into Iran.
Ron Paul is (something with internet links)
He is for the people
against the surveillance state.
?It's time that Germany takes an interest in these gentlemen?
then Ron Paul deserves attention.
?Don't wait at the mirror?
Inform yourself about Ron Paul.
Search with Google and YouTube
since the Internet is the new mass medium
Ron Paul already has great support in the whole world (throughout the world)
The video account contains wide ranging links.
Much fun for reading.

Happy Birthday Ron

Don't forget only a few more hours to send Ron his Present, so far over 800 people have:

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/birthday/

update as of the morning of the 20th 1183 people have signed/contributed.

update as of the 21st, 1563 people have signed the card

1964 / 2008 comparison

Reagan talking for Goldwater or Paul?

Yard Sign update

B-Burg (half of it anyway) came down to help. Each letter of R O N is 33ft wide by 80 ft tall, each letter of P A U L is 40 ft wide by 100 ft tall. So it's approximately 200 ft wide by 250ft tall (Paul is below Ron).



Here's me mowing the R, to help show the size.

Buchanan picks up undeclared war talk

I saw Buchanan on the McLaughlin Group, he wouldn't answer the question if bombing Iran without Congress' approval was impeachable but he did say the CONSTITUTION doesn't allow it, wow maybe Ron Paul is rubbing off on people.
Here's a Buchanan article about it:
Another Undeclared War?

Gaining Speed

Good short article.

Paul cleans up the internet

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Fife and Drum

Here's a good video of the entrance at the straw poll. I bet most people didn't get the whole revolutionary war theme.
I think the fifer was blind, not that it matters but the press would have had a field day if that was Romney's guy.

Crazy Guns

People don't get the right to bear arms, think only crazy people would want to be armed and not rely on the government. But keep reading, the article alludes that people are getting closer to the Goldwater years of principle, not "electablility"

Time

Rudy: What Freedom Means to Me

From New York Times:

"We look upon authority too often and focus over and over again, for 30 or 40 or 50 years, as if there is something wrong with authority. We see only the oppressive side of authority. Maybe it comes out of our history and our background. What we don't see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do."

Good Old Evelyn

Check out the end of this tid-bit:

Meet Ron Paul

Long before he was Ron Paul, presidential candidate or Ron Paul, cable show hero. He was just Ron Paul, the neighborly doctor from Lake Jackson.

"He actually delivered my two children," said resident Esther Lindsey.

Around Lake Jackson there are lots of people who can say that. By his own count, Paul delivered more than 4,000 of Brazoria County's babies before and while he was a US Congressman representing the area.

"I told my daughter, he delivered you and now he might be president," said Cherish Spillers.

Which is not a surprise to many of his former patients.

"We always knew he had the potential," said Evelyn Brandenberg.

Paul is only anti-war candidate

We've long suspected but I haven't heard it put so plain:
Democrats Say Leaving Iraq May Take Years

Of course there is no mention of Paul in the article.

JPC runs for President

Is this Dr. Paul or Mr. Carmichael?
I think that's his dead uncle's shirt and tie, do I see a pocket protector in there?

Paul after the Staw Poll

Paul stated that Romney spent $2200 per vote (that seems a little high)
Paul said he spent $200 per vote

He did ask his supporters if they wanted to go on, I'm sure he knew the answer, but being the typical Paul, it's their campaign not his. Then he said winning isn't worth it if you have to compromise what you believe in. We will win with our message and not by compromising our principles.

Worst Sites

Here's a listing of the worst candidates web sites.

In the last debate Tommy Thompson said he'd end breast cancer by 2015, I thought it was ridiculous, but apparently he's serious, he's got a press release out about it. Wow I had no idea how much power the president had.

Prediction

I'll predict Ron Paul gets about 2000 votes, I think that will be just over 10%.
I'll even up my contribution to Paul's campaign, I'll bring it up to be the greater of $20 for every percent or 10 cents for every vote he gets in the straw poll.

Looking back at the 1999 straw poll, the Bush campaign bought 10,500 tickets. But he only got 7418 votes. I predict a better percentage return on Paul's tickets, about a 200% return.

Ron Paul Spammer Exposed

Here's the Ron Paul Spammer.

Let's see, he's foreign, smart, has access to google's computers. He must be using google's computers to spam the internet for Paul. Let's see if he's good enough to hack the Iowa straw poll computers.

Ron Paul missed his chance

As Ron said later his fault is not speaking forcefully enough for the cause of liberty and the cause of the constitution.
He missed a good chance, when Romney interrupted and asked if he had forgotten about 9-11, Paul should have sternly told him, "No sir I haven't, but I'm pretty sure we've ruled out any chance that Osama is in Iraq."
He did later say the Neo-Cons forgot about Osama and went into nation building but it was a little late to make the "headline" impact.

BBQ Contest at the Ozarks

Polls indicate Ron Paul BBQ has very little support and a very minimal organization, with just 2 members and one volunteer and rumors are the volunteer is just a spammer. B-Burgs are expected to have results posted soon.
In the mean time here are a few pictures:

Edwards is losing

I guess Edwards knows he's losing to Paul:

Edward's Campaign Trys to Harness the Internet

Chart