The Latest Ron Paul Fraud

by James W. Harris

Newspapers and TV shows have been buzzing with reports that libertarian Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul raised over 4 million dollars in just 24 hours, on November 5.

If true, that would be the largest amount of money any Republican presidential candidate this year has raised in a single day. In fact, that's remarkably close to the most successful presidential fundraising day ever in American history: John Kerry's $5.7 million -- and that happened only after Kerry accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, not in the days before the primaries.

But of course this cannot be true. It has to be some kind of trick.

After all, every savvy political observer knows that Ron Paul has just a handful of fanatical supporters.

When he started winning virtually all of the online polls, it was clear this was the work of just a few pro-Paul nuts, with computers and far too much time on their hands, endlessly spamming the polls.

When Technorati, which ranks popularity in the blogosphere, announced that "Ron Paul" was the number one Internet search term, that was obviously just more spam trickery by the miniscule but diabolically active Paul cult. When Ron Paul's YouTube channel reached over 30,000 subscribers last month -- far more than any other presidential candidate, and making him his channel the 39th most popular YouTube channel of all time -- it was just more of the same.

When he won almost every phone-in poll after each nationally-televised debate, once again it was clear to all right-thinking observers that it had to be the same few Ron Paul fanatics, dialing over and over again, somehow getting past blockers the networks put in place to make that impossible.

When he started winning or scoring high in numerous local GOP straw polls, it was obviously just the same tiny crew, now frantically traveling state to state and using false IDs to make it appear Paul had lots of supporters. No doubt this same handful are the ones who greet Ron Paul, cheering and waving signs, wherever he goes.

The more than 1,000 Ron Paul meet-up groups, in over 800 cities, who have put on over 12,000 events so far... just more trickery and manipulation by this small but determined band.

Ditto for the countless thousands of handmade Ron Paul signs that have seemingly popped up spontaneously across the country. The tiny Paul cabal probably does it while they're racing across the country to keep up with Paul's campaign appearances.

I frankly haven't figured out yet how this small group of isolated loners and fringe crazies, as they're often described, has managed to fool everyone into believing they raised over four million dollars in one day. But it obviously must be just another trick.

Because, if it's not a trick, it would mean that Ron Paul -- and his libertarian message of peace, civil liberties, economic freedom and limited government -- has far greater support than much of the media has ever imagined. And that couldn't be true.

Could it?

From THE LIBERATOR ONLINE, Thursday, November 15, 2007 / Vol. 12, No. 21