Which Presidential Candidate's Supporters Have the Most Fun?

Put a bunch of political amateurs together behind a candidate they fervently believe in and you get some interesting results.

That’s what seems to be happening in the Ron Paul campaign.

These folks know they are backing a long shot, but they have accomplished something hard-charging Mike Huckabee hasn’t.

The volunteers have raised money for their candidate.

$4 million November 5th.

A record for one day.

$6 million last Sunday.

Another record for one day.

They opened a headquarters in Arlington Heights. It was the only the 3rd GOP presidential headquarters opened in Illinois, I heard.

Not coincidentally, it was in the International Plaza, a shopping center where libertarian- minded individuals campaigned last winter and spring against the Arlington Heights mothers’ and fathers’ trying to condemn the property so a big box store could replace immigrant- owned stores.

More sales tax, don’t you know?

I see one of the leaders, Scott Bludorn, in that effort is now the Field Director of the Illinois campaign.


“The Greater Chicago Ron Paul Meetup group, which was formed in May, currently claims more than 950 members,” Illinois press person Lisa Wogan wrote.

Think any other Illinois Republican presidential candidate can identify almost 1,000 volunteers in the Chicago area?

They’re planning a “Ron Paul Penguin and Polar Bear Sign Wave in Arlington Heights” at Palatine and Rand Roads in Arlington Heights at 11 this Saturday morning.

Last Monday, Wogan sent out a press release of the opening of a Chicago headquarters at 3168 N. Lincoln Avenue. The phone number is 773-935-3733.

Now, this may be the Republican version of 2004’s Howard Dean campaign. It has been cited in a front page Tribune story as having internet similarities.

But I don’t remember Dean’s campaign coming up with innovations like the Ron Paul Blimp.

And what presidential candidate did you see with a parade float this summer? Ron Paul had one in Elgin.

Who had the most spirited volunteers at the Illinois State Fair’s Republican Day this summer?

Who’s had the biggest rally in Illinois?

Back in September, yet.

And, although Illinois weather is not conducive to blimps in January, the Ron Paul Blimp effort shows the imagination and commitment among his volunteers.

Sunday, Illinois Ron Paul coordinator Joe Cesarone will be on Tom Roeser’s on WLS Radio (890 on the AM dial) from 8-9. Roeser has written hostilely about Dr. Paul’s campaign, so it should be a spirited show.

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Don't you wish we were in weather good enough to have a blimp in Illinois?

The rally was at the Hyatt Regency in mid-September. The headquarters shown is the one in Arlington Heights.

You can see Scott Bludorn standing in front of a map of Arlington Heights when the TIF fight was going on.

In the reproduction of the top of McHenry County Blog's article about Dr. Ron Paul's newfound respect in the Tribune, you can see the "lonely guy" picture run the month before in its Tempo section and the more typical "candidate" photo that accompanied the recent front page article.

The parade line up was of Fox Vally Libertarians in Elgin this summer. They have marched in Crystal Lake's 4th of July Parade previously, emphasizing abuses of Homeland security and even had George Ryan in the jail in 2000, but boycotted it this year because parade organizers wanted to limit their Freedom of Speech, as they did for McHenry County Peace Group. That led to the McHenry County Democrats parade boycott.

Illinois Ron Paul coordinator Joe Cesarone is seen at the Arlington Heights headquarter's opening.

Posted first at McHenry County Blog.

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The Trib: Ron Paul revolution: It has just begun to fight

I have a feeling the Illinois DFA types didn't anticipate this from today's Trib,

Costas Panagopoulos, director of the Center for Electoral Politics and Democracy at Fordham University, said the Paul phenomenon is the technological descendant of Howard Dean’s blogger base in 2004. That “revolution” also created excitement, but Dean quickly faded once the voting started.

Paul insists his fate will be different than Dean’s, and not just because online campaigning is more important today––YouTube, Facebook and MySpace are all sponsoring debates—but because he’s tapped into a deep public sentiment. How else could he raise so much money, he asks?

“The disgust with government and the spread of our message, plus the willingness of these individuals on the Internet to organize, is going to make a difference,” he said in interview.

He keeps gaining traction and I bet he'll run as a third party candidate disrupting local Democrats more than the GOP.

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Ron Paul might not make it on the ballot in Illinois

I signed up for email updates from many of the presidential campaigns, including Ron Paul's. This one landed in my inbox today. It does not make me feel hopeful for the libertarian-leaning Republican.

November 11, 2007

If we don't get hundreds upon hundreds of signatures immediately in Illinois Ron Paul will have no delegates to send to the National Convention.

PLEASE HELP by doing the following:

1. We have delegates but many of those delegates HAVE NOT sent Jason Acebel [no idea who he is; no doubt a campaign official]their forms. If you are a delegate and HAVE NOT sent in your form contact Jason ASAP at ilpetitions@gmail.com and let him know when your form will be mailed. I

2. If you can take time off work or give 2-5 full days to gathering hundreds of signatures email Jason at ilpetitions@gmail.com with your phone number and best time to call. THIS IS MISSION CRITICAL. Please DO NOT contact Jason if you cannot give this amount of time. Many of you are gathering a few signatures and that is fine. Please keep up the good work but unless we get some major help soon Ron Paul will not have delegates. Jason does not have time to respond to a lot of emails. We need at least 1 person in each of the 19 districts to give us 2-5 days to get the job in that district done.

3. If you can commit full time for 1-3 days to make phone calls for Jason Acebel to call our delegates please email Jason at ilpetitions@gmail.com

Mike McHugh
National Ballot Access Coordinator
Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee

Sin ce this is an official email from the official Paul campaign, I have to take the words at their face value. They are worried they won't get on the ballot. And even if he does, you just know the other GOP campaigns are sharpening their pencils, awaiting a chance to challenge his signatures.

This is Paul's weakness. Much has been written about how Paul supporters, in one day, raised $4.2 million on the Internet. But it's easy to be a Ron Paul Internet Warrior sitting in front of your computer screen, eating Doritos and drinking Mountain Dew Red. It's quite a different thing to go outside on a cold, rainy day and walk door to door in your neighborhood collecting signatures and registering voters. That's hard work. I know, I've done it. Several lifetimes ago, I was a precinct committeeman for the Democrats. I backed Tom Harkin in 1992, if that tells you anything about my former politics.

Originally posted to Peoria Pundit.

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Ron Paul and John McCain Visit Chicago - Compare and Contrast

Making my point that Republican presidential candidate visiting Illinois can’t or don’t bother to work up a crowd is John McCain’s fund raising appearance Monday.

NBC Channel 5 reports McCain was here to gather money again, rather than to rally his troops.

Channel 5 did not bother comparing McCain’s turnout to the 1,500 who rallied for Ron Paul on Saturday.

One can see why McCain is concentrating on fund raising, rather than rallies.

As George Stephanopoulos points out,

“Though often regarded as a longshot candidate for president, Republican Ron Paul tells ABC News that he has an impressive $2.4 million in cash on hand after raising an equal amount during the second quarter, putting him ahead of one-time Republican frontrunner John McCain, who reported this week he has only $2 million in the bank.“

The link above to McHenry County Blog's Ron Paul rally story has a link to Rick Pearson's article on the rally, as well as a link to a recording of the speech. The Chicago Tribune did not run Pearson's complete article.

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The John McCain photo taken in the Union League Club during a press conference on an earlier fund raising trip to Chicago. The crowded ballroom shows the Ron Paul rally last Saturday.

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