Ron Paul Says He Has More Cash On Hand Than McCain Does (UPDATED)
Does he really or doesn’t he?
Ron Paul, who has created a huge buzz on the Internet since he displaced Senator John McCain as the “maverick” in the Republican primary race, says he has more cash on hand than the Arizona Senator whose campaign has not been doing well in the money collections department:
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos Reports: 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.
In an exclusive interview taped Friday and airing Sunday on “This Week,” Paul said his campaign is on a better trajectory than McCain’s.
“I think some of the candidates are on the down-slope, and we’re on the up-slope,” said Paul.
Paul’s cash on hand puts him in third place in the Republican field in that important metric, although he is well behind leader Rudy Giuliani, who has $18 million in the bank, and Mitt Romney, with $12 million.
Paul, who polls show with support in the low single digits, said his surprisingly strong fundraising is the best measure of his support.
Paul is now more popular on the Internet than porn sites (well…ALMOST).
But not every website is hailing the glories of Paul or accepting his campaign’s announcement. For instance, Capitol Hill Blue has this:
Right-wing Republican and Presidential non-contender Ron Paul, the John Bircher with a long history of racism and anti-Semitism, claims he has more money in the bank than John McCain even though his second-quarter fundraising efforts fell far short of his campaign’s lofty predictions.
Paul tells ABC news, in an interview taped for airing Sunday, that he raised $2.4 million in the second quarter of the year and has that exact amount in the bank in cash on hand, exceeding the $2 million claimed by McCain.
If true, the $2.4 million falls way short of claims of $5 million made by the campaign and its supporters in recent weeks and is way less than the $11.5 million that McCain actually raised in the second quarter.
And while $2.4 million may sound like a lot to political amateurs and bottom-rung candidates, it is a mere drop in the bucket in a presidential campaign season where Democratic candidate Barack Obama pulled in $35 million and three top Republican candidates collectively raised $42 million during the same time frame.
“It may seem like a lot to the fringe elements that flock to Ron Paul but it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in the real political world,” says one longtime GOP strategist. “The bottom line is Ron Paul doesn’t stand a chance of winning the GOP nomination.”
UPDATE: 7/7/07 Capital Hill Blue has retracted that post and some others. READ OUR UPDATE.
It’s clear that that website isn’t too fond of Paul, but according to The Hill Paul is taking the Internet by storm on SEVERAL significant fronts:
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani may lead the polls and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney might have the most money among GOP presidential candidates, but Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) clearly leads his Republican colleagues in online support, and his second-quarter fundraising figures will reflect this, the campaign said Friday.
Paul leads all Republicans in YouTube channel views with nearly 2.1 million, according to the popular video website. The next closest Republican is Romney, who has fewer than 700,000 channel views. Only Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has more among all presidential candidates, with close to 5.2 million.
ut Paul’s communications director, Jesse Benton, pointed out that the Texan’s channel has been up and running only three months, while Obama has had a YouTube channel since September of last year.
Among YouTube channel subscribers, Paul is blowing away all competition, with 19,328 as of Friday morning, more than twice as many as Obama.
The Texas lawmaker also leads the GOP field in Facebook supporters and MySpace friends.
Benton credited Paul’s message with the online success, saying it is “really connecting with voters.â€
Although Paul is widely viewed as an also-ran, the online support is translating in a bump in the polls, according to the campaign. In addition, several factors also contribute to Paul’s under-performance in traditional polls, Benton said.
For example, the Texas lawmaker has a lot of young followers, many of whom do not use landlines anymore and are not captured in telephone polls.
But do these factors matter?
The key question, as America heads into 2008, is whether Internet frenzy can translate into a candidate winning elections or even major election skirmishes. There have been some sporadic Internet “base” victories (Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman’s defeat in the Connecticut Democratic primary) but so far highly-touted Internet power has not translated into a formidable tool that has been proven to be shown to turn the tide in elections in enduring victories (Senator Lieberman is still Senator Lieberman and Howard Dean is not President).
But there WAS the politically late former Senator George Allen’s “macaca” moment. You Tube now exposes candidates to more voters but the exposure they get can be as damaging as the kind of exposure Pee Wee Herman got some years ago.
The operative question is whether Internet enthusiasm and big chunks of computer user small-individual-donation money can move Paul any closer to being a powerhouse or authentic contender in the GOP primaries? Stay tuned (but be warned that past programs people stayed tuned for in waiting for Internet victories have often been cancelled…).
UPDATE: An email from a reader objects to our citing the Capitol Hill Blue quote in the post above. However we pointed out — and point out — that nowhere do we suggest that quote is an “authoritative” statement on Ron Paul and we clearly do not present it as such.
We are citing it as an example of a view not supportive of Paul — since not a single, solitary candidate mentioned as a 2008 presidential prospect is universally loved. The debate over what Mr. Paul believes or does not believe it is NOT the subject of this post. Also, if you read this quote we make it CLEAR that Capitol Hill Blue is not in Mr. Paul’s cheering section.
Note that TMV on many roundups and posts DOES offer readers a cross section of viewpoints about candidates and news makers. Our roundups on news stories contain many quotes from blogs of all viewpoints which does not mean that we endorse them. Nor do we endorse viewpoints for blog posts linked in our Around The Sphere linkfest posts.
There are websites that only present one viewpoint. TMV is not one of those.
UPDATE II: Andrew Sullivan’s reaction to the news about Ron Paul’s fundraising prowess.
20 Responses to “Ron Paul Says He Has More Cash On Hand Than McCain Does (UPDATED)”
Capitol Hil blue is obviously having a case of sour grapes or the green envy monster.
Nothing he said about Paul that was bad was even remotely true.
Not only do supporters love Paul’s message they adore the man.
I have the pleasure of being part of the brigade in NH and the support here is massive.
For example, he had MORE people at the debate rally on June 5th than any other candidate. We squeezed 400 into the bar afterward and the owner said Obama did not have as many nor as loud and enthusiastic. Where was the press on this? They refused to cover him and also, CNN posted a photo of the rally goers and completely cut out the majority of them — all holding bright blue Paul signs of some sort!
Clearly Paul has shot ahead on his merits, despite the attempt at suppression by the MSM.
[...] Clark Link to Article mitt romney Ron Paul Says He Has More Cash On Hand Than McCain Does » Posted [...]
Here is my post on Capital Hill Blue before we were censored by it’s Edititor!
I have no real ax to grind with Ron Paul, as I can’t even vote in his Primary. So here is my take, as I was a former fundraiser.
Paul, if he is going to be a viable candidate must first beat John McCain in cash on hand. I know this is a tall order. I have been visiting Open secrets hoping to get a look at the new numbers. But, unfortunately none of the presidential candidates are “up†yet.
If he beats McCain I believe he would be in the # 3 spot in financial support. And, this move would put Dr. Ron Paul in the top tier, like it or not!
The nut roots isn’t just for the left anymore. A shot across the bow of the DC know it alls and the MSM. I don’t agree with you on much on anything other than Iraq Ron Paul but I wish you the best.
[...] Clark Link to Article mitt romney Ron Paul Says He Has More Cash On Hand Than McCain Does (UPDATED) » [...]
“Clearly Paul has shot ahead on his merits, despite the attempt at suppression by the MSM.”
He has 1% support in the polls. The MSM has nothing to do with that.
Maybe Paul has a following/base because he is true to his core beliefs. I’d say McClown’s problem is his pandering to former advisories isn’t working, he is now more “plastic” than Romney.
McCain’s problem is that Republicans want a reliable Conservative- the kind they put on the Supreme Court, and they see him at odds with the base on tax cuts and immigration. Independents no longer trust him because of his pandering to conservatives.
[...] Ron Paul Says He Has More Cash On Hand Than McCain Does (UPDATED)The Moderate Voice – The Texas lawmaker also leads the GOP field in Facebook supporters and MySpace friends. Benton credited Paul s message Our roundups on news stories contain many quotes from blogs of all viewpoints which does not mean that we endorse them. Nor [...]
[...] nanny boo boo! I’ve got more cash than you do!” Ron Paul taunted John McCain yesterday. The Paul campaign reported $2.4 million in the bank compared to McCain’s $2 [...]
First of all, let’s get the story straight. Ron Paul said he had 2.4 million on hand. The reporter then TOLD HIM that he had more money than McCain. Ron Paul was surprised to hear it, not bragging about it.
Second, the whole point of Ron Paul’s campaign is to eliminate government wasteful spending. He will be more effective with his money than the other guys will. Also, he has a 400% increase since last quarter. That is amazing.
All he needs is some Mainstream Media coverage, and not the nonsense kind where they claim all of us humans are bots and don’t really exist. A huge who hear Ron Paul’s message loves it, and him. Look at the polls of the debates. Those were not rigged (if they were, then we would have seen 15 million votes and they would have been spread across the candidates as all the campaigns “spammed” the polls. What? Do you think only Ron Paul has a brain? He was as surprised as anyone at the results.
He is a sweet man who has done an amazing amount of reading and is crazy smart. I have met him on many occasions. The reason his policies make so much sense is that he has read up on the subjects and has studied economics and actually READS the bills before he votes on them (if they give him time).
All he needs is for this media blackout to stop and he will shoot to the top.
As for the Capitol Hill story: I understand you think you are not lending it credence, but by the fact that you cited to it, you are de facto calling it a legitimate argument. It is a pack of lies and slanderous. Anyone can write nonsense with no citations to back them up, and make false claims about what the Ron Paul campaign actually said as long as they don’t have to “show their work.” You might as well report about some 4th grade blogger who doesn’t like him either – they both have the same credibility. (And yours goes down when you report about it.)
[...] we ran THIS POST on GOPer Ron Paul having more cash on hand than Arizona Senator John McCain — who you may see [...]
[...] we ran THIS POST on GOPer Ron Paul having more cash on hand than Arizona Senator John McCain — who you may see [...]
Dear Mr. Gandelman,
Unfortunately, by associating your piece with the one from Capitol Hill you have as much egg on your face as they do. Please take this as a lesson and make sure that your sources are credible. Do some fact checking of their facts before you post to them. You will become a much better writer and avoid embarrassing moments like these. I am sure you did not mean any harm, but the article was so vicious, evil and full of lies that even the editor took them down. I suggest you do the same on this article. These words do not need to be in print. Updates don’t erase the hatred: you should. Capitol Hill took them down, why don’t you?
Explain that you mistakenly linked to an article that was so poorly fact checked that the editor of that paper and you have agreed to remove it completely. Otherwise, some idiot somewhere will copy those words and continue to circulate them. Don’t be a party to the slander.
Please sir.
I ask you to give this serious consideration.
[...] nanny boo boo! I’ve got more cash than you do!” Ron Paul taunted John McCain yesterday. The Paul campaign reported $2.4 million in the bank compared to McCain’s $2 [...]
[...] we ran THIS POST on GOPer Ron Paul having more cash on hand than Arizona Senator John McCain — who you may see [...]
[...] we ran THIS POST on GOPer Ron Paul having more cash on hand than Arizona Senator John McCain — who you may see [...]
[...] we ran THIS POST on GOPer Ron Paul having more cash on hand than Arizona Senator John McCain — who you may see [...]
McCain has $3,224,428 cash on hand but has $1,783,523 in Debt. Paul has $2,353,855 cash on hand with –0- Debt. If we talk about net cash on hand after all Debts then, Ron Paul still has more money than McCain.
In net cash on hand after Debt Ron Paul wins by a large margin. $2,354,428 to $1,440,905.
What’s really interesting about the Ron Paul’s campaign and has gone un-reported by the Main Stream Media is that Ron Paul has had a 4-fold increase in total donations from the first quarter to the second quarter. If Paul duplicates in the next filing after the next debates he could raise as much as $9,417,712 dollars. Truthfully, he would have to raise that kind of money to win.
Another interesting fact is that Ron Paul has more cash on hand than, Brownbeck, Thompson, Tancredo, Hunter, and Huckabee combined! $2,354,428 vs. $1,830,431.
What I wish were true, is that the next Republican debate would be held not on Sept 17, but instead in July like the Democrats this week. With all the other candidates running away from Bush and the Iraq war, I feel that in this next Republican debate that Ron Paul will make another great showing leaving the other candidates running away from themselves.
Yes Paul has more cash and support than McCain here in NH as well.
And guess what, Capitol Hill Blue is now supporting Dr. Paul!
Wheee!
Grab on to the train or be run over by it!
Next debate is Aug 5 at 9 AM on ABC.