Ron Paul Raises More Than Entire Texas GOP?
Sunday, September 02, 2007 - FreeMarketNews.com
News Analysis
Sources close to the Ron Paul (R-Tex) presidential campaign point out gleefully that in a single night Ron Paul took in more money -$102,000 - than the entire GOP apparatus did with its convoluted “first ever” straw poll - $97,500.
The recent Texas straw poll reportedly charged $75 a head for voting rights and while GOP officials had expected 2,000 to vote, only 1300 reportedly did. Meanwhile, Ron Paul, who finished third in the highly restrictive straw poll, had his most successful fund raiser ever in Texas. The congressman raised $102,000 at a fund raiser hosted by the Highland Park Huffines family.
“More and more, the tail is wagging the dog in this presidential campaign,” one source pointed out. “The Texas straw poll was structured so that you could only vote if you had been a former GOP delegate. Even rank and file GOP-ers couldn’t vote. The only reason for such a restrictive system is to ensure that Ron Paul didn’t win. Those eligible to vote are the most hawkish, most pro-military and big-government oriented ‘conservatives’ in Texas. They have as little understanding of Jeffersonian, small government republicanism as big government democrats.”
And this source concluded, “Ron Paul still did well, finishing in third place in a straw poll that was rigorously structured to make sure he would not win. But maybe the real vote can be seen by his fund-raising success. He out-raised the entire Texas GOP in a single night. He’s one of the hottest politicians in the country going into the upcoming debates on Fox.”
16.17% Ron Paul (217 votes)
41.1% Duncan Hunter (534 votes)
20.5% Fred Thompson (266 votes)
6.4% Mike Huckabee (83 votes)
6% Rudy Giuliani (78 votes)
4.7% Mitt Romney (61 votes)
.46% Sam Brownback (6 votes)
.62% John McCain (8 votes)
.46% Tom Tancredo (6 votes)
2.2% Ray McKinney (28 votes)
.23% Hugh Cort (3 votes)
.77% John Cox (10 votes)
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The Ron Paul campaign commented as follows on the Texas straw poll:
FORT WORTH, TEXAS – Congressman Ron Paul placed third in today's Texas GOP Straw Poll with 16 percent of the vote. The solid outcome marked the conclusion of a highly successful weekend during which the campaign had a rally with over 1,000 attendees, raised well over $100,000. Today’s results continue a trend around the nation of top or middle tier finishes for the Paul campaign.
The presence of Dr. Paul supporters dominated the straw poll site, and campaign leaders were pleased with the results in light of the difficult voting restrictions. Only recent party delegates were allowed to cast ballots, meaning that most of the thousands who turned out for Dr. Paul could cheer and celebrate but not vote. In addition, the straw poll was held several hours away from the Paul’s stronghold of south Texas.
"This was a great weekend for our campaign, and Texans turned out in droves to support Dr. Paul," said campaign manager Lew Moore. "The pro-war party insiders voting in this straw poll may not support him, but the majority of attendees clearly did."
Dr. Paul is the only candidate who voted against the Iraq war and favors early withdrawal, a position supported by over 70 percent of the American people. Many experts believe that Republicans cannot win the presidency in 2008 if they nominate a pro-war candidate. Texans appeared to support this position by opening their wallets as the Paul campaign pulled in more money over the weekend from grassroots supporters than the Texas GOP raised from the entire straw poll.
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Reaction from free-market oriented Lewrockwell.com post:
The Texas Republican Party set up its straw poll to hurt Ron Paul. That's why the voters were restricted to past delegates and alternates from Texas Republican conventions, that is neocons and party hacks for the most part. Also, the poll was placed in Ft. Worth, five hours away from Houston and the Gulf Coast, to discriminate against delegates from Ron Paul Land. Ron was supposed to get zero. Instead, he got [nearly 17%].
The Republican Party of Texas has been controlled by the Bushes since 1980. That means the Ron Paul campaign and all its volunteers and donors can be very proud. This is yet another step upwards in the growth of a movement that is already shaking the world of all the bad guys. Note: Hunter did so well because he alone, of all the warmongering candidates, bothered to show up. BTW, Fred the Late was supposed to win--that was Gov. Perry's plan--but he was elsewhere, delaying.
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