Some interesting things are happening in U.S. politics, and some old-fashioned, typical things are happening, too. I just wanted to take a moment and crystallize a few of them, concerning the ongoing presidential run of Ron Paul. (Sorry about all the updates and sub-bullets; a lot happened today.)
- Due in part to an innovative, grassroots one-day rally idea, Dr. Paul had raised several hundred thousand new dollars for his campaign before I even woke up this morning.
- As of 2:00 pm EST, the running total had risen to $2,000,000, more than any Republican has ever raised online in a single day.
- (You can see the change in the running total between 9:00 am (when I donated) and 2:00 pm here.)
- On January 8, 2007, media favorite Mitt Romney raised a record 3.1 million, and today is shaping up to break that record for the Paul campaign. (Late update: Record surpassed by 7pm, 3.5 million dollars from 22,000+ donors over 20 hours, and $$ is still rolling in.)
- True to form, at the close of business in NY there’s no mention as of these developments as of yet in the mainstream media. (In that linked story, in fact, about the “openness” of the Republican nomination, there’s not a single mention of Ron Paul at all.) Update: Now, even more non-mentions.
- Update: The Washington Post finally comes through… …but notice the nasty backspin in the opening paragraph, and the subtle tweaks throughout.
- Update: The Washington Post finally comes through… …but notice the nasty backspin in the opening paragraph, and the subtle tweaks throughout.
- Sadly, even Digg appears to be aggressively overlooking this story, as of 3pm EST.
Draw your own conclusions.
Update: CNN and Wolf Blitzer report the story, better late than never. Others will no doubt soon follow; the story and the candidacy are now much too big to ignore.
