Paul Shaping Up As Spoiler in GOP Race
By DAVID ESPO
Associated Press
December 21, 2007
Page 2 of 2
He is the only candidate whose name is emblazoned on a blimp. It was last reported over Maryland en route to New Hampshire, and has its own Web site, which in turn contains a daily tracker, flight plan, live video feed and blimp blog.
Because the effort says it is independent of the campaign, donations to keep the blimp aloft are not limited by federal election law. But the publicity it produces draws attention to Paul.
The campaign is employing more traditional tactics, as well.
Fergus Cullen, the New Hampshire Republican party chairman who is neutral in the race, said Paul's campaign has sent more campaign mail to households than any other organization has. Radio advertising is heavy, although paid television advertising has been relatively modest so far.
Current polls in New Hampshire show Paul in single digits. But Cullen said, ''I believe there is more support than public opinion polls are picking up. I believe that he is appealing to anti-establishment Republicans and independents, and there are a lot of them.''
Independents account for about 42 percent of the electorate in the state, and outnumber both Republicans and Democrats.
Cullen predicted the Texan would poll more than 10 percent -- a significant threshold because it would guarantee him at least one delegate to the GOP nominating convention next summer.
He said he doubts Paul will hurt any candidate more than another. ''I believe most of Ron Paul's supporters would probably not participate in the primary'' without him in the race, he said.
Officials in other campaigns are not so sure.
Paul's campaign has been active in Iowa, too, although his relative lack of an organization in that state makes it harder to have an impact in the caucuses on Jan. 3 that mark the campaign's first test.
In recent days, the campaign has purchased 30-minute blocks of time for Sunday for a statewide appeal. Campaign mail has begun in Michigan, whose primary is Jan. 15.
Paul was noncommittal when asked how he intended to spend his surprisingly large treasury, answering only that he was getting ready to compete in primaries in 20 states on Feb. 5.
Beyond the campaign's official moves, a second independent effort involves supporters sending letters to independent voters in Iowa as well as elsewhere. A Web site devoted to the effort claims more than 500,000 letters sent to potential Iowa caucus-goers alone.
E-mails sent to two organizers drew no immediate response.
Jesse Benton, a campaign spokesman, said the blimp and the letter-writing campaign were examples of spontaneous support. ''We couldn't control it if we wanted to, and we don't want to control it,'' he said.
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