Ron Paul:Let's Hope He Has A Chance

GOP Longshot Paul Brings Lean Budgeting to Campaign Fundraising
By Greg Giroux
Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul was the 1988 presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party, which frowns upon bureaucracy and big spending.
So maybe it makes sense that Paul is running a streamlined, low-budget operation for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination — a longshot campaign that is motivated by his opposition to the Iraq war and other congressional and executive actions he says are not expressly authorized by the Constitution.
Paul’s first-quarter campaign filing to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) showed that he reported raising $640,000 in the first three months of this year for his presidential bid. His receipts ran well behind most other candidates in the crowded Republican field, but that was not unexpected.
Though his overall record is quite conservative, a Republican as iconoclastic as Paul is not going to win much financial support from establishment GOP figures or political committees, and there really are no marquee names on Paul’s list of first-quarter contributors.
But he did receive political contributions from dozens of retirees all over the country. And according to the Campaign Finance Institute, 39 percent of Paul’s contributions from individuals came in increments lower than $200.
The following profile of Paul’s first-quarter report is the latest in a CQPolitics.com series that analyzes the contributions and spending of all presidential candidates. The Democratic candidates were profiled on Monday and Tuesday.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul
• Receipts, Jan. 1 to March 31: $640,000
• Receipts to date: $640,000
• Expenditures, Jan. 1 to March 31: $115,000
• Expenditures to date: $115,000
• Cash-on-hand, March 31: $525,000
• Debts, March 31: $0
Political action committees (PACs)
Paul did receive a $500 contribution from the campaign committee of Virginia Republican Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. Paul also got a $1,000 contribution from the campaign committee of Bob Smither, who was the 2006 Libertarian Party candidate in Texas’ 22nd District: That seat, formerly held by resigned Republican Rep. Tom DeLay (1985-2006), was won in last November’s general election by Democrat Nick Lampson.
Notable expenses
Paul’s streamlined operation reported $22,800 in salary expenses to three individuals in the first quarter. It also spent $12,600 on printing costs.