U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky is reaping an online fundraising bonanza today, as a “money bomb” for his campaign efforts exploded from supporters of his father’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Organized by music promoter Trevor Lyman, the man who organized multimillion-dollar online fundraising efforts for the 2008 Ron Paul for President campaign, the campaign hopes to raise as much as $1 million during the day. Rand Paul is running as a Republican for the open U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Jim Bunning.
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The official Rand Paul for Senate website, RandPaul2010.com, reported as of 8:00 a.m. Eastern that the campaign had taken in about $100,000 in Internet donations overnight, bringing the campaign’s total war chest to more than $300,000.
A first-time candidate, Rand Paul has already polled better than expected against GOP primary opponent Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson. The Louisville ABC television affiliate reported that “so far, Grayson leads 37% to 26% despite the 11 point lead, that’s a strong early showing for the relatively unknown eye doctor.” Rand Paul is an ophthalmologist.
August 20 was selected as the date for the “money bomb” because it is the 74th birthday of his father, Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas), the 2008 GOP presidential candidate.
The Rand Paul “money bomb” is more significant for the overall freedom movement than the mere dollar amounts that will be raised today. The most significant aspect of the “money bomb” is that the network that grew out of the Ron Paul for President campaign has continued on — or perhaps it would be more accurate to say “grown into” — as both a fundraising and networking force to be contended with on the state and local levels across the nation. Other activists in the Ron Paul “revolution” have also done well with online fundraising, such as the campaign of economic adviser Peter Schiff, who is considering a U.S. Senate run in Connecticut against Christopher Dodd and has raised nearly $1 million in donations for his exploratory committee.
