The Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has been making a lot of money these days on the Internet, even though not many people know who he is. However, one man is trying to change this by his Internet giving site. The man’s name is Trevor Lyman and he “doesn’t look the part of political fat cat” (Morain). Ron Paul “has raised more than $10 million in the last few weeks but has yet to hit double digits in the polls” (Morain). The presidential candidates are breaking fundraising records and Trevor Lyman is one of the biggest fundraiser of all of them. Lyman is doing everything in his power so that Ron Paul will get the attention that Lyman believes he deserves. Lyman created a “money bomb” which are dates that people donate money and help Ron Paul’s campaign grow, they have become quite successful. Lyman is an unlikely man for this money raising job because he is “a 37-year-old musician and Internet entrepreneur [who] didn’t finish college” (Morain). There are now houses throughout New Hampshire that will house about 1,000 members of Ron Paul’s volunteers. The funny thing is that Ron Paul has never met Lyman and even pronounced his name wrong when he was on “Face the Nation.” However, all of Lyman’s help for money has hired staff and bought television airtime, something that Lyman would want.
I had never really heard about Ron Paul until all this excitement occurred that he was raising so much money on the Internet, but I was shocked to hear how much he had actually raised. Ron Paul, in my opinion, will not win the Republican nomination because is too much of an unknown and too much of a libertarian for most. However, why are so many people giving him money? The answer to this is unknown, but perhaps it is because he has different ideals than most Republicans and that he is much more honest than all of the other candidates. Still, I am shocked that there has not been much more commentary about him in the last few months or even weeks. He is not a candidate to watch for the Republicans, but maybe he will be a possible Independent candidate once the Republican primary season is over. Will he win the election, probably not. However, it is very interesting to see how much support that the is gaining just on the Internet.
For more information: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-moneyman16dec16,1,4490146.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
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3 comments:
I agree with you, who is Ron Paul. When Mr. Gwaltney told us in class that he raised 10 million dollars on the internet over only Two days i was shocked. It seems crazy, but i guess it really is not that much money compared to how much money other more popular candidates receive. I think that it's weird that we haven't heard more about him, but i guess we will if he continues raising more money and gaining popularity.
I think the most interesting thing about this article is this Lyman guy. It just goes to show that people from all walks of life can choose to be active in politics if it is important enough to him. He is a middle-aged musician of all things and he is an unknown even to the Republican candidate. And yet he has made a significant impact on this campaign. And I agree, he won't have any chance of winning. But still, this is an important step in politics that the internet has made it possible for random people like Lyman to really be the people of the year and take a stand.
Ron Paul is not a Republican, he is a libertarian that recently "joined" the Republican party, as by tradition they have usually wound up closer affiliated with that party. He's interesting in that he is against foreign involvement, against war, and in many ways he aligns with the likes of Barack Obama. He wants government out of people's lives which is were he is different. Interesting guy and interesting article ; )
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