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Ron Paul's Base Could Give Him Post-Primary Influence, Experts Say Josiah Ryan In the wake of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul raking in more than $6 million in campaign contributions in a single day on Sunday, experts are predicting that his influence could extend well beyond a presidential primary campaign that he is likely to lose. In an Internet fundraising event that was scheduled to coincide with the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Paul reportedly brought in $6.04 million from 58,407 individual donors. With this take, Paul's campaign is now likely to raise more money in the fourth quarter of this year than any of the other Republican presidential campaigns. Some experts believe the passionate network of supporters Paul has generated so far gives him the potential to be a significant factor in the 2008 presidential race and beyond, even if, as is likely, he fails to win his party's nomination. NPR's Senior Strategist for Social Media Andy Carvin told Cybercast News Service that Ron Paul's database of supporters creates a tremendous reserve of potential influence.
"If he is not the nominee, he will still have in his hands an enormous network of communities and individuals who are very interested in supporting, if not him personally, his policy issues," said Carvin. "If he is able to tap into that network, he may be able to create the libertarian version of Howard Dean's Democracy for America or MoveOn.org." Democracy for America is an influential Political Action Committee (PAC) created by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean out of the remnants of the network of supporters he built during his 2004 presidential bid. MoveOn.org is the influential liberal political group originally founded to advocate "moving on" past the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Professor Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said that Ron Paul will remain an influential figure in the 2008 race even if he is not nominated. "The most important question of all is, does Ron Paul end up supporting the Republican nominee or not? And if he does, does he do so with enthusiasm? We are talking about millions of votes that will potentially be added or subtracted from the GOP ticket," he said. Sabato noted that it is the raw passion Ron Paul has managed to awake in his supporters that composes this strength that may live beyond his candidacy. "Ron Paul has supporters willing to show some skin," he said. "He has intense support among a segment of the population. They are doing something that people are ordinarily loathed to do, which is part with their own money."
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