Ron Paul presidential campaign, 2008 – Wikipedia, the free …

The Ron Paul presidential campaign of 2008 began in early 2007 when Congressman Ron Paul of Texas announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination for President of the United States. Initial opinion polls during the first three quarters of 2007 showed Ron Paul consistently receiving support from 3% or less of those polled. In 2008, Paul's support among Republican voters remained in the single digits, and well behind front-runner John McCain.[1]

During the fourth quarter of 2007, Paul was the most successful Republican fundraiser, bringing in approximately $20 million.[2][3] He also received the most money from the armed services of any candidate in the fourth quarter.[4] Ron Paul's campaign set two fund raising records: the largest single day donation total among Republican candidates and twice receiving the most money received via the Internet in a single day by any presidential candidate in American history.[5] Paul's run for president is also noted for its grassroots social networking, facilitated by the Internet.[6] Ron Paul's enthusiastic supporters were noted by the media, who called them "Paulites".[7][8] Paul receives most of his contributions from individuals, at ninety-seven percent; compare to other candidates.[9]

As of February 5, 2008, Paul had won sixteen delegates to the Republican National Convention, placing him last amongst the four Republican candidates still in the race at that time.[10] The campaign projected on February 6 to have secured at least 42 delegates to the national convention.[11] On March 4, 2008, John McCain earned enough pledged delegates to become the Republican presumptive nominee, but Ron Paul decided to continue his run.[12] Ron Paul released The Revolution: A Manifesto on April 29, which collected essays based on thoughts that arose from his experiences running for president in 2008. The book went on to be a #1 bestseller among political books on Amazon.com[13] and the New York Times nonfiction list.[14]

On June 12, 2008, Paul announced that he was ending the presidential campaign, investing the more than $4.7 million of remaining campaign contributions to build up the new advocacy group Campaign for Liberty.[15] Although he suspended his campaign, he appeared on the ballot in Montana[16] and Louisiana[17] in the 2008 general election. He was also listed in some states as a write-in candidate. He received over 47,000 votes, giving him the eighth highest popular vote total in the election.[18]

These are events related to Ron Paul's official 2008 campaign. For events related to the independent grassroots movement around him (the "Ron Paul Revolution"), see Grassroots campaign efforts.

Ron Paul formed a presidential exploratory committee on January 11.[19] He also acquired data on public interest in his running for President around February 19.[20] Based on the results from the exploratory committee and polling, Paul officially entered the race on March 12.[20][21]

In a February CNN landline opinion poll, Paul was the candidate with the least name recognition besides John H. Cox.[22] On March 20, Paul signed the American Freedom Agenda Pledge.[23][24]

On June 30, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa, Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance invited all Democratic Party candidates and all Republican presidential candidates except Paul to a presidential candidates forum. Six candidates appeared: Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee, Tommy Thompson, and Tom Tancredo.[25] In July, the New York Times wrote that Paul's "message draws on the noblest traditions of American decency and patriotism."[26]

Paul participated in the Ames Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa on August 11. He ranked fifth out of 11 candidates, receiving 9.1 percent of the votes.[27][28] According to John Fout, on TheStreet.com, Paul "shocked people in Iowa" by receiving more than 9 percent of the vote after making only three trips to Iowa, releasing ads only one week before the poll, and for beating Tommy Thompson, who visited all 99 counties in Iowa.[29] In an interview about the results of the straw poll, fellow candidate Mike Huckabee, who placed second, said that Ron Paul was the candidate most likely to overtake him nationally, saying, "I'm keeping an eye on him."[30]

During the Straw Poll Ron Paul supporters gathered to form a parade, that marched hundreds of people many of whom bore colonial costumes and drum and fife instruments, flags and other around the ISU grounds for hours chanting back and forth slogans that would later be used in many marches and events throughout the campaign.

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