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Press release It's been a little bit busier this week in U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's South Carolina presidential campaign headquarters. More people are coming in to ask questions about the Texas Republican and to find out why they had never heard of him until he set a new one-day fundraising record this week and gained all kinds of national attention. Brian Genrty, Paul's South Carolina campaign coordinator, is more than happy to turn on the large plasma screen in the office so they can see some Paul DVDs. "I wouldn't say I am surprised by this," Gentry said. "But if I had to, I would say I am pleasantly surprised." Paul has vaulted from the candidate with poll numbers so low they could be counted on one foot to a major fundraising factor in the 2008 campaign in the course of one week. His backers set a 24-hour fundraising record when they doled out more than $4.2 million Monday, with most of it coming online. His goal is to raise more than $12 million in the last quarter of 2007, which would put him in prime form heading into the primary season. According to his campaign Web site, he already has surpassed $7.6 million as of noon today. However, the rolling meter with the big red numbers that dominates his home page appears to be constantly spinning and likely will be higher by the time this sentence ends. To put that total in perspective, he raised $5.3 million in the third quarter total. Essentially, the Ron Paul Revolution has the money now to be televised and Gentry said that ads are in the future, but wouldn't say when
In South Carolina, Gentry said the campaign has three offices (Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville), is running radio ads in every market and plans to get the candidate back here by the end of November. All of which leads to the question -- why doesn't the fundraising push match the support totals? The latest American Research Group poll showed Paul at 4 percent in South Carolina. That is up from 2 percent in the previous two months. A Winthrop/ETV poll has him at 2.1 percent in the Palmetto State. Paul's campaign has been marked by his fervent followers. It is common to see someone waving a Ron Paul Revolution sign at most stops by other Republican candidates in the last few months. They have put up almost as many yard signs as the candidates with the higher poll numbers. However, Paul's campaign has been dogged by the presumption that his massive online support in recent months stemmed from over zealous Web junkies. Gentry said the fundraising this week shows that it is more than just a handful of people filling up message boards. Stephen Wainscott, a Clemson political science professor, said it is all a little bit puzzling. He wants to see who the donors are. His belief is a lot of the money is coming from business people who like Paul's message of little government restraint on companies. However, large donations don't always equal grass-roots support, Wainscott said. Paul has found a strong base, but it will be tough to grow it. "He's drilling a deep, but narrow hole," Wainscott said. Gentry, though, says support is growing and it is coming at the right time with the state's Republican primary less than 90 days away. Recommend this article...
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