Ron Paul’s speedy fundraising effort: an audit
By Stephen Campbell, Newfield, N.H.
Published on Tuesday, October 2, 2007
To the Editor:
I am writing to you regarding an error in "Popular on the Internet, Ron Paul visits campus" (Oct. 1).
In the article you said this: "Paul's campaign, which has proven successful on the internet, has grown faster than he previously expected. Although he and his campaign managers expected to collect only $500,000 in private donations, Paul said that they now expect to raise over a million dollars."
That statement is erroneous because it implies that Ron Paul expects to raise only a million dollars total for the third quarter.
Actually, according to his campaign website, Paul ran a final push fundraising drive with a week left in the third quarter. He asked for a $500,000 boost from online donations before the end of the quarter. He got that in only three days. He upped the request to a million dollars, and got that only five days and 22 hours after the drive began. The final total was $1.2 million in online donations in the last week. So, while you imply that Ron Paul expects to raise over a million dollars for the quarter, the reality is that he raised a million dollars in less than six days.