A penny for the guy, a hundred bucks for Ron Paul
November 5 is Guy Fawkes Night in the United Kingdom. It commemorates the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, an attempt to blow up the Palace of Westminster and overthrow the government of James I.
Summary of Nov. 5 donations to the Ron Paul 2008 presidential campaign
Perhaps echoing the traditional childrens' request for "a penny for the guy" to buy fireworks, these advocates-- without the support of the official Ron Paul campaign organization-- have been exhorting other supporters to make $100 donations to the campaign today. The donations are going through the regular channels (a donation page on the campaign's website), so this isn't a scam, but I still think it's pretty weird. In fact, I said so a few times when people asked me about it. I think it isn't entirely appropriate to be connecting a legitimate political campaign with a 400-year-old act of insurrection.
But I guess a lot of other people think it's okay, because the donations have been pouring in. As I write this, we're still nine hours away from the end of the day here in California, but the day's total is already in excess of $2.7 million, and donations continue to arrive at the rate of $200,000 per hour.
(As an aside, the fact that these figures are available at all says a lot about the integration of computer technology with political campaigning. The Ron Paul organization offers a live feed of donation records which is summarized in real time on ronpaulgraphs.com.)
The campaign itself seems a little unprepared for this whole thing; in a blog post earlier today, campaign fundraising director Jonathan Bydlak didn't even mention the Guy Fawkes connection. But he did say that the amount raised so far is already a record for Republican online fundraising, and it looks like the day's total will exceed what Bydlak says is the all-time record for single-day fundraising: $3.1 million.
It's all pretty amazing, anyway.
[Update: the graph showed just over $4 million as of midnight East Coast time, but the Ron Paul campaign told the Associated Press that the actual figure is somewhere in excess of $4.2 million from over 37,000 individual donors. Apparently there's some data loss in that real-time feed...]
Peter N. Glaskowsky is a computer architect in Silicon Valley and a technology analyst for the Envisioneering Group. He has designed chip- and board-level products in the defense and computer industries, managed design teams, and served as editor in chief of the industry newsletter "Microprocessor Report." He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. 
He clearly has support, as also evidenced by multiple straw polls. He has a real chance, and it is time that people realize this, rather than considering him a crazy fringe candidates. As seen today at the banner hung at MIT, he connects with many intelligent people. He is our candidate, not one to be elected by the hippies who have since supported our destructive interventionist foreign policy.
He is the real thing, get ready...
Good point, they are no better than those fringe wackos who celebrate the 4th of July, or quote from the Bill of Rights.
Andy in Pgh
Think of it as the modern Americans' Glorious Revolution. We are using the system to bring it back into check, because we all believe deeply that the system works the way it was designed better than it does in its current incarnation. Ron Paul also believes this and will take steps that no other candidate is willing to commit to, in order to move to a more constitutional government.
I donated not for the memory of Guy Fawkes, or even V for Vendetta, but for the sake of restoring the constitution.
Thanks for the article, though.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3822989&page=1
I think it says a lot more about the integrity of Ron Paul's campaign that they're willing to disclose the numbers (no other candidate is); the technological mechanism is irrelevant.
http://paulcash.slact.net
The twists and turns of popular culture demand something with a little more ring to it... And V for Vendetta (the movie, not so much the comic) resonated with many people who fear the loss of individual liberty and institution of the basic tools of fascism, usurping Guy Fawkes Day from the British and warping it into a campaign for individual rights becomes rather easy.
Not coincidentally, many of the people who enjoyed V are Ron Paul supporters - as he is the only candidate with a platform centered on respect for individual rights.
And since Nov 5 falls into the current fundraising quarter, it's kinda convenient. Warped through the lens of popular culture, sure, but evidently it works.
Did you totally forget your American History? Ever hear of "The Revolutionary War"? "4th Of July"?
"We have learned by experience and by the comparison of ourselves with people similarly situated, to hope that, at some day not very far in futurity, our grievances will be redressed, that our long lost rights will be restored to us, and that, in the full stature of men, we will stand up, and with our once cruel opponents and oppressors rejoice in the Declaration of our common country, and hail with them the approach of the glorious natal day of the Great Republic."
that Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators failed.
Anyway, I'm a Ron Paul supporter, so relax.
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1. Internet "bomb". Get it?
2. Catchy jingle: "Remember, remember...."
3. Connection with a cool movie.
If it was for Guy Fawkes alone, he probably would have raised $3.95 from it. Most Americans have never heard of Guy Fawkes. (Hey, another connetion to Ron Paul!) I had never heard of Guy Fawkes until the movie came out.
The guy who thought of the gimmick was brilliant!
- in in ur games steelin ur freedoms
- by gamers4paul November 7, 2007 7:35 PM PST
- the internet is what I would consider the real "free world." thus it makes sense that our politicians see a great opportunity for regulation, taxation, moral posturing and such.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(14 Comments)Ron Paul has resisted the calls for regulation of the internet, the game industry, and consistently defends freedom in general. It would make sense that a viral campaign on the internet would be successful. I was hearing about this for several weeks, and it was referred to as a "peace bomb" or a "money bomb." the idea is peaceful revolution through individual action. 37000 people contributed money on one day, at an average of a few dollars more than 100.00 each. that's peasant change in the world of politics, and speaks volumes about the breadth of his support.
I made a video that explains how I feel about video game and internet regulation and taxation, in the context of other politicians and then Ron Paul. check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeSMdysK7iY
let me know what you think. : ) peace.