Ron Paul leads Republicans online

[T_i_B]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/12/wuspols212.xml

The 2008 presidential campaign with the biggest on-line presence is led by 72-year-old congressman in a crumpled suit who confesses he has no internet strategy but just stumbled on “a wonderful secret weapon”.

Ron Paul, a libertarian opposed to the Iraq war and government intrusion, is now drawing some of the largest crowds of any Republican candidate in Iowa and has raised more money on a single day than any of his rivals.

A campaign sign at his events boasts about the secret of his success: “Out next President is Ron Paul. Go ahead, Google him.” Doing so harvests 1.49 million items – more than Hillary Clinton (835,000) and Barack Obama (637,000) combined. If his on-line support and the enthusiasm of his followers can be translated even partially into feet on the ground on January 3, when the Iowa caucuses are held, then he could score a major upset by leaping ahead of one or more of the major contenders.

Dr Paul draws backing from disaffected Republicans, some Democrats and a large number of independents. But his biggest pool of potential voters includes internet-savvy youngsters and others who have never been involved in politics.

[onehandle]

1. An extreme Right-Wing lunatic winning over the morons of the Internets?

Color me surprised.

[T_i_B]

3. But on the other hand...

How come so few moderates are involved with any sort of internet politics? Just witness how few genuine DLCers we have on here for instance, or how few new Labour supporters you get on UK message boards. At times on the internet it does feel like the loonies are driving the normal people off.

Considering how many people prefer voting for moderates over extremists you'd think that there would be more of them about on the net.

[rAVES]

9. So.. you think everyone here is fringe looney? since we arent new labout or True DLCers?

:/

[T_i_B]

10. So...you don't believe there is anything inbetween?

2 can play that game. :-/

[dmallind]

11. Because it takes a rare kind of thick skin to put up with

the purist groupthink and abuse of anyone who actually considers pragmatic and real world political considerations. The only "real Democrat" opinions allowed without heaping scorn are pretty much impeach now, cut off all war funding now, introduce single payer healthcare now, and elect Dennis. Forget about the fact that not one of those is likely to have any chance at all of actually being completed successfully.

[Ian David]

5. Because PaulTards love all the hate and bigotry, but aren't dumb enough to love the war. n/t

[blondeatlast]

8. I prefer Paul Bearers, but otherwise, that's very good!

:rofl:

[I work for workers]

2. I guarantee Paul's net support will not translate into votes.

Do an experiment. Ask a Ron Paul supporter if they are a registered Republican. There is a good chance they are not, especially if they are one of his many college age supporters or a disillusioned Dem. Most of them don't even realize that the odds are they have to register with the party to vote for him.

[Ian David]

4. Yay, PaulTards! You guys keep giving Ron Paul your time, money and energy!

Don't let anyone tell you he can't win!

[NavyDavy]

6. any so called Dem who votes for RP just because of his antiwar

stance never was a true Dem.....he is exact opposite of what Dems stand for...IMHO

[Ian David]

7. Dear PaulTards. You're supporting the wrong candidate. THIS is the candidate you want...

Jonathon Sharkey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey (born 1964-04-02 in Elizabeth, New Jersey as John Albert Sharkey) is a self-proclaimed satanist, "sanguinary vampyre", Hecate Witch and professional boxer as well as wrestler (under the name Rocky "Hurricane" Flash) and perennial candidate for public office.

He has filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for President of the United States twice as an Independent candidate (in 2004<1> and in 2008<2>) and for Congress in at least three states -- his home State of New Jersey (1999-2000, Republican)<3>, Indiana (Reform Party, 2000)<4> and Florida (2001-02, Republican)<5>. In 2006, he ran for governor of Minnesota.

It is difficult to pin down definitive facts relating to Sharkey, partly because of his numerous aliases, but also due to his authorship, over time, of many autobiographical websites which have included conflicting and unsubstantiated assertions of fact. A Federal judge in Indiana has remarked about Sharkey that "his view of reality and attendant behavior is nothing less than bizarre."<6> Sharkey claims that this was because Sharkey had previously "cursed out" the same judge.<7>

Philosophically, Sharkey professes a hatred for the Christian Supreme Being, God the Father, but claims that he has no disrespect for followers of the aforementioned. He says that this hatred began when his grandmother died, and fully consumed him in 2004. He claims that he became an angry and violent person as a result of his grandmother's death. However, Sharkey maintains that he is a religious pluralist and professes respect for all creeds as well as the US Constitution. His Minnesota gubernatorial campaign slogan was "A New Deal for Minnesota," and his 2008 Presidential campaign slogan is "The New Deal and Hope for America," reflecting his professed respect of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He has proposed impaling "any one found committing an act of terrorism in Minnesota"<8>, and advocates many additional unorthodox approaches to crime and other public issues.

Sharkey lived for a time in Florida under his wrestling name of Rocky Hurricane Flash. While there, he was linked with a Kathleen Sharkey and claimed that this Kathleen Sharkey was either his half-sister or his wife. He filed reports with the Federal Election Commission which listed Kathleen Sharkey as a member of his campaign staff. Eventually, a letter was filed with the Federal Election Commission, purportedly by Kathleen Sharkey, which implied that he had died.<9> Documents from a lawsuit filed in the Indianapolis District Court mention that Sharkey attempted to commit suicide. It has been suggested instead that he attempted to fake his own death.<10>

On 06-01-13 Sharkey was arrested in Princeton, Minnesota on an outstanding bench warrant relating to two Indiana felony counts, one of escape and one of stalking a former girlfriend whom he had previously been jailed for harassing.<11> It was later discovered that the felony stalking charge had been dismissed on 2003-09-29<12> when Sharkey pleaded guilty to two counts of invasion of privacy and was ordered to attend mental health treatment.<13> Sharkey was ordered to serve an executed sentence on Home Detention, however, he was alleged to have removed his monitoring equipment and absconded from Marion County, Indiana. Sharkey was eventually returned to Marion County and was charged with Escape, as Class D Felony and demanded a Trial by Jury. The day before his Jury Trial, scheduled for July 19, 2006, Jonathan Sharkey, a/k/a Rocky Flash, plead guilty to Escape as part of a plea agreement with the State of Indiana, however, his conviction was entered as a Class A misdemeanor.

An independently produced documentary about Sharkey, Impaler, debuted in Australia on February 9, 2007

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathon_Sharkey

[Bucky]

13. Thanks! I have now found my candidate!

More evil than Clinton! More drugged out than Obama! More egomaniacal than Biden! Almost as crazy as Gravel!

What's not to like?

[Ian David]

14. Gravel is the "Happy Crazy" compared to Sharkey The Impaler. n/t

[Bucky]

12. Remind me: how many delegates does the state of Online have?

I'm not impressed by someone sweeping the "too much spare time on their hands" demographic (even if I am one of them).

[asdjrocky]

15. No more Ron Paul talk please.

My ears are starting to bleed.

[redqueen]

16. Google hits as evidence? Any chance the spam helped with that?

:shrug:

[blondeatlast]

18. Mind altering materials apparently come in handy. I searched all three, see below. nt

[blondeatlast]

17. Do these wackjobs think we can't do a Google search on our own? Sheesh.

Hillary Clinton 7,600,000

Barack Obama 1,920,000

Ron Paul 6,120,000

Maybe it's the same logic that makes Paul Bearers think the Dr. isn't racist or a sputtering xenophobe... :shrug:

Links, anyway:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-us%3AIE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7GGLH&q=ron+paul

http://www.google.com/search?q=hillary+clinton&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLH

http://www.google.com/search?q=barack+obama&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLH