Campaign Finance Laws and the Ron Paul Blimp

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publius42

New member
Just when you thought we had said all there was to say about Ron Paul, I had to ask this:

What do you think of the Ron Paul Blimp and the campaign finance laws?

For those who don't know, I'll briefly summarize the history:

A bunch of RP cultists decided to start an effort separate from the campaign to support RP, and came up with the idea of a blimp. They decided to start a website and accept pledges. People pledged wildly, and they quickly met their goal and started trying to collect the pledges.

At that point, it occurred to someone that this is America, and you can't just do something like this without a platoon of lawyers, who were summoned (volunteers at first, and top rate ones). A PAC was formed. With that, people could donate $5,000, less whatever amount they had already contributed to the campaign.

Then the PAC went away, and a "commercial advertising company" was formed, called Liberty Political Advertising. It is NOT, repeat NOT in any way affiliated with the campaign. It's a private company, selling political advertising of Ron Paul via the blimp project. You can click a couple of buttons and buy ten weeks of blimp time for a million bucks. No campaign contribution limits apply. I mean, this is America, and if I have a million bucks laying around, I can hire a guy to go fly a blimp, can't I? The Ron Paul campaign never asked me to do it. They have nothing to do with this private transaction. It's no campaign contribution. Right?
 
I don't see why not. Since RP doesn't get the free press from the MSM, us cultists have to work around it. Pretty nifty if you ask me.
 
Neat! I get to be in a cult now? Being an athiest, I've never had a chance to get into one before.

Do we get orgies and drugs or do we just sit around talking politics?:D
 
The campaign wouldn't have any reporting requirements or limits related to this as its not their project. My initial impression is that this would still fall under IRC 527 for the organizers of the effort. If formed as a PAC then PAC limits and reporting would apply.
 
My initial impression is that this would still fall under IRC 527 for the organizers of the effort.
Click to expand...

Meaning what?

My recollection from watching the website obsessively since I learned about it is that they were calling it a PAC for a little while, but are not any more. It's just a private advertising firm. Is that a legally possible transition?

I think the Ron Paul Blimp is the greatest thing about any campaign in my lifetime. It amuses heck out of me, but I do wonder whether the blimp boys and/or the campaign can get in some kind of trouble over this.

In a way I hope the feds do go after them. Contributions would soar! :D
 
OK- I'm as big a RP supporter as there is, but the blimp thing is just plain hillarious. I see the cult-like following of this man, and if you've ever met him and spoken with him one-on-one, you get the idea that he wouldn't want a "cult following". Kinda like the Monty Python movie "Life of Brian". He's so low-key and if any adjective applies it is steady and plodding, not what has become of him.

It begs the question: Is it Ron Paul or the message of liberty that has supporters so enthralled? I don't think it is Ron Paul. He is a wonderful man and I think he'd make a fine if not very boring president (Why I am voting for him), but he's about the lone liberty minded, uncompromised politician running and hence, I believe it isn't the man but the message. Much different from a lot of the rest of the Republicans running.
 
Seems to me to fall under the same umbrella as those non-news shows (hannity, Oreilly, Olbermann, Beck, etc) that are being paid by advertisers to promote a position/candidate.

More simply though, I can put a sign in my yard, I can wear a sandwich sign on the street, I can put bumper stickers on my car, and I can fly a blimp with a candidates name on it.

But hey, the controversy just means more people are thinking about it than would ever have seen a blimp. Bad strategy by those that oppose it.
 
One has to admit. When A canidate has enough support that indivuals seperate from his campagn spend money to advertise. there has to be something there. How many of the other canidates have people willing to do the same. Ron Paul does not have to campiagn because his supporter campaign for him. Have to see how it goes. Shoudl he win the nomination I would not be afriad to vot for him. Right now according Rasmussen (01/05) he is doing better then Huckabee
 
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