Can an online presence for a small campaign make a difference? If the answer is “yes” then Ron Paul’s 2008 bid for presidency may be the best how-to manual for Republicans seeking ways to make headway online.
True, the New American isn’t the most objective source (it is run by the John Birch Society after all). Still, this article does make one point abundantly clear: Rep. Ron Paul is crushing the Internet out of the park:
With such headwinds to fly against, one might think that Ron Paul would find it almost impossible to get noticed on anybody’s radar screen — until one goes to the Internet. Then one gets the impression that he is some kind of superstar, moving through cyberspace like a titan. Despite the fact that the mainstream media is treating Ron Paul virtually as a nonentity, a growing number of Americans are learning about him through the Internet. Many of them like what they are finding out and are supporting his candidacy. This prompted Wired magazine to run a commentary on its website entitled, “Ron Paul: How a Fringe Politician Took Over the Web.”
The fact of the matter is this: While Ron Paul continues to get anywhere from 3-6% in national polling, Paul not only continues use the Internet to multiply the effect of his volunteers, at times his campaign absolutely destroys larger, more traditionally savvy rivals.
Is Ron Paul ‘08 the Howard Dean ‘04 of the GOP? Possibly… he has a long ways to go before his Internet campaigning translates into boots on the ground, and much farther to go in order to become competitive with “the big four” of Thompson, Giuliani, Romney, and McCain.
But as his second-tier competitors drop out, and if one of the larger races possibly nosedives, is it altogether impossible for Paul to pick up dejected activists searching for a new candidate? Ron Paul’s online campaign may very well become an excellent case-in-point in how small campaigns with a strong online presence can quickly become competitive.
