Paul's Quixotic, Chaotic Run May Make Its Push in N.H.

Alec MacGillis / Washington Post | December 6, 2007

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) has raised more than $10 million for his run for president in the past two months, leaving him well positioned to help swing the outcome of the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire, a state well suited to his libertarian, antiwar platform.

And yet it was only late last month that his state headquarters here acquired a basic campaign tool: telephones. For months, Paul's avid supporters were perfectly willing to make campaign calls with their own cellphones. The telephone company was dragging its feet, said Jared Chicoine, Paul's 25-year-old state campaign manager. And, well, the Paul surge has been so sudden that some things have gotten lost in the rush.

"There's been a lot going on," Chicoine said in explaining the delay.

With so much money in the bank -- and with more expected after another one-day fundraising "bomb" pegged to the Dec. 16 anniversary of the Boston Tea Party -- the Paul campaign is in a position to make a push in a state whose "Live Free or Die" ethos makes it an ideal early target for the iconoclastic congressman. And Paul could have an impact on both parties' Jan. 8 primaries: He is drawing close to double digits in some Republican polls here, and it is not hard to find independent voters -- who under state rules can vote in either party's primary -- who confess to fondness for both Paul and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

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But as the campaign decides how to marshal its resources for the stretch run, it is unclear just how much control it will have over Paul's fate here. That's because not only is the Paul campaign's lean infrastructure dwarfed by that of his rivals, it is also struggling to control the volunteer army that serves as his main driver -- acting sometimes, but not always, in concert with the campaign leadership.

Last week, it was volunteers belonging to the Paul group at Meetup, an online networking site, who organized an evening of phone calls at Paul's headquarters here before watching the GOP debate together. It was the same volunteers who organized a day of canvassing by 60 supporters Saturday, a frigid day so windy that a gust toppled the huge Christmas tree outside the State House in Concord.

Full article here.

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