Ron Paul gains ground in the presidential race

My blogging duties should be resuming shortly, now that I am back home and I slowly catch up on recent news.

A big congratulations goes out to Congressman Ron Paul, whose 2nd quarter fundraising has brought in a total of $2.4m, and he has now surpassed John McCain who is suffering from a major slump and lack of support. Ron Paul still has a long way to go, till the2008 primaries and after that, to raise the kind of funds needed to run a serious presidential campaign, but is making outstanding progress:

Paul's cash on hand puts him in third place in the Republican field in that important metric, although he is well behind leader Rudy Giuliani, who has $18 million in the bank, and Mitt Romney, with $12 million.

Ron Paul is without doubt an internet phenomena, with the 2nd highest number of Youtube subscribers:

1. Obama - 5,186,833
2. Paul - 2,092,246
3. Clinton - 733,453
4. Romney - 669,455
5. Edwards - 572,384
6. Brownback - 468,432

Nothing sums it up better than this quote:

"I think people have underestimated the number of people in this country who are interested in a freedom message," says the Republican congressman from Texas, who has strong libertarian leanings.