Ron Paul Beats John Edwards In Final Third Quarter Fundraising Push

Though most campaigns keep contribution numbers pretty close to the vest, at least two put specific numbers out for the closing days of third quarter fundraising. And on that score, Ron Paul has outdid John Edwards.

Paul originally had set a goal of $500K in the final seven days, but the response was so strong he upped it to a million on Thursday. With just over three hours to go here on the west coast, the Republican congressman is standing at an impressive $1,189,049.69.

Meanwhile, Edwards had set a goal of $1.0 million over the final 10 days and, with just 10 hours left, was sitting on $920,788 according to a campaign email.

Although Edwards will most likely have a bigger overall third quarter, the success of Paul in these final days will provide some interesting contrasts once candidates release their results in the coming weeks. Remember the media stories generated when second-quarter numbers showed Paul had the same amount of cash on hand as John McCain.

Ron Paul Goes For Million Plus; Gingrich Stays Out

Ron Paul originally was shooting for $500,00 in the final week of third quarter fundraising, but when he passed that figure Thursday he decided to try for a million.

Now it looks like that mark will fall sometime Sunday as he has already reached $942K Saturday afternoon. Perhaps he should shoot for $1.2 million.

Gingrich Won't Run

With Fred Thompson drawing GOP conservatives at a strong clip, maybe Newt Gingrich saw the writing on the wall. Either way, the last "possible" Republican presidential candidate officially stated he wasn't going to run.

Citing McCain-Feingold campaign laws that prohibited him from operating his American Solutions organization as well as run for the presidency, Gingrich opted for keeping American Solutions.

The former congressman also said he would not accept a vice presidential nomination.

Third Quarter Presidential Candidate Fundraising Gimmicks

It's bad enough to receive weekly emails from presidential candidates asking for money, but with the end of third quarter fundraising drawing near (9/30 is the deadline) we have been inundated with daily requests for campaign contributions.

[Update (9/3): If you're looking for the actual numbers, click the following link for the latest third quarter presidential fundraising results.]

Though annoying, it is understandable from a candidate's viewpoint. How much you raised and, perhaps more importantly, how much cash you have on hand will dominate press coverage in the next few weeks. Remember the boost Ron Paul received when second-quarter results showed he had the same amount of cash on hand as John McCain?

So what do candidates do to entice people to open their wallets before the midnight deadline? Contests, of course.

Here's a look at who is running what as the countdown is on for midnight Sunday:

Hillary Clinton: Plays the food and Bill card again. Donate and have a chance to be one of three chosen to watch a debate with Bill Clinton while eating chips (though Hill wants you to make sure Bill eats carrots instead).

John Edwards: Will choose five winners to take to New Orleans for a day of rebuilding. One of the few to mention a way to enter without contributing.

Barack Obama: Although the originator of the "let's eat" contest, Obama opts for something different this quarter. This time it is "Match" where your donation is matched by someone else and then the two send emails to each other. So far close to 500,000 donations (not dollars, but actual donations) have been made.

Bill Richardson: He's not running a contest, but does have an odd match-program of his own going. He's says his most dedicated supporters have offered to match every donation he receives in this push. Yet, if they were already his most dedicated, wouldn't they have already reached the federal limit on giving ($2,300 for the primaries)?

Chris Dodd: Isn't running a contest, but takes a shot at all the food ones Clinton has run.

Fred Thompson: Has a contest where whichever town has the most donations per capita will win a visit from Thompson. All who donated will get to meet him. Currently, Lookout Mountain, TN (pop. 2,000) is winning.

John McCain: Besides a free fleece jacket with a contribution of $200, McCain is offering three winners a chance to ride the Straight Talk Express.

Mitt Romney: Takes a page from McCain's book and offers a contest to ride along with Mitt on the campaign trail. Three winners will be selected, with the criteria being a 100-word essay. Although a $100 contribution is suggested, it doesn't seem to be pushed.

Ron Paul: Has run contests before in the third quarter, but for the final days opted for something unique in the secretive world of campaign donations -- a real time accounting of how he hopes to add $500K in the final seven days. However, he was so successful in reaching that goal he has upped it to a million. As of 5:48 Friday evening, he has raised $769,545.43. Click here to see where he stands.

Mike Huckabee: Isn't running a contest, but did launch something called "Vertical Day" this week.

Other candidates like Rudy Giuliani and Dennis Kucinich have so far refrained from any last-minute contest. But, then again, there are still 48 hours to go.

Edwards Opts For Public Campaign Funds

Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall as the end of third-quarter fundraising comes to a close, Democratic candidate John Edwards decided today to accept public financing for his campaign.

Though he attempted to spin it as "not about a money calculation" but "about taking a stand, a principled stand, and I believe in public financing," it has to be a blow to his campaign as he now faces a spending limit of $50 million for the primaries (and rules as to how much in each state). He should be eligible for about $21 million in matching funds.

Edwards, as expected, called on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to join him in accepting public funds. However, since both have already raised in excess of $50 million each in just the first six months of the year, the prospect of them doing so is nonexistent.

Who Won The New Hampshire Democratic Debate?

The early postscript to Wednesday night's Democratic presidential debate at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire will sound familiar to those who follow the seemingly never-ending candidate forum cycle -- no knockouts and Hillary Clinton continues as the frontrunner.

It wasn't easy for Clinton this time, however, as John Edwards, who most pegged as the winner, led the charge in attacking the former first lady. Barack Obama, meanwhile, was the only opponent who declined to join the fray (which may have cost him).

Here are some of the early reviews:

HuffPo's Glynnis MacNicol and Rachel Sklar did the live blog thing and thought Clinton and Edwards did best noting, "Overall - Hillary looked the frontrunner she is. She was steady and strong and certainly not backing down in the [large] face of Russert's fairly consistent badgering," and "I think Edwards owned his part of the debate. He was forceful and clear in the time he was given, without ever letting things get at all nasty. I think this was a real break out for him."

Taylor Marsh went with the former senator writing, "Edwards took the night. He's now the #2 candidate, because even though Obama didn't feel well, he continues not to deliver."

NBC's Chuck Todd was also impressed with Edwards and thought, "It was one of his better performances." However, he felt Clinton was "a bit testy tonight" and used "her 'laughter' tick" too much. Todd also panned Bill Richardson, noting "What is there to say; I think he's getting smaller and smaller at these debates."

The Politico's Ben Smith felt the "TV moment of the debate" was Clinton's "Well, he’s not standing here right now" quip. Smith also thought Joe Biden went a bit too far in attacking Clinton.

ABC's Rick Klein blogged "Quick thoughts -- Hillary Clinton benefits whenever no one else distinguishes himself, and Edwards may have done himself the most good tonight. Obama squeezed in one good line, but I don't see that as enough for the evening.

Obama not doing enough seemed to be a theme with most pundits as comments like "felt a bit faded" and "he continues not to deliver" peppered many reviews.

Blogging vs. Journalism

Sam Shad's Nevada Newsmakers had an interest discussion on the future of journalism and, in particular, the role of bloggers and how their work should be viewed. UNR's Rosemary McCarthy, Interim Dean of the Reynolds School of Journalism, provides some interesting insights on understanding bias and agendas in what people read on and off the net. Click here for the video.

McCarthy has discussed the issue of agenda-driven blogging versus traditional journalism before in a thread prompted by a Dullard Mush story, coming down firmly on the side of unbiased and factual reporting.

Gun-Toting Nevadans and Other Caucus News

Apparently the average Las Vegas apartment dweller has a .44 tucked into the back of their pants, or at least that's the impression one gets from reading the Los Angeles Times story on out-of-state Barack Obama volunteers coming to Nevada.

Forget for a moment that a .44 hardly fits in the back of your pants (think Dirty Harry's "most powerful handgun in the world"), but I guess it makes for a good lead.

After the requisite "ain't Nevada odd" moment, the story notes how the Obama camp is currently the only one bringing in outside help. It also notes how these volunteers are being trained to not offend like Howard Dean's "Perfect Stormtroopers" did in Iowa. Tops on the list is the correct pronunciation of Nevada.

And adding to our previous story on Nevada's caucus image, the Las Vegas Sun runs "Nevada fades in the fray of caucuses."

Nevada Caucus Takes It In the Shorts, Again

It wasn't the best of weeks for the Nevada presidential caucus as a variety of news reports and candidate announcements continued the seemingly prevailing view that the Silver State doesn't quite measure up to the rest of the nation.

• Matt Cooper worries whether Nevadans lack of "civic culture" will doom the process. Features the quote "But as one Nevada operative puts it, 'This is a place where the prevailing architectural style is literally to build concrete walls between your house and your neighbor’s. How do you overcome that?' You don’t, I think."
• The AP's Kathleen Hennessey writes that Nevada was an "odd choice" for a caucus stating "State parties and activist groups have been historically weak. A transient population with large numbers that work odd hours in the casino industry leads to a spotty record of political involvement. Despite a two-week early voting period, Nevada regularly has some of the lowest voter turnout in the country."
• The odd "There's Something About Bill" column in the Santa Fe Reporter notes that "candidates are shrugging off the Silver State" but not Bill Richardson, whose numbers have "quintupled" recently in Nevada. However, in a fundraising email from Richardson, he urges supporters to donate so they can "reach every eligible Democrat in Iowa and New Hampshire by Thanksgiving." No mention of the Silver State.
• And in the why does Nevada always rank first in bad things and last in the good category, comes this bizarre quote in a press release touting Hillary Clinton's new health plan, "If you are among the 41% of Nevada residents who have reported poor mental health." 41% of the population!

It wasn't all bad, as (sorry for the shameless self-promotion) there was at least one defense of Nevada's caucus last week, complete with Chuck Muth saying "screw 'em." Click here.

Iraq.com Up For Auction

Perhaps some deep-pocketed presidential candidate might want to spring for this timely domain name. Think of the possibilities.

Unlike some of the junky barak-4-prez.info domains people want half a million for on eBay, Iraq.com (currently parked with no content) is a real top-tier name being auctioned by a legitimate domain management company, Sedo.

Although the reserve has not been reached, and who knows how high it is, the current bid is 101,000 euros ($141,703). The auction ends Thursday, September 27 at 2 p.m. EST. Bid here.

Fred08.com Top Presidential Website Last Week

Fred Thompson mania extended to the web as Fred08.com topped all presidential candidate websites with a 21.24% market share for the week ending September 15, according to Hitwise.

Barack Obama was second with a 17.36% share and Ron Paul third with 11.43%.

However, when it comes to political search terms, Paul tied Thompson for the top in the latest four-week survey. Curiously, Joe Biden is the next actual politician searched for, coming in fifth overall.

Clinton, Paul Dominate Blogger Posts

It's been almost a month since we last did a weekly Presidential Candidate Blogger Buzz survey here at Dullard Mush and, though there was no hue and cry over its hiatus, we decided to bring it back anyway.

Since it has been awhile, we took a look at the past month of blogger commentary on the various presidential candidates, and a few possible ones. Not surprisingly, the usual suspects were still garnering the most blog mentions.

Hillary Clinton led all candidates with a total of 84,498 posts, easily outdistancing Democratic rivals Barack Obama (67,835) and John Edwards (53,017).

For Republicans, who else would you expect bloggers to be writing about most but Ron Paul. At 61,049 posts, he held a healthy lead over his GOP opponents. Fred Thompson, boosted by his recent candidacy announcement, was second with 44,746. Also notable, was Mike Huckabee who distanced himself from the rest of the second tier with over 17K mentions.

Republican Presidential Results

1. Ron Paul 61,049
2. Fred Thompson 44,746
3. Mitt Romney 42,052
4. Rudy Giuliani 33,716
5. John McCain 31,063
6. Mike Huckabee 17,299
7. Duncan Hunter 7,263
8. Sam Brownback 7,234
9. Newt Gingrich 6,267
10. Tom Tancredo 6,099
11. John Cox 1,343

Democratic Presidential Results

1. Hillary Clinton 84,498
2. Barack Obama 67,835
3. John Edwards 53,017
4. Al Gore 37,055
5. Bill Richardson 15,292
6. Chris Dodd 15,201
7. Dennis Kucinich 11,402
8. Joe Biden 11,195
9. Mike Gravel 4,717

Independent Presidential Results

1. Michael Bloomberg 8,547
2. Ralph Nader 2,943

Numbers were for a candidate's full name in "quotes" and taken from Google's Blog Search. Our survey does not differentiate between positive or negative posts. Since Chris Dodd and Michael Bloomberg are also frequently referred to as "Christopher Dodd" and "Mike Bloomberg," both variations were used and the results combined.

Is BlogRush For Political Blogs?

If you haven't heard already, a new blog traffic exchange program debuted over the weekend and has been a major hit so far in some blogging sectors.

While the jury is still out on how successful BlogRush ultimately will be for political bloggers, any chance to increase your readership should at least earn a look. And with a relatively unobtrusive javascript widget, we figured it couldn't hurt to give it a try.

Essentially BlogRush is a traffic syndication network wrapped around a referral program. Every time the BlogRush widget (featuring five story links) loads on your site a story link of yours will appear on someone else's site. It also has the added bonus of your blog receiving credits for each page view generated by a blog that you refer or who signs up from clicking on the "Add Your Blog Posts - FREE" portion of the BlogRush widget. So, in theory, you could end up with a lot of impressions.

The best part, however, is that you can choose what category of posts (e.g., politics) you want displayed on your site and where yours appear. You can also use keywords and URLs to tighten the focus if you choose.

Although still new, it has sent a pair of visitors our way in the first day and a story link of mine has popped up (see pic). So there is a fair chance that BlogRush might actually work.

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, the above hyperlinks to BlogRush are linked to this blog as far as referrals go. So if you prefer another participating blogger or want to go to the site directly, blogrush.com, please keep that in mind.

Wesley Clark Endorses Clinton

Considering the Hillary Clinton camp fires off an email whenever anybody endorses their candidate, it is a little odd that the news of Gen. Wesley Clark throwing his support behind Hillary generated nary a letter. Perhaps it reflects his current clout.

Still, Clark was the second biggest undeclared Democratic candidate who actually had supporters. Now it leaves just Al Gore as the lone "maybe" candidate.

Clark, though, now moves to the front, alongside Bill Richardson, in the Vice President race.

The World Of PhoneyFred Creator Wesley Donehue

When it comes to Googling people, you have to love unusually spellings.

In this case, searching for info on Wesley Donehue, the guy who launched the anti-Fred Thompson attack site PhoneyFred.org (while working for a company that works for Mitt Romney), was relatively easy.

Here's a quick hit:

• Ironically, was against shadowy hit pieces when they were attacking his candidate.
• Caused a row when he changed what was supposed to be an objective political site into one with a pro-Romney slant and drags a Barack Obama supporter into it. Even prompts this angry email.
• National Journal's Hotline dumps said site, The Shot, because of its "ties to Mitt Romney’s campaign for president."
• Forms online campaign strategy firm, Under the Power Lines, and builds a site for his political consultant wife Elizabeth.
• Has a Blogger profile. But, alas, not an active blog.

And, for good measure, we also have Donehue on YouTube:

PhoneyFred.Org Controversy Reminiscent Of CobbGobbler Fight

An anonymous political site suddenly appears, flinging handfuls of questionable mud, and, when investigated, is revealed to be the handiwork of someone associated with a fellow GOP opponent's campaign.

Sound familiar?

Except for the fact that the people behind PhoneyFred.org didn't include the added twist of falsely registering the domain in another candidate's name, the saga is strangely reminiscent of the CobbGobbler.com controversy that raged in the Northern Nevada blogging world for a few months last year.

Like the anti-Fred Thompson site making news now, an anonymous site attacking Nevada AD-26 candidate Ty Cobb popped up and when the dust had settled on who actually was behind it, another candidate's campaign had been implicated.

In this case, it is the Mitt Romney camp that is scrambling to distance itself from revelations that Wesley Donehue, who works for Romney's senior South Carolina consultant, was behind the site. Though Donehue apparently was smart enough to pop the extra couple bucks for a private domain registration, he made the fatal error of hosting it for a short time on his employer's server, leading to the discovery of who was behind it.

The Romney campaign should hope the PhoneyFred affair doesn't follow the same dismal path as the CobbGobbler folks. If so, Thompson will be the GOP nominee while Romney will sputter to a distant fourth-place finish.

Presidential Candidates Avoid 9/11 Emails To Supporters

Apparently the prospect of appearing like one was trying to capitalize on the 9/11 tragedy kept this year's crop of presidential candidates mostly silent on the email front. Only Democrats Barack Obama and Dennis Kucinich broached the subject in letters to supporters this day.

While both emails addressed the issue, they took two entirely different approaches.

Kucinich used his message to mainly call for the end of the Iraqi War and to chastise the Bush administration for "deliberately and falsely conflated 9/11 with Iraq."

Obama, meanwhile, took a more solemn approach to the actual event and, instead of taking shots at Bush, directed his ire at Al Qaeda stating, "We must bring justice to the terrorists who killed on our shores."

The only other emails received today were media announcements for Kucinich and Duncan Hunter (the lone Republican to send a letter), and a new fundraising project for Joe Biden (which involved Iraq but did not mention 9/11).

Gansert In, Mabey Out As Nevada Minority Leader

Maybe Garn Mabey knew his days as Nevada's assembly minority leader were numbered, hence his decision to fly to a medical conference the same day a caucus vote was to be held. By the time he landed in Chicago, his reign was over.

The Reno Gazette-Journal's Anjeanette Damon is reporting that two-term Reno Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert (AD-25) was elected by her fellow GOP assembly members today to serve as their minority leader.

Is Ron Paul The New Debate Whipping Boy?

First it was Rudy Giuliani trying to make hay with a debate skirmish over Iraq with Ron Paul, now Mike Huckabee takes a swing at the Texas congressman during Wednesday's Republican forum in New Hampshire.

"Huckabee is a shrewd dude, and once again did himself good by focusing his folksy answers on big problems in a plausible way. He was especially smart to get into a shouting match with Rep. Ron Paul, the GOP’s isolationist libertarian. The Romneyans were jealous. They wanted to mix it up with Paul but didn’t get the chance," wrote Newsweek's Howard Fineman.

Perhaps even shrewder is Huckabee's campaign using the Paul fracas as a way to raise money. He even includes video (below).

Maybe Paul should be asking for a commission.

Hunter Wins Something

Apparently just showing up was the secret to success at the sparsely attended Texas GOP straw poll. Duncan Hunter did, and won with 41% of the vote.

Of course, that represented only 534 actual votes. But that was a few hundred more than runnerup Fred Thompson who scored 21%.

Texas GOP congressman Ron Paul finished a disappointing third with just 16%. Despite reports of many Paul supporters in attendance, only actual past convention delegates were eligible to vote and they apparently were more swayed by Hunter's presence than their fellow Texan's.

With all the top candidates not bothering to show, it wasn't surprising that Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney finished fifth and sixth (behind Mike Huckabee).

However, minor candidates Ray McKinney and John Cox could take solace in the fact that they both outpolled John McCain, Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo. In fact, McKinney can say he outpolled all three combined.

For complete results, read Hunter's excited, but brief, email.