Via the AP: Ron Paul Raises More Than $4.2 Million

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, aided by an extraordinary outpouring of Internet support Monday, hauled in more than $4.2 million in nearly 24 hours.

Paul, the Texas congressman with a libertarian tilt and an out-of-Iraq pitch, entered heady fundraising territory with a surge of Web-based giving tied to the commemoration of Guy Fawkes Day.

Fawkes was a British mercenary who failed in his attempt to kill King James I on Nov. 5, 1605. He also was the model for the protagonist in the movie “V for Vendetta.” Paul backers motivated donors on the Internet with mashed-up clips of the film on the online video site YouTube as well as the Guy Fawkes Day refrain: “Remember, remember the 5th of November.”

[…]

Paul as of Monday had raised more than $7 million since Oct. 1, more than half his goal of $12 million by the end of the year, according to his Web site.

Well, thats a new chapter in the annals of US campaign fundraising…

Ultimately what the Paul candidacy is going to prove is that in the internet era that a niche candidate can raise large sums of money and yet not be able to use that money to vault into competitiveness in the the primary. Along those lines, I think Avery Knapp, Jr.’s headline is on target: The Power of Flashmob Fundraising.

The entire phenomenon should provide some interesting data for those who study campaign finance and the role of the internet in modern campaigning.

James Joyner has an extensive roundup of web-based reaction to the story.