Paul's $20M donation haul tops GOP, candidate sees high hopes in Maine 
Out-raises McCain, Romney combined in fourth quarter '07
He may still be underperforming at the polls, but when it comes to supporters putting their money where their mouths are, Ron Paul has the Republican frontrunners beat hands down.
Paul, the quirky Texas congressman who's been lighting the Internet on fire, raised $19.95 million in the last three months of 2007. That's more donations than the combined total of the two current Republican frontrunners, John McCain and Mitt Romney, during the same period, reports the Los Angeles Times' Andrew Malcolm.
McCain raised $9.9 million, and Romney collected $9.2 million in donations. (The former Massachusetts governor reached into his own deep pockets to infuse his campaign with an extra $18 millon.)
Close to a third of Paul's haul came from a $6 million one-day "money bomb" of donations organized by his supporters.
Paul, who ran for president on a Libertarian ticket in 1988, has used his mass of donations to hire staff, run advertisements and travel in early nominating contests and prepare for the huge slate of primaries and caucuses for Feb. 5.
His campaign also has high hopes for this weekend's caucuses in Maine, the last state to weigh in before next week's Super Tuesday slate.
"I think that (because) he's paid attention to Maine, he'll be rewarded," R. Kenneth Lindell, Paul's campaign coordinator there told The Associated Press.
Paul is the only candidate who has visited the state, which is known for its independent streak. In 1992, Ross Perot placed second and scored more votes than former President George H.W. Bush, who owns a summer home there.
Lindelll told AP that hundreds of Paul supporters have been organizing around the state, and their efforts, such as organizing caucuses in towns where none had been planned, have not gone unnoticed by party bigwigs, including the state's Republican executive director, Julie O'Brien.
"I have felt strongly for three weeks," she told AP, "that he stood a better chance (in Maine) than any other candidate."
 
| 
del.icio.us 
