On Sunday in Boston Ron Paul supporters will rally as part of their latest moneybomb effort, complete with a blimp that is supposed to take off from North Carolina tomorrow. The candidate, though, won’t be there and it’s because of the blimp:
Instead of forming a Political Action Committee that operates much like a campaign with fundraising limits, the people behind the blimp, found a way around election law fundraising limits by incorporating an actual company, a limited liability corporation, instead of a PAC, through which to sell stakes in the blimp lease to supporters.
On their website, they seem to be raring for a legal fight to prove they are within campaign finance law. They have enlisted the help of Bradley Smith, a former Director of the Federal Election Commission, to help them plot their legal strategy.
While Paul flirted with the idea of adding a Boston trip to his schedule — recent week shave seen him spend most of his time in the early primary states of New Hampshire, Iowa (Tuesday and Wednesday) and Nevada (later this week) — campaign spokesman Jesse Benton said Paul will skip the Boston rally to keep it distinct from the official campaign.
“We want to do our best to maintain the independence that Ron Paul supporters have from the campaign,” Benton said on the phone from snowy Iowa. “Putting him up there in Boston, from an FEC standpoint, could walk right into a gray area.”
And that’s just plain stupid. Then again, the entire campaign finance legal system is stupid.
I hate to disappoint Mr. Benton but the Blimp will not be in Boston. Anyone watching the weather this week could have guessed that it would cause problems. I believe the grass root organization financing the blimp has been transparent. This is a from the bottom up campaign, and Trevor has upstaged all the professionals with the help of the people he has inspired. We will have a world wide event that will make political history. The whole world is hungry for Liberty! Wherever Dr. Paul is I am sure he will be proud.