On this day, three years ago, a little over 58,000 Ron Paul supporters donated a staggering $6 million to the renegade Republican's presidential campaign. Inspired by the date of the original Boston Tea Party in 1773, Dr. Paul's passionate grassroots army shattered John Kerry's previous one-day fundraising record of $5.7 million back in 2004, the day after he had secured the Democratic Party's nomination.
The 2007 event, called Tea Party '07, was not sponsored or promoted by Fox News, Freedom Works, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or any other conservative media outlet. Barack Obama was not the President, and the 'Tea Party' movement was not primarily directed against the Democratic Party. Instead, tens of thousands of highly motivated citizens donated an average of $102 to a campaign that dared to challenge both parties' out of control spending, unbalanced budgets, undeclared, open-ended wars, curtailment of civil liberties, devaluation of the Dollar, and unfettered expansion of government. This tea party criticized George W. Bush and the Republican Party as vigorously as it criticized Democrats.
Three years later, its impact has created somewhat of a revolution in American politics. The current, post-Obama tea party movement owes its very existence to Dr. Ron Paul and his cadre of followers. And now, Ron Paul, once ignored and often maligned, is a fixture on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and a plethora of other media outlets seeking his independent-minded views on economics, the Federal Reserve, war, civil liberties, and politics.
Looking ahead to next year, Congressman Paul will be facing off against the world's most powerful man, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, as the Texas Congressman is set to chair the House's monetary policy subcommittee. Dr. Paul is also considering another presidential bid, putting the current odds of a second run at 50-50. If he does decide to launch another campaign, the odds are that the $6 million one-day fundraising record will be quickly broken.