Matt Margolis: What you say about Ron Pauls Vote, May well be true. Are you so naive that you are not aware of the supporters of the other candidates doing the same thing, except that their lies are much greater because there are many more of them.

Just curious - how do you know the Paul Machine has been spamming? Is there a way to tell beyond the inflated numbers?

What I find interesting is most (all?) online poll complainers use Paul's high vote as de facto evidence of cheating. This is flawed, and conflates coordinated* voting with cheating (i.e., mulitple voting). Absent malicious scripting, a vote tally inconsistent with scientific polls is at least marginally useful: it gauges passion and the strength of communication amongst Paul's supporters.

Given that net-savvy individuals are disproportionately more libertarian-leaning than the general populace, is it so hard to imagine Paul's disproportionate support on the web?

* "Coordinated" is an inaccurate word, but it's hard to think of a more accurate one. In the age of instant communication, where details of any topic of interest are readily obtained, it's easy for a Ron Paul supporter to find polls from Technorati, Digg, reddit, blogs, etc. It's communicated info, but in a very decoupled, decentralized way.

As a supporter of Ron Paul, I'd say the internet community really endorses Paul's idea. I shun the idea that me and my kind would cheat, look at youtube which bases video ratings on amount of views, (hard to spam with out lots, and lots of free time). The fact is the internet loves this guy, does that mean America as a whole loves him? Probably not yet, we just have more folks on our side that are a part of the internet cliques. As a Paul supporter it's frustrating that the main stream media over looks him, his ideas really ought to be addressed by the GOP favorite canidates, and this frustration might lead a few individuals trying to spread the word on Paul to vote a few times, but I doubt to the extreme you're suggesting. So welcome to the internet, we make up our own minds, we're a clique community, we're the new grass roots, and we love Ron Paul!!!! Try doing a petition of honest poll voters for Paul to see how many valid voters you yield apposed to your spam speculation, that'll back it up.

RE: Ron Paul Straw Poll Debut!
(I am posting this on The Pink Flamingo tonight)

Thank you for recognizing the degree to which Ron Paul supporters are organized, and recognizing that they are a force o be reckoned with – to a point. Right now from what I can tell, we’re probably talking anywhere from 300,000 to a half million people. The big problem is the fact that many of these people are registered as Republican so they can vote in GOP primaries, but then vote Libertarian or other third parties in a general election. While their actual power is limited, they can, indeed cause quite a bit of mischief. I truly believe they are responsible for the loss of the Senate in November. I think they may have effected a House race or two, but not much more. Their concentration is not strong enough to go district by district, but they can have a state wide effect. I think you are seeing them flex their muscles in Utah this week, in also in AZ with their opposition to Senator Kyl. (Interestingly, the Grassfire petition against the immigration bill stood at around 600,000 this morning. ) http://www.grassfire.org/index.htm I think you will find most of the supporters of this petition are Paul supporters, and probably give an excellent indication of his actual support.

One of the reasons I started blogging about 2,5 years ago is because of the information I would constantly receive from “Paul” supporters. I don’t know if this is a proper term or not. I have been struggling for about a year to come up with a way to pin these people down as to who they are. I think they masquerade as GOP and ‘Conservatives” and give conservatives a very bad name. I would also put what I term ‘wacky’ conservatives into this group.

The big problem is the fact that they ‘pretend’ to be Republican. I am absolutely positive they are the propulsion behind about 75% of the whole anti-immigration rhetoric. They are anti-war. They are anti-Bush. They see government conspiracies behind every movement of the Bush Administration. Today in my inbox I received a panicked email that George W. Bush is intent on turning the US into the equivalent of Rome during the time of Julius Caesar. (I am serious). http://www.newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin55.htm News With Views is promoted by Chuck Muth. It is also tied in with Chuck Baldwin of the Crossroads Baptist Church. These people are extremely anti-Bush and doggedly pro-Paul.

They are incredibly well organized. Fact is, they have been working on their organization, tapping into the anti-Clinton sentiment since the late 1990’s. I have been on an email mailing list from one of the primary organizers and movers and shaker in their group since 1998. This group is the reason I started blogging. I truly believe their actions are bordering on sedition. They are spoon-fed their craziness by Ron Kessler of News Max and Joseph Farrah of WND.

You see their organization in the whole vocal anti-immigration movement. To be honest there are conservatives who are concerned, as are we all. BUT – and the big BUT is we are not single issue voters. Neither are these people. But, because of their organization, and the assistance of other sources I will explain in the book I am currently researching, we see this massive wall of ‘ground swell’ against immigration, when, in all actuality, this wall does not exist.

I find this 600,000 signatures on the Grassfire poll extremely revealing. The same source that is promoting the Grassfire poll is promoting at least 4 additional ones. The five minutes I could tolerate listening to Rush today (I was once a regular listener) he was bemoaning the fact that our legislators are ignoring the clarion call from “Conservatives” who are against the immigration bill. Maybe our legislators aren’t as foolish stupid as we think they are. I know there is a formula for gauging actual support for a bill or issue. I can’t see how 600,000 names, blast faxed, can be considered a ‘groundswell’. Once upon a time, in another life, I was a lobbyist dealing with the space program during those golden days of Reagan. I know how the system works. I once engineered the removal of the acting NASA Administrator responsible for the Challenger disaster. Evidently, and fortunately, our Ron Paulites do not actually comprehend how to work directly with a Senator or member of Congress in a lobby capacity.

Or, even more interestingly, they do not have the actual state by state or district by district numbers to actually engineer a legislative coup or action. I think these next few weeks are going to be very interesting and very revealing, separating the “Conservatives” from conservative Republicans. There is a difference. I’ve been researching and blogging about it to the point where I’ve wanted to bang my head against the wall, trying to get people to listen. I think we are also entering an interesting era for our “conservative radio talk-show pundits”. Are they going to fall prey to Paulites, and their false premise of actual power and numbers, or are they going to tick with the GOP? We could end up seeing some very popular conservative celebs marginalized if they do not stop and realize they are being propelled farther and farther to the right by people who have an actual agenda that is contrary to the best interests of the GOP.

The Pink Flamingo
SJ Reidhead

As a Ron Paul supporter I think I have the cure for what ale's the moderator of this site. I am no computer expert but it would seem to me that if you had the polls set up so that people had to give their e-mail address and then you send them a confirmation e-mail, then I believe you will end up with pretty much the same thing, the truth. Please, go ahead, make our day.

As someone who has been watching many of the things he has to say on the net, it is no wonder the online community knows him so well. I just did a quick video search on Google “video” and maybe this will help explain things.

Ron Paul 2018 hits
Rudy Giuliani 978 hits
John McCain 1456 hits

Now when Ron Paul (a no name) has twice as many hits as Giuliani (a household name) is it any wonder the online community likes him? And the fact that he is all over the net and always high in the polls but hardly mentioned in the mainstream media unless to slander him should speak volumes to even an idiot that if anything is rigged in this country, it is the media.

I just noticed something else huge, which supports our position on Ron Paul. I had to scroll 4 pages before any rating dropped below the maximum of 5. When I did a search for John McCain, the whole first page didn’t have even 1 #5 rating.

My question is why is Ron Paul running as a Republican when he is clearly a Libertarian and has even run as one before?

I am a strong supporter of Paul, and every conservative I have talked to over the past week as spoken very highly of this man. To twist numbers and say they are spam, is a very deceitful move by my fellow Republicans. Quite honestly, it sickens me.

There may very well be a few people who really spam for Paul. But I know the McCain and Guiliani campaigns have actually advocated doing what you are condemning, which the Paul campaign has never done. So please take that into consideration. If you ban Paul you might as well ban Rudy and McCain!

I find these polls to be one of the most trustworthy polls. Being from TN, Fred Thompson has strong support and suprisingly SO DOES RON PAUL. In fact, I have met people who have switched from Fred to Ron. This follows your poll results! While I could not scientifically prove this, neither could you do the same for Paul "spam," as you label it. Paul speaks to many people, even my independent and democratic friends who have changed to republican just for him. So please do not loose your sense of reason and trustworthiness. Btw, i like the lefty troll option. =)

Would you label it as spam if the primaries showed these numbers?? Of course not!

Keep Up The Good Work,
Zach

I guess this explains the massive success Paul received in the most recent straw poll. All politically competent users on this site recognize that Thompson is the true leader in the polls, as he will hopefully remain come primary season.

This is a sinister form of censorship and I DO NOT buy it. This lie has already been debunked (though it looks like you've become a part of it now):

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/5/prweb529315.htm

For shame, GOP Bloggers!

It turns out that Ron Paul has much more internet support than the rest of the GOP candidates. Given the poor quality of most of the candidates we have to choose from, these results are *hardly* surprising. If you still doubt this, go look at Ron Paul's YouTube stats. He has more than double the subscribers than all the GOP candidates combined: http://ronpaul2008.typepad.com/ron_paul_2008/2007/05/twice_as_many_t.html He is also the most demanded GOP candidate on eventful.com: http://ronpaul2008.typepad.com/ron_paul_2008/2007/05/ron_paul_most_d.html And as the saying goes, "money talks". Ron Paul's donations have more than doubled since the last debates:

What, are they spamming with their dollars now? PLEASE.

If you really want to talk about "manufacturing support", be productive and go write about all the lies and disinformation we've been fed by the neocons to get us into this totally BS war. I'm a conservative republican and I've had it with this crap. Be a part of the solution or get out of the way!

Dismissed!

I think Ron Paul's mistake is to not realize the oceans no longer protect us...plain and simple.

I have alot in commong with his supporters but I cannot support him.

And I think it is tacky to rig polls.

To Pink Flamingo:

I love how you marginalized Ron Paul's support. The fact is many people are coming back to the party, simply because their is actually a candidate for small government. Do you not remember what small government means anymore? This party was founded on small government!! Has it become just a facade? Just a hoax to keep voters hooked in while he pilfer and expand government far far beyond the realm even a democratic candidate would? George Bush spent more money than all the Presidents before him, PUT TOGETHER! Does it not surprise you that people do not want more of the same? Ron Paul's supporters, which includes me, are sickened by where this new age "conservatism" has taken us. Maybe you can delusion yourself out of reality, but I cannot and will not. This man is the most demanded man on eventful.com! Is that spamming? Or do you just label someone as a "spammer" to avoid facing the issue that America wants change, and it just may not conform to your view!

And as to your anti-immigration comments... the people I met for FRED THOMPSON do not not even like Bush's stance on immigration. The country is changing. Why do you think we lost Congress? If the Republican Party does not nominate a no war candidate, they will not win in 2008.

More people label themselves as independents now than republican, or even democrats. These people have a more moderate stance, and continuing borrowing money from China (3 billion a day) to fuel a war is not one of their priorities! This people want real answers and these people want a voting record to back up claims. Paul has both. His candidacy is making his popularity boom!

Paul's support is real, and if you and, especially, this site chose to not acknowledge this, then I, and my affiliate sites, will remove it from our list of credible polls. Maybe that means nothing to you, but a good reputation is one of my priorities. And I refuse to reference, link, or promote anyone who distorts facts and falsely accuses one group, while looking the other way for other, more prominent, groups(McCain and Ghouliani).

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." ~ George Orwell

Zach Warren, from Middle TN

I guess I don't understand why people assert that Paul supporters are cheating. Could they not be far more interested in their candidate or more organized toward garnering support for their candidate that is so lacking in the main stream media. You hide behind a cloak of ignorance as you clearly have no idea about the design and structure of ALL credible polls-- as all have IP loggers and cannot, even with the user's browser removal of cookies, be tampered with. Thus, the assertion that people are spamming is without credible evidence, and, therefore, your entire logic is flawed and your entire article should be disregarded-- that is, of course, unless you want to somehow get ACTUAL evidence of all of this activity.

I am a Ron Paul supporter, not a spammer. It would have been easy to vote multiple times in your poll, but I didn't. I hate vote manipulation just as much as you do. If people abused the system, I apologize for them on behalf of Dr. Paul. However, I would urge you to fix your poll to eliminate multiple votes. Other polls have done this, why haven't you?

Dr. Paul really is the only true conservative in this race. Remember when being a conservative meant limiting government to the Constitution, or being fiscally responsible? That's Ron Paul. He really is the best candidate for the job and is exactly what America needs to regain it's sovereignty, identity and respect.

I am very grieved with the other candidate's willingness to undermine the Constitution. I am even more grieved by the many Americans who have sold their valuable liberties for the plastic trinkets of false security and prosperity. The Europeans did it to the Native Americans, and now the elite are doing it to the American people. If you give them an inch, they'll take a mile, or ten. Never sell your liberty at any price. Guard it with your very life!

The REAL ID is the most blatant example of wooden nickel security. It is not intended to stop illegal immigration or thwart terrorism. It is meant to monitor and restrict common people like you and me. We will not be able to get a job, board a plane, get a loan, or many other things without one, and all of our vital information will be tied to it. If you think identity theft is bad now, wait until your entire identity is contained on one card. And don't believe them when they say it is tamper-proof, because that's a lie. Nothing is tamper-proof. The criminal mind should never be underestimated.

What would happen if it was lost or stolen? What would happen if your name was mistakenly blacklisted? Mistakes do happen.

When there is a consolidation of power, the fields are ripe for corruption. Think about it like you would your investments: diversify. Never put all your eggs in one basket. The same is true for government. Diversify power because power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. When one party controls all three branches of government, the system fails. There is no check or balance because all three are in locked-step.

When Dr. Paul says the Republican party has lost it's way, he couldn't be more right. We have forgotten what it means to be conservative. He writes a weekly article, found on his House page. I strongly urge you to read it regularly as that is one way to stay focused on what true conservatism really is.

Thank you for including Dr. Paul in your poll. Again, I hate spam and vote manipulation just as much as you do. You can fix your poll to eliminate this problem. Please do so. (I tried to use the TypeKey functionality, but it wasn't working.)

This polarization is very unbecoming of us.
In recent years us Americans have found more and more ways to divide us rather then finding enlighten ways to bring us together; its almost like we’re taking one giant step backwards in the American experiment. The mainstream news pundits and Internet bloggers bombard us with hatred, fear, discontent, denial and conspiracies theories. We have lost true examples of intelligently debated issues. Now it appears Ron Paul supporters are being marginalized; this has got to stop no matter who you support. We should learn to listen to one another again, understand their views, respectfully question their views and offer sensible compromises to differences. Who knows, maybe we can all learn a thing or two. We must respect our right to debate in this country and end this archaic way of debating.

Conservatives
Liberals
Republicans
Democrats
Greens
Libertarians
Constitutionalists
Left
Right
+ Center_____________________________
AMERICANS

Sorry if any damage was done to your poll, but like you said it wasn't scientific. No doubt Ron Paul has HUGE and very real support online, so naturally any poll online will reflect that support. Likewise, he has very little support with the mainstream media therefore the mainstream media polls will reflect that as well. It's all very logical if you stand back and take a look behind the glass.

I'm sure the "ron paul machine" had no intentions of harming your results, no matter what the outcome they were inherently incorrect. If you leave a candidate out the numbers will skew in the wake, if you include a candidate that has unusual support within your own medium than they will natural skew to those results as well. Of course you can look at it in a sinister way, "look there's a Ron Paul poll go vote for him." However, facts be faced if Giuliani supports could do the same I'm sure they would. The cold hard facts are, they simply just don't have the kind of online support to pull that off.

So it's not so much a matter of right and wrong, accurate vs spammers like you may be thinking. It may just be the law of commons showing their effects.

Once again sorry for any distress Ron Paul may have brought you. Just please do yourself a favor and humor the possibility of neither method of polling being any form of accurate. Then decide which do you trust more, the main stream media or the Internet media?

Cheers

Republicans need to face the music and realize that the next president will be a democrat or Ron Paul. Iraq is the crucial factor. Ron Paul supporters are real, we are rallying others and are snowballing! Since many people still ask whos Ron Paul? How can you be so suspect of his supporters trying to get his name out, Its a crucial first step in campaign to be known.

You neocons will never learn: we conservatives are sick of big government and we're sick of being ignored by you political partisan shrill-hacks who try to suppress any voice of freedom. That's right, go ahead and try to censor Dr. Ron Paul. It won't work. Your power an/or influence will end with your pathetic president's departure from power. You've ruined the Republican party and you've ruined what was left of the Constitution.

Just do us all a favor and don't hop ship and try to pretend you're a real conservative when it finally does dawn on you that the tides have shifted. We don't want you anywhere near us, you pro-war, socialist, religious-pandering, mendacious worm.

As a long time Ron Paul fan I have to say that I resent being called a "spammer."
I do search the internet looking for polls so I can vote and register my support ONCE per poll.
I resent your insinuation that Ron's support is somehow manufactured and doesn't translate into the real world.
Consider these facts:
Ron Paul has more than twice as many YouTube subscribers than any other candidate of either party. He has twice as many as ALL OTHER GOP candidates COMBINED.
Ron Paul has hundreds of MeetUp groups organinzed. This is real world support as each one of these groups had to pay a fee to MeetUp. Each of these groups represents real people who meet and "take it to the streets." I am a member of one of these groups myself.
In the days following each of the debates, Ron Paul's fundraising DOUBLED. I think real money being contributed represents "real world" support.
On Eventful.com Ron Paul has more "demands" for personal appearances than any other GOP candidate. Each of these "demands" represents real people who want the chance to see Ron in person.
The gambling911.com oddsmakers have lowered Ron's odds from 200 to 1 all the way down to 15 to 1 and based on betting patterns they expect the odds to go down still further. If people are willing to bet money on his chances, there must be some real world support somewhere.

I guess Ron Paul supporters have spammed and cloned individuals to have the most Meetup groups. Also

180 Meetup Groups the most out of any candidate!

Be careful those spammer can spam clones with their scripts batch programs!

I guess it all comes down to which numbers do you trust. Corporate Media (like foxnews) or the public internet?

I find these so-called "pollsters" to be sadly lacking. Surely, there are probably Paul supporters, as well as Obama supporters, Thompson supporters, and supporters of virtually every other candidate who have voted twice. We recognize that internet polls aren't scientific, but they do serve a purpose. Thus, the people running the poll have a responsibility to ensure the security of the poll as much as possible. Eliminating a candidate or candidates is idiotic if one believes the final result will have any meaning.

Once you've eliminated a candidate, especially one who is drawing support, you've invalidated the poll. I understand the desire to "control" the results, but you can't do it this way and maintain any credibility. Once you've gone to the lengths of dropping candidates that are showing more support than you think they should, you're already worthless as a poll. If you can't control the double-voting that you think is occuring, then your only real alternative is to PULL THE ENTIRE POLL. Pulling one candidate invalidates the results, in and of itself.

I might add that the accusations against the Paul campaign seem rather bold to me. Again, I can't see what you can see, but having encountered as many Paul supporters as I have in the blogosphere, the high polling results don't really surprise me as much as they do you. Perhaps these are the only people who really enjoy doing these polls enough to win regularly. I don't know. But I do know one thing. A poll that eliminates a viable candidate isn't really a poll at all, and your ridiculous attempt at controlling the results only embarrasses you.

I took this poll after the FOX debate when Paul was removed and I voted for Pataki in his absence. That being said, as a true Ron Paul supporter because of the debates, I must admit that this poll does seem to be skewed by Paul supporters. I mean, honestly, there is no way that the top 3 (4 with Thompson) have so little support. I believe that the problem is not Paul supporters, rather it is the lack of the other candidates' supporters voting. So, in reality this online poll does not reflect the real world.
What this poll does represent though, I hope, is that disgruntled traditional Conservatives in the Republican Party (such as myself) and the marginalized members of the Republican Liberty Caucus do represent a powerful force to be reckoned with.
Fred Thompson's real world support is quite evident of a general feeling among many Republicans that the current top 3 evoke an uneasy feeling of needing to vote for the lesser of 3 evils.
That being said, Thompson's record is not known by most voters, and it will not stand up to true Conservative criticism. He is weak on illegal immigration, and many Republicans are very upset over the current Immigration Bill, especially in light of Bush's comments referring to us as immoral and stupid. He is pro-"free-trade", our version of which is not Laissez Faire, but corporate protectionism that has destroyed America's working class and rural communities.
The GOP base has a lot to be worried about, considering all the contaminated food that has been imported from China and Bush refusing to allow small cattle farmers to test their cows for Mad Cow Disease. On Lou Dobbs last night 93% of the voters felt that all cattle should be tested, but Bush supported the industrial corporate ranchers and violated the rights of the small farmers to control their own farming practices.
The majority of America, including the Heartland, is furious with Bush, and if the GOP cares about the survival of America as a free society, it had better get behind candidates who stand for the values that the majority of Americans believe in. Nominating any of the top 3 candidates is most certainly laying out the red carpet for Hillary's neo-Marxist Revolution.

On non-”Scientific Polls,”

Non-scientific Internet polls of interested people, who most likely watched the Republican Debates show that Ron Paul came in 1st during the first debate. MSNBC's Internet Poll , before and after the first debate shows Ron Paul's positive rating improving from +9% to +42%. Ron Paul clearly won the debate among those who watched the debate. MSNBC sponsored the debate and advertised the online poll before and after the debate.

Fox News' Cell Phone Text Message Poll, clearly shows Ron Paul a close second in the debate. Mitt Romney first at 29%, Ron Paul second at 25%. A poll of people interested who actually watched the debate. MSNBC's second Internet Poll showing similar results with Ron Paul improving from +27% to +49%, clearly winning the poll of interested people who actually watched the debate. The simple fact is that only 1-2% of Republicans were interested enough to watched the debate.

What about the so called "scientific polls" of disinterested people, who did not watch the debates. These are the polls that are bought and payed for by various Mass Media Organizations in the US, who also choose the questions in the polls. Really, non-"Scientific Polls", that include candidates who "are not" running for President, and exclude some candidates, like Ron Paul, that "are" running for President. Not one poll in Ron Paul's home state of Texas includes Ron Paul. Article; The Pollsters Censoring Ron Paul from the States He Would Do Well In; Statistical Analysis .

The difference between these non-"Scientific" Media Polls and these non-scientific Internet Polls is really an indication of the failure of the Mass Media "News" Organizations to inform and report the news in an unbiased manner. The response of the poll participant is "Ron Paul Who?" not "Ron Paul, I don't like what he is saying". Ron Paul is definitely a top contender for the Republican Nomination for President among those who are informed about "Who" Ron Paul is.

Your poll at GOP Bloggers is simply a right slanted Internet poll of interested people. It's just as “Scientific” as the Main Stream Media's non-”Scientific” polls of uninterested people.

Using the “Scientific Method” does not make the poll “Scientific”,

A Rocket Scientist,

I just wanted to say that although I support Ron Paul, I don't support spamming tactics. Everybody that I know that supports Ron Paul (and the number is growing rapidly) is also an online-type, but not the spamming-type.

Have faith- if you see somebody actively cheating, ban them for good. But just because Ron Paul does well in online polls is simply because a large base of the online population supports Ron Paul. It's a fact of reality, and not one that you can dodge by dropping Ron Paul from the polls to accurately present the views of middle America, who get their news from Fox and such.

So if cheating is taking place on this poll, it would be the fault of the group offering the poll, not the canidate.

Simply limit the votes to one per IP address, or make a unique logon for each person and your problem is solved.

To say that Ron Paul supporters are the only ones who are attempting to drum up support for their candidate is absurd. All the candidates have a support base that is activly trying to get their candidate elected.

I support Ron Paul, and I vote only once.

If Ron Paul supporters can "spam" the GOP staw poll, then so too can the supporters of ALL the Candidates. So your point is moot.

If you don't want the "spam", then fix your polling methods.

If Paul is such a longshot whose supporters are spamming online polls, then why have gambling websites slashed his odds from 200:1 to 15:1?

This issue highlights the absurd lengths that the media are having to go through to silence the front runner's campaign. He's only considered a long shot, because the media says he is. This is a self reinforcing view that they continue to perpetuate through the media. When you ask the average American, they don't know who Ron Paul is. But, for that matter, most don't know who Mitt Romney or Barack Obama is, save for the constant name dropping by the media. The average American cannot even name the current Attorney General, or even the Vice President. Sadly, most people in America just don't care about politics. When asked to participate in a "scientific poll," they merely pick the name they have heard. However, when you look at the informed public that pays attention to politics and world affairs, this is where you are seeing the groundswell of support for Ron Paul. Ron Paul is the front runner amongst the informed, and the media marginalization of Dr. Paul is the only thing that is preventing him from reaching a larger audience of people. This is the reason he continues to do so well in the online polling.

Facts supporting Ron Paul as the front runner in the election:

1. Ron Paul has more Youtube channel subscribers than any other candidate.

He has twice as many YouTube channel subscribers as Barack Obama, and he has twice as many as all of the other Republican candidates combined. Dr. Paul now has nearly twice as many subscribers as Barack Obama who is in second place.

2. Ron Paul has more meetup groups than any other candidate.

3. Ron Paul consistently ranks in the top searches on technorati.com. http://technorati.com/pop/

4. According to Alexa.com, Ron Paul's official campaign site now gets more page views than Rudy McRomney. http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?site0=ronpaul2008.com&site1=mittromney.com&site2=joinrudy2008.com&site3=johnmccain.com&site4=&x=26&y=14&h=300&w=610&h=400&w=700&z=1&range=6m&size=Medium&y=0&z=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fronpaul2008.com

5. Previous attempts to censor Ron Paul have elicited petitions that have generated more than 30,000 signatures.

6. Paul is one of the most requested candidates on eventful.com.

7. Dr. Paul's odds are improving on gambling websites, which shows people who are willing to bet that Paul has a chance of winning. http://www.gambling911.com/Ron-Paul-Odds-053107.html

The point is that any of the other campaigns could have as loyal a following as Ron Paul, but none of them do. If their supporters believed in their candidate as much as we do, wouldn't they be using the same tools as us to spread their candidate's message? I think this proves that none of the other candidates have demonstrated anything resembling a reason to care. The fact of the matter is that every other candidate represents politics as usual and Americans are fed up. We are shut out by the mainstream media, so we have to seek other outlets to get Paul's message heard. The grassroots support on the Internet is necessary to combat the war chests of the corporatist fascist candidates. Ron Paul represents an alternative to the usual lesser of two evils campaign. And, I think the vast majority of Americans would agree if given a chance. But that chance requires that the media give Dr. Paul a fair shake, which to this point has not happened.

"In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain

I support Ron Paul.

Matt, perhaps you should realize that this is no machine; we are informed, politically active, and take the time to support Ron Paul on straw polls. Ron Paul is simply huge on the internet. Check his numbers on Facebook, Mypace, YouTube, Technorati, and Digg. It is no coincidence Ron polls well on the Internet and poorly on the Gallup; we, the net users, read. It is that simple. Ron Paul unites libertarians, Republicans, and Democrats alike. Dr. Paul will continue to surprise you and all of the people who doubt his numbers.

First, let me say that I have been a Republican all my life. When I was in high school, I began listening to Rush Limbaugh. Rush drilled into me that the core principles of being a Republican were threefold: limited government, lower taxes and more personal responsibility.

I believed that then, and I still believe it today. That is why I support Ron Paul for president. That is also why, if Ron Paul does not get the Republican nomination, I will leave the Republican party and encourage every other Republican I know to do the same.

I can honestly say that I have never spammed anything, especially Ron Paul polls that I want to be accurate. Besides, I don't have the money or the techincal expertise to spam. Before Ron Paul got in this race for 2008, I understood "spamming" to refer to the practice of one shady person using multiple computers to send out thousands of email advertisements to people who didn't want them. In light of the Ron Paul phenomenon, "spamming" seems to have changed meanings so that it now refers to multiple people from across the entire American spectrum voting for a candidate that the Establishment doesn't like.

I understand that there are multiple ways to prevent poll spamming, like IP checking and email addresses. Perhaps there are others. Please use these methods and don't contribute to a blackout of Ron Paul.

Rudy McRomney get some online votes..
YEAH! democracy at work!

Ron Paul gets votes ...
DAMN tinfoil hat blogger loonies

First, thank you for including Ron Paul in your poll.

I can not attest to the other votes for Paul, but I only vote once in online polls as I find them, unless repeated votes are requested.

The closest I come to "spamming" is attempting to vote again in a poll to view the results in such cases where no link is provided for visitors to view the results without voting. I do so with the hope that the software would detect my repeat attempt, and that has been the case in all online polls in which I have voted this year.

I do hope that you continue to include Ron Paul as on option in your future polls, and please keep in mind that if any individual could "spam" for Paul, an individual who supports another candidate could "spam" for another candidate.

It is unfair to accuse supporters of one candidate of cheating just because the turnout is larger. This suspicion parallels the liberal notion that those who succeed financially must have engaged in dishonest means to reach their success.

I never seen a web site resent its reader's this much. I refuse to apologize for supporting Dr. Paul. I only voted once and I have yet to see any objective proof of this spamming charge (A charge that should be easy enough to document).

My friends are all supporting Dr. Paul (a young, tech savvy, well-educated crowd)and they agree that they are more excited about him then they have ever been for any candidate. Why? Because Dr. Paul actually offers a chance to save the GOP and, by extension, the country from the corporatist, right-wing big government authoritarianism that currently dominates the party. If you hate socialism (the dems) and you hate socialism lite (the rest of the republicans) then, yes, a chance to vote for, instead of against, a candidate will inspire a rabid following.

As more people get engaged and involved (my local Ron Paul Meetup group already has over 120 members), your site is going to be eat crow and lose credibility.

Leaving aside the issue of the poll spamming for a moment, are you serious that you had never heard of Ron Paul before 2007?

How can you pretend to cover Republican party politics when you don't know such basic information?

If you're covering Republican party politics and don't know who the prominent libertarians are, it's like covering Democrat party politics and not knowing who the prominent Greens are.

I am a Ron Paul supporter. I have voted in your poll. Once. I am not a spammer. Give it some time, and see what happens. :)

Are you retarded to include votes tied to IP address and email? That would take care of your "Paul spammer" whining. Get real loser. The support is REAL!! It's one thing enough that he has more online support than any other candidate (perhaps combined).. LOSER!

By the way, you know who else has no chance of being the nominee? Duncan Hunter. Zero chance. So why are you bothering to have him guest blog? After all, if there's no point to Paul supporters voting for him in online polls because "he can't win", then I guess there's no point to your wasting time and bandwidth with Hunter's guest blog, since he has absolutely no chance to win either. Right?

Talk about paranoid! You should have more than hearsay as "evidence" before making the accusations you did. Nevertheless, all you wanted was an excuse to take Ron Paul, the winner of the only two Republican debates so far, off your "straw poll." Good going! BTW, you paranoids claiming "spamming" should look it up in the dictionary. It's not the same as voting.

Matt Margolis,

You make an accusation of "spamming" but provide no evidence to back this up. Post your IP logs and demonstrate that the same people are voting for Paul (or any other candidate for that matter) more than once. Other than showing hard evidence of fraud your allegations are nothing more than opinions.

Mr. Margolis, I assume that you have your poll set up to recognize multiple IP addresses, and of course naturally rejecting a duplicate vote from that unique IP Address. If you don't, then you should rethink about continuing to use your web developer (and I say that as a web developer myself.)

For the record: Spam is: the abuse of electronic messaging systems to send "unsolicited bulk messages"... not online votes. Your use of the word "spam" sounds like an excuse to ban Dr. Paul.

"Spam" is like using the word "terrorist"... it's a vague blanket statement that allows the user to conviently wash their hands of the matter.

If Dr. Paul can shoot up 37.6% with 957,537 YouTube subscribers, +7k on your poll is not... spam.

I just thought I'd enlighten you on these facts.

I voted for paul. But I read this site probably once every day or so and I vote every time. So I probably have about 10 votes. Maybe its spamming a little but it still doesnt explain the multiple thousands of votes.

To put it simply, your full of you know what and I have news for you, not only do WE THE PEOPLE support Dr. Ron Paul, he IS going to be the next President of the United States of America! You will know this to be true on July 4th 2008 when you see millions of us Ron Paul Supporters in Washington, proving beyond a doubt that we are for REAL........keep your BS going, we don't care, we know what is about to happen and you will not stop US!

Here is the problem with your "poll" your too stupid to code it so that an ip address can only vote once.........wake the hell up.........Ron Paul 2008

The fact that you didn't know who Ron Paul ("Dr. No") was until recently doesn't exactly make you appear politically savvy, and the spamming argument doesn't really explain the youtube channel subscriber numbers, or the eventful.com demands does it?

A few points to ponder...
Ron Paul wins the first debate polls put up by ABCNEWS.com and MSNBC.com. Ron Paul resoundingly wins the second debate polls again, by those same websites. Ron Paul leads the Fox News text message poll much of the night - 40K voters, and comes in a close second to Romney. MIGOP leader, Saul Anuzis, issues political hit on Ron Paul, demanding he be banned from all future debates for a comment he made - an absurd gesture of desperation, and quickly recanted . Ron Paul, one of the top 3 internet search terms in the blogosphere now for 3 weeks. Ron Paul, 13,300 YOUTUBE subscribers, more than double the nearest candidate (Obama) and 2x more than ALL the GOP candidates combined. Ron Paul, the most demanded GOP candidate (per Eventful.com). Ron Paul, 2 weeks ago a longshot of 200-1 by Gambling911, today lowering the odds to 15-1 because of the flood of bets on Ron winning. Ron Paul - takes in $100K day after second debate. Ron Paul...I'm getting sick of hearing about this Ron Paul - those spammers are SOOOO organized...it's a scary thought, but they may just take over THE ENTIRE INTERNET!

It's funny how you so-called conservatives can't swallow the fact that Ron Paul enjoys real support from conservative voters...

Your only beef with Paul is that he's anti-war... well, wake up, so are the American people! Paul could easily sweep Clinton or Obama... Giuliani, Romney, McCain, not gonna happen...

Show the logs that prove tampering.

Trust but verify.
-Roanld Reagan

So I guess by the logic of the mod, anyone who wins a poll is cheating, especially if its by a large majority. I guess its hard to believe that people can actually spot a genuine politician (I know - oxymoron) when they see one.

Also I guess all these pro Ron Paul comments are somehow autogenerated by an invisible spamming army who want to take over the site.. look out for monsters in your closets too.

I apologize for the formatting. It seems my spaces were stripped from the formatting.

I agree with so many posters here. I too am a conservative republican. I was in the College Republicans club when I attended UNT, registered republican at 18, my whole family is republican, etc.

I voted for Bush to do the following:
1. No nation building or policing the world (didn't happen)
2. Let me opt out of social security or give me a private account (didn't happen)
3. Reduce government spending (didn't happen)
4. Reduce taxes (he did that at least!)
5. Let me have tax free savings accounts (he did for health, but it is very screwy)
6. Drill in Alaska (didn't happen)

So, I am a disgruntled republican. I also work at a software company and love computers. It should be no surprise, then, that I vote in online polls for Ron Paul. I also do not have a land line phone, so there is 0 chance I will be included in Gallup type polls.

I think you will find that we are real people. We are not "spammers". Last I checked, elections are won by the candidate who can organize enough people to the polls.

Also, I do have a coworker who is a liberal democrat. He supports Ron Paul to because he likes Ron Paul's message of "leave it to the states" for social issues. We are both on fire for Ron Paul. I have a rep as being very conservative, so I work on my fellow conservative coworkers to educate them about Ron Paul. He works on the liberal ones.

Ron Paul has very broad appeal. Most people who listen to his message genuinely, end up supporting him. He simply does not have the hundred million dollars it takes to get national exposure through commercials. Instead, he gets national exposure through the internet. It should be no surprise then that he wins every internet poll that includes him.

Once his message is more widely heard, he will probably win all the "real" polls too!

There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said. Mr. Margolis, you have neither a valid argument nor a valid complaint. I think you're just underestimating the support Ron Paul has among young, internet-savvy people who are tired of the Iraq war and looking for a truly honest and principled politician.

It was only two weeks ago that 2008 Presidential candidate Ron Paul was listed at Sportsbook.com with odds of 200 to 1. In fact, early in the month he was not even offered on the political betting menu. My how things have changed in the past month.

Carrie Stroup here with some startling news concerning Ron Paul. Sportsbook.com (see website here) had experienced such a dramatically insurgence of betting action on Mr. Paul over the past two weeks they were forced to slash odds from 200 to 1 to the current 15 to 1 odds.

"Ron Paul is a serious contender whose grass roots campaign is growing dramatically," explains Payton O'Brien, Senior Editor of Gambling911.com, one of the world's leading political betting news sources. "No other single candidate for US President has received the type of interest generated here at Gambling911.com."

Case in point, articles on Ron Paul in some cases generated four times the amount of interest than both Hillary Clinton and Rudolph Giuliani articles combined.

http://www.gambling911.com/Ron-Paul-Odds-053107.html

One point of order first.

The poll at GOPstrawPolls.com states that it is reset every day. From this I deduce that it is permissible to vote once per day. (but not more often than that)

If this is an incorrect assumption on my part, please make this information more prominent on your website.

Now, the top 6 reasons that you should consider before laying the spamming charge on Dr. Paul's supporters.

1) It might not be Dr. Paul's supporters who are doing it, but rather someone supporting a different candidate who wishes to tar Dr. Paul. A real Ron Paul supporter (at least a smart one) would use proxies, and/or clear cookies.

2) The petition to keep Dr. Paul in the debates has, last I checked, over 17,000 signatures. It would probably be more, but the Michigan GOP had to withdraw the suggestion under intense pressure. This petition is IP logged, and includes mailing address as well as email address.

3) myspace, youtube, eventful, buddymaps and many other registration-only websites show Dr. Paul with a huge fan base, well above what ANY other GOP candidate has.

4) Dr. Paul's odds, posted at 911gambling.com, have fallen dramatically in the last few weeks: (going from 200:1 prior to the debates, to 100:1 after the SC debate, to 15:1 once the youtube and myspace campaigns started gaining steam.) This dark horse is starting to look like a horse of a different color.

5) Gallup and several other so called "Scientific" polls have not even released any results that include Ron Paul since prior to the second debate.

What is Gallup Poll sitting on? Why no results since May 13th?

or they use a really small sample size (467)

Was Ron Paul even given as a choice in this Rasmussen poll? They certainly aren't reporting any - The results don't add up to 100%. They show a total of 32% unaccounted for (assuming a similar spread to the Zogby poll below: half of F. Thompson's numbers going to Ron Paul would mean 6%, with 2% each for the other 6 candidates, and 14% undecided.) YMMV

Zogby shows Dr. Paul in 4th place in NH among declared candidates on 5/17 Granted, it's only 3%, but it's a lot more than Tancredo, Hagel, Hunter, Huckabee, T. Thompson, or Brownback recieved. Again, Where are the supporters for them? Furthermore 11% are undecided, and 6% are pulling for someone who isn't even in the race. (F. Thompson) What will happen when the negative ads begin or F. Thompson decides not to run? If those voters should go to Paul (certainly a long shot, but not at all beyond the realm of possibility.) Then suddenly, he could be looking at second place with 20%. This would be perfectly in line with the Fox news text-message poll (which did not have an undecided, or an F. Thompson option.)

Many of Ron Paul's supporters:

• do not have regular land lines (I have only a VOIP and a Cell Phone,)
• are on the do-not-call list (because they value their privacy)
• have unregistered from the GOP in protest (many polls are only calling registered Republicans who put their phone number on their registration card) over the war and totally out-of-control pork barrel SOCIAL PROGRAM spending. (I mean, who needs to worry about Hillary Care, when the GOP is pushing a brand new, never before offered, prescription drug benefit? - Sheesh!)

6) Fox News' text meassge poll the night of the second debate is not capable of being spammed in the way you suggest, since they use caller ID to make sure each person only votes once.

If you are going to say that moveon.org rallied their troops to push Ron Paul as Sean Hannity has, then you must also acknowledge the possibility that the Mormon Church rallied their members to push Mitt Romney. Also, one would be left with the horrible conclusion that Democrats (willing to vote Ron Paul) outnumber Republicans (willing to vote anyone else -assuming Mitt's numbers are just the work of the Mormon church, which I am only suggesting hypothetically.) by about 10:1 and that nearly the entire viewership of a GOP debate on Fox News consisted of [Very Liberal] Democrats and members of the Mormon church.

Such public sentitment would seem to bode very poorly for the GOP in the upcoming election. Since Dr. Paul's supporters will very likely desert in droves if he is not the nominee, the GOP would only be left with the Mormon church. (and they would only get that if Mitt is the nominee.) I know many, many, many staunch Republicans who will absolutely boycott the election if Giudy Ruliana or insane McCain is the nominee.

Get ready for president Hillary. =8^O

Again: Where are the online supporters for the other candidates?

------------

Finally, In the interest of fair voting, I offer the following outline of a method to 100% gaurantee that there is no more spamming in your polls.

(This method assumes that it is permissible to vote once each day, see point of order above.)

Log each IP address, and make each user accept a cookie when they vote.

The first time each unique user votes (That is: if someone votes who does not have a cookie,) count their vote as "provisional". Be sure to inform the user of this, and let them know that they may come back tomorrow, when their cookie will identify them, and their vote can be counted for real. This has the added advantage of allowing multiple users behind a single firewall to participate (my wife can't vote in your poll because we share an IP address, even though she has her own computer. She supports Congressman Paul too.) There are many people in apartment buildings for example that share an IP connection.

If someone *is* trying to stuff the ballot box (regardless of which camp they are in,) then they will have to clear cookies in order to do so and thus, every one of their votes will be provisional. if someone doesn't clear cookies first, then you will spot them instantly: give them a warning if they try to vote twice in a day, and don't count their vote. If some system admin behind a corporate or university fire wall tries to rig the vote by having each computer under their control vote for Ron Paul each day, then it will be obvious, since it is not very likely that a candidate would get 100% of the vote once the number of votes gets over 10. Especially true for corporate and college networks.

By posting the number of provisional votes versus verified votes, you will be able to clearly show the level of ballot stuffing. Especially if the provisional votes fail to materialize as real votes over the next few days.

If you are unable to find a developer to implement the above method, then please email me, and I will happily do so for free, so that we may lay this issue to rest once and for all.

PS: there is a problem with your comment form, in that if you push Preview, you are no longer offered the anti-spam question.

Ok, Pink Flamingo and anyone else- let's get this straight once and for all- No one is against immigration, we're against "illegal" immigration. If you like I can explain the difference to you, but somehow I think you already know. You'd just much prefer to try and blur the obvious distinction between the two.

Well, for what it's worth, I am one Ron Paul supporter that has never hit a poll more than once.

As far as "scientific" polls, well, no one has ever called to ask. Might be because I don't have a phone line.

I don't understand the hate for Paul from the right. With the exception of his non-interventionist stance on the war, he is more in line with the party than Giuliani, who has no conservative credentials at all. A real shame the GOP seems intent on hanging him out to dry.

If Paul doesn't have support he will not win. So why are people like you Mr. Margolis so concerned? Let Democracy run its course.

Only somewhat related, but I'd like to agree with Zach Warren (above) in affirming that Fred Thompson supporters, such as myself, do NOT agree with Bush's stand on immigration.

As for Ron Paul, I only know that he labels himself as a "libertarian." While in a dream world where true conservative values as they are historically defined match Paul's stands, we must recognize that the 21st century definition of "conservatism," which most of us here adhere to, demands a more populist viewpoint regarding social and ethical issues (wiretapping, etc.).

The Republican Party's demise which will be heralded by the severe whipping it will receive in November 2008 will be well-deserved. The Republican Party cannot survive for long as a Democrat-lite party when voters can vote for the real thing.

If the GOP had remained a limited, constitutional government party I would have hope for it, but I see no way for it to be saved now.

I put Paul along with Thompson, Hunter and McCain on my "approve" list. I did not put down a first choice.

I think there might be a degree of spamming, but not as much as many think. On the internet, whether it be Myspace or Youtube, Paul is leading in video subscibers and friends. Since your straw poll is on the internet and not scientific, I don't think you should be surprised at the results. Paul supporters tend to go on the internet more than, say, Giuliani supporters.

I hope he is not removed from the polls. There are points I disagree with the man on, but I would like to see a President at least try to cut the governments size in half (or more). It would be fun.

Matt, I've tried contacting people on this site before....the poll allows people to vote more than once! You guys need to track IP addresses and/or emails. You can't just write this off as spamming until you do this...then we'll see. Don't get into this we were victimized by Ron Paul supporters thing. Keep him on, change the poll, and let the truth be known (whether there is real support or not).

Mr Margolis,

First, I want to congratulate you on being willing to open the Straw Poll to ALL candidates (including even Duncan Hunter).

I support Ron Paul. I can't speak for the remaining 8075 first-choice votes currently showing for RP, but in my case, you have my solemn word that at least one was NOT manufactured. This email is genuine as well.

Next, I must challenge you to explain in detail how the "spamming" you say is happening works. Of course, since spam is a messaging phenomenon, I doubt that this is the right term -- ballot-stuffing comes to mind as a more appropriate one. Security problems are best dealt with by careful analysis in the full light of day, followed by a well-thought-out fix. I think RP's opposition would profit immensely from a detailed account of the (alleged) wanton dishonesty of some of his supporters. A way to neutralize them might also suggest itself. Then, just start the Poll from scratch. I am sure that the candidates' fans won't mind casting their votes again, if it means a more accurate result. I, for one, look forward to doing so.

Finally, please visit http://www.rightwingnews.com/mt331/2007/05/analysis_of_the_may_gop_straw.php, and click on the "GOP Straw Polls" link near the top of the "analysis". If you are puzzled at the result, please investigate and report back if possible.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Bob Weaver

I hate to tell everyone, but all of Congressman Ron Paul's support is NOT organized. YET. Give us a month, and you will wish you had these numbers. Soon email lists, websites, groups, telephone numbers, etc. will be in place to vote just once. That is all we need.

Fair is fair, I realize now that I have gopstrawpolls (which appears not to be a vote daily poll)confused with presidentialpolls2008 (which is a vote daily poll)

Based on this, I must now confess that I did vote twice (only twice) in the gopstrawpolls but I did not delete my cookies, or change my IP address. (since I was under the mistaken impression that daily voting was allowed.)

Therefore, unless your poll already takes steps to reduce duplicate voting, (via cookies, or IP address) please subtract one first choice and one acceptable vote for Ron Paul, and one unacceptable vote for all other candidates.

Right now, I have to go wipe some egg off of my face.

Sincerely

This comment from Mr. Margolis really stood out in the original post:
instead of really trying to reach out to uncommitted primary voters and convince them to support Paul in a reasonable, civilized way.
Just how is Dr. Paul supposed to reach out to primary voters if the mainstream media ignores him? The media-favored candidates get tremendous free press, making it far easier for them to reach voters. They get free name recognition and generally positive coverage. Candidates who are not in the media spotlight have to find some other way to get attention. Dr. Paul is achieving that against all odds, by various tactics. The most stunning of these tactics is not online organizing, which is practiced by many, but rather the fact that the guy tells the truth. And that's what really upsets GOP leadership.

I just find it hysterical that after this blog, in which you make multiple (albeit incorrect) arguments against Dr. Paul, almost all of the comments are in SUPPORT of Dr. Paul. I didn't see one comment saying "Right on Matt! Give it to that whacko and his group of ten overzealous libertarian computer-nerds!"

Oh wait, I get it, now we're spamming the comments too.

Wake up, face facts, LOTS of people support Ron Paul.

Why do you just automatically assume that people are "spamming." Isn't it the least bit possible that, um, perhaps people, at least people on the internet, like Ron Paul better.

He's never voted for a tax increase. He always votes to vote spending.

I'd say he is a conservative.

Tracy

Why don't you show logs that prove multiple votes or some other "cheating" on the polls?

Until you do no one will believe you or this article.

Will Ron Paul & Rudy Giuliani Debate Foreign Policy at Freedomfest?
The annual FreedomFest conference, has issued a debate invitation to GOP Presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and Ron Paul to use FreedomFest ‘07 as a debate venue to further explore their fundamental differences in foreign policy and the war in Iraq that were highlighted in the Columbia, SC debate. To review the debate invitation - www.freedomfest.com/debate.htm
For more information on the July 2007 FreedomFest Conference in Las Vegas, go to
www.freedomfest.com

What you Paul supporters are missing is that when we see that for the overwhelming bulk of Paul supporters that EVERY OTHER CANDIDATE is unacceptable, then we know what we're getting - bogus voting by fanatics. Its early, I know you like Paul...but, hey, you've got to admit that it isn't certain that he's going to get the nomination...I have my favorite, too, but there are also others in the GOP that I would find acceptable, even if not my dream candidate.

Why don't you Paul supporters try a bit of honesty?

To add my two cents worth: I don’t know a damn thing about SPAM, EXCEPT, since
I am 61 years old, I remember my mother serving it all of the time for lunch.

I was a drill sgt. during Vietnam. I trained young men to fight there and be killed. The war in Iraq is just a foolish and just as hopless as Vietnam. Our guys are nothing more than targets for the next man or woman with an IED strapped to their body.

I voted for W. I am sick that he was the only option other than Kerry. He is a liar and a moron. I think history will remember him as bigger derelict than Nixon.

I have contributed financially to the Paul campaign. I have offered my time and energy as well. To date, nobody has asked me to join a spam corps to rape and plunder online polls. What a stupid indictment for any thinking person to make. Most importantly because Dr. Paul himself and the people he attracts (young and older like me) find such cheating as reprehensible.

The day will come, likely the New Hampshire Primary when Paul will eclipse the Republican field of contenders; doing it with little money and tremedous grass roots support. (I have already made up my mind to spend my own $$ to travel from Arkansas to New Hampshire and work for him). When Ron Paul is victorious I am sure the small minds of mush that currently accuse Paul’s supporters of spamming online polls will be hurling villifying us for somehow rigging the election.

As for me, I am PROUD to be one of the pesky band of supporters who will go to any reasonable and credible length to support RON PAUL. Whores like Giullani, Romney and McCain can only buy the support they get; their positions change like the wind. Paul supporters are inspired by his story and by the heart of the man we want to be the next President of the United States.

Eat Your Hearts Out!

Until you do no one will believe you or this article.

Bullshizzle. The TRUTH is, everyone except the Don't you have some John Birch Society meeting to attend or something? Some Alex Jones webcast to listen to? Some Ickes lizards to fight?

You clowns make the ridiculous left look almost adult in comparison.

Funny how at the time of this writing there are 25 stories on the front page with this one having now 71 comments and in second place there are only 18. And the one with 18 is Matt again trying to slam Ron Paul in that post but once again support for Ron has come out on top. 3rd place had only 3 comments. Seems that Ron Paul is the only thing keeping this site afloat. Anyone else notice that Mr. moderator hasn't responded to the overwhelming support or tried any of the great idea's on this blog to prove if the spamming is true or not? I have e-mailed Matt a couple of times, suggesting that he go to Google or U-tube video section and do a search on the candidates. Not only does Ron Paul have the most hits but the videos of him have "BY FAR" the highest rating of any other candidate. Come on Matt, your silence is deafening.

First, I'd like to say that I didn't vote in your poll, but I would have voted for Ron Paul. I'd have voted for him not because I accept his issues blindly, but he has such a clear vision of what he thinks America should be, and it reflects so well in his voting record. I am not sure who I will actually be voting for in '08 because I'm not sure if my vision and Paul's coalesce, but he's our only hope for actual debate in this country.

Mark Noonan asks:

What you Paul supporters are missing is that when we see that for the overwhelming bulk of Paul supporters that EVERY OTHER CANDIDATE is unacceptable, then we know what we're getting - bogus voting by fanatics. Its early, I know you like Paul...but, hey, you've got to admit that it isn't certain that he's going to get the nomination...I have my favorite, too, but there are also others in the GOP that I would find acceptable, even if not my dream candidate.
----------End Quote:-------------

Mark,

But why don't you see it from the other side and conclude the same thing about Rudy McRomney supporters. Much larger percentages of the Rudy McRomney suporters find Ron Paul unacceptable than Ron Paul supporters find Rudy McRomney unacceptable - why isn't this "proof" that the Rudy McRomney fanatics are gaming the poll?

I think what you (and others who are advancing this specious argument) fail to appreciate is the vast polar opposite difference between Ron Paul and (Giuliani, McCain, Romney, etc.)

Every other Republican candidate that I have investigated fails the GOP platform in some key area. This is also the UNANIMOUS opinion of the UROC (United Republicans of California, a key California GOP power block)

Giuliani is a pro-[PUBLIC FUNDING for]abortion, pro-gay marriage, and is a big government authoritarian. His personal life makes Bill Clinton look like the spokesman for the poster child for Family Values, and his business dealing make Mayor Daley [sic] of chicago look like a poster child for honest government.

John McCain is pro-Amnesty (he just calls it "earned" citizenship), pro-censorship (of political groups that try to raise money) and in my sole opinion is really not fit to be president. He is a Mug-Whump of the 1st degree and a big-spender to boot.

Mitt Romney is pro-abortion, pro-("certain benefits" for gay cohabitation, instead of gay marriage") He is a flip-flopper who will say anything, do anything to get elected.

Fred Thompson (not that he is running, but he seems to be the media darling at the moment, 'cuz he might take Ron's supporters away from him - [scoff] yeah right.) also voted for McCain-Feingold campaign DEform, and Shays-Meeham. He is a big spender, CFR member who is pro-(giving up our national sovreignty to the UN)

While I have not bothered to exhaustively review all the other candidates, they sound like double-talking RINOs to me.

If any Hagel, Hunter, Tancredo, et alia supporters would like to tell me why their candidate really supports "limited government, lower taxes and more personal responsibility." - as Chris Caughey mentioned, I would be glad to hear it.

When one candidate is so very different from the other 9, it should not surprise you that his supporters find the other 9 unacceptable (or that the supporters of the gang of 9 find Dr. Ron Paul unacceptable)

Only this time, it's the limited government group that is in the majority, and the rest of you neocon turkeys better line up behind Ron Paul, or you risk splitting the party and handing the White house to the Dems (the same way you handed the Senate and the House to them.)

Laters.

I also am a Ron Paul supporter. I only vote 1 time in each poll I find.
I think you are trying the same thing as the MSM is. To discredit the true support that is swelling for Dr. Paul. It will become more apparent as the summer progresses as we supporters of Dr. Paul are out working to educate the public about who he is. Most people I talk to are very interesting in getting to know him better. They are very disinterested in Guliani and the rest of the neo con group however.

I think Ron Paul is the leader in this race. Either get with it or get out of the way. We are sick of the quid pro quo of the past few decades....

Go Ron!

I have but three words for you . . .

meetup dot com

Ron Paul has more ACTIVE, and very REAL supporters than all of the other candidates in '08 combined.

Can't wait until you report on that? What's that? You won't be reporting on that?

Tool!

Hey. You caught me.

I am a spammer. I am the same person who wrote all the other pro Ron Paul comments. I have 5000 computers, with 5000 IP addresses, that I use to spam all the polls. It's a grand conspiracy. (Are you a closet 9/11 truther? lol. hypocrite.)

Wake up ffs

Beth, why don't you realize just how loony the rest of the GOP is? Its a lot easier to delve into ad-hominem attacks, than to truthfully debate issues and have intellectual discourse. Sadly, this seems to be all that is left of the Conservative party, ad-hominem attacks and news-speak logical fallacies, such as "enhanced torture," "flip flop," "truthers," "liberal," etc..

Stop watching Faux news, and educate yourself on how to not come off as an uninformed individual!

I tire of the Ron Paul supporters spamming the polls. I am a Republican activist in Texas in a district immediately south of Ron Paul's. I work with Republican activists several times a week and I know of no one who expresses support for Ron Paul. I have met a couple in the state who formed an organization called the Liberty Caucus a few years ago. There were a couple of state wide office holders who helped them get set up, including our Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson. the Liberty Caucus now openly campaigns for Ron Paul while Jerry Patterson has endorsed Fred Thompson. The party leaders in my county are mainly supporting Thompson with a few going for Giuliani. I predict that when we we have the primary, Thompson will win going away and Ron Paul will barely register.

Ok, I watched the GOP debate twice (I had it on tape) last night, specifically loooking for reasons to like or dislike candidates other than Frudy McRomneyson (all four of whom are already disqualified as far as I am concerned.)

Dr. Paul is still my first pick. Nothing he said last night would make me turn from him, and in fact, I like him even more after hearing his answer on immigration. I just loved his answer on premeptive war being the greatest moral problem our country facces - I would have picked honest money, but Dr. Paul is correct, that is but a symptom of the greater problem.

Anyway, after carefully reviewing the debate, I find I can not in good conscience vote for any of the following:

Tancredo - He calls for a complete moratorium on even legal immigration. Worships T. Rooseveldt, and the federal park system. Thinks bi-lingual ocuntries don't work (guess he never heard of Canada) and thinks government incentives are the same as a free market.

T. Thompson - I lived in WI. 'nough said. Ok, OK, I'll give you some reasons: wants to put all Iraqis on oil welfare. Wants the fed gov to get involved in nanny-state health regulations and have a big database of everyone's health issues. said he wants to "Transform health care." - shudder.

I could hold my nose and vote for the following (especially if one compares to any of the likely democrats):

Brownback: Although he wants a "war on Cancer" (just like Nixon), would pardon Scooter, and didn't read the NEI before voting to unconstituionally cede war powers to the President, none of these rise to level of disqualification IMHO. His answers on immigration (let's follow the law we already have) are also very good.

Hunter: Although he believes in Premptive war theory, is for trade protectionism and thinks nation building is in our national interest, he also read the NEI, wants to rotate the troops home after replacement with Iraqi troops, and suggests we be allowed to buy our insurance across state lines (capital idea). He is also firmly opposed to socialism in all forms.

I could at this time vote for Gilmore or Huckabee with only minor reservations.

Gilmore thinks the US should remove any unstable leader around the world. (one hopes the Congress would restrain him) but he is against kyota treaty, seems to think Global warming is a sham, seems to understand the free market - etc.

Huckabee says we should not allow a child to live in a car, nor should we allow old people to be poor and neglected. (He didn't say it should be a government welfare program, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume he meant private charity.) He seems to understand why the GOP lost in 2006, he seems to understand that homosexuals can serve in the military so long as their conduct is proper.(just as improper heterosexual sexual conduct could be a problem.) He is for immigration, but "one at a time, and with a ticket."

Really, what these people are saying is this:

"Ron Paul supporters are actually voting in the polls, while other candidates' supporters are not. Therefore it is not fair that Paul is winning."

Sounds like liberal whining to me. Got your tin-foil hats out, now, huh? What a bunch of conspiracy theorists. When push comes to shove, the neo-cons (you guys used to LIKE that title) show they are NO different than the democrats.

When Ron Paul wins the election, I am sure you will all blog endlessly about how the election was "spammed" and demand recounts...

THIS is why Ron Paul has so much support. People are sicking of pretenders.

Mike,

I can't vote for Giuliani for the reasons stated above. I can't vote for McCain, Romney, or Fred Thompson.

This is why I search the internet for Ron Paul news. I don't (intentionally) spam polls. there are lot more out here than the MSM would have you believe.

I personally think we are going to get a big surprise in NH and IA polls soon. Nevertheless, I assure you that many of his online supporters are becoming real life supporters. They are sending money, showing up at meetups, and rallies, forwarding the stories to family and friends. The word is getting out, and the support from everywhere is pouring in.

But even if you are right, and Fred Thompson takes it (another NWO internationalist president) There is no way that the GOP will win the general election.

Everyone keeps saying "Ron Paul can't win." (the nomination) Well, guess what? No other GOP Candidate can win against whatever Democrat survives their little bloodbath. Polling already suggests that Obama beats FRudy McRomneyson any day of the week.

The only way the GOP can win, is if Ron Paul wins. The sooner you neocons realize that the swing voters are tired of the war, tired of the lies, and tired of the spending, the sooner you can get on with the process of finding a GOP candidate who is against the war, for smaller government and honest government.

Gilmore or Huckabee, maybe... but Fred Thompson? Rudy Giuliani? give me a break.

It's not like Rep. Ron Paul is some Johnny come-lately. As you well know, he was a Republican, then a Libertarian, and now a Republican again. He has been a steady Republican going on 20 years now.

It's always amazing to me how the GOP never misses a chance to miss a chance.

Laters

These 4 or 5 really busy Ron Paul supporters/spammers remind me of those horrible un-American Federalist Papers authors.

What Iconoclast421 said: Wake up.

“My reason for excluding him was simple, there had been numerous reports of Paul supporters cheating on online straw polls, and I'm not one for tolerating such behavior.”

Will you remove other candidates from your polls if someone alleges that their respective supporters have voted more than once?

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sorry, your trite establishment piece put me to sleep for a second there. Paul support isn't based on spam, it is based on youtube, google, digg, and myspace, among others.

You haters are all butthurt because Paul supporters might actually be passionate to find ways to become delegates and vote when it really counts as well as voting when it doesn't count.

Other candidates, like McCain, can't get near the online support when they ENCOURAGE their supporters to spam polls. It must be frustrating to be any of the other candidates and have nothing even remotely close to the Ron Paul effect, but I imagine they know why nobody on the net supports them. 90% of the candidates are so similar, boring, and entrenched they can't even inspire the populace to vote in general elections.

I don't see LDS winning polls for Romney through spam, and the only reason Romney "won" the fox poll was obviously because LDS texted in votes en masse.

You people trying to blame Paul's success on spammers is ludicrous. You're just looking for a cop out and a reason to not give someone credit that believes in the principles this country was founded on. i am also a paul supporter, and not a spammer.

what about polls like the MSNBC that had over 60,000 votes and Dr. Paul won it? You could only vote once on that poll, but I'm sure Dr. Paul's supporters have some kind of hacking program that none of the other candidate's supporters have.

Just because Ron Paul is winning most of the internet straw polls does not mean his supporters are spammers, they are merely more passionate and motivated than other activists. In a primary election, this counts for more than what the general public believes. The supporters who are willing to campaign the hardest win it for their candidate, that's how a democracy works.

So while the general public may not know who he is, Ron Paul's huge grassroots support is real.

Compare Paul to a lazy bum like Fred Thompson who strolls into the race after 2 debates and doesn't even show up to the 3rd one but gets plenty of media coverage. Ron Paul's camp has fought tooth and nail to get any recognition from the mainstream media, and now that they're getting more coverage their support is growing exponentially.

BTW, I'm not a Republican. Take this as an outside observation.

As a Software Engineer (who's job it is to architect, design and develop web applications) that writes survey software used by many Fortune 500 companies, I wonder why those hosting polls can't get competent developers to write a system that minimizes abuse enough to give an accurate (not exact) measure of support. The fact that it's not only possible, but easy (even for an amateur developer) to do this calls into question why these polls are even posted in the first place. If the GOP Straw Poll is so important, why not dedicate a competent resource to it? Anyone in the development field should be embarrased if their software is so easily abused. One of my employees has a 13 year old son that I'm sure would do it for free in either ASP, PHP or ASP.NET. Respond to this post or send me an email if you're interested.



Ironically, it was the Paul "spamming" issue that made me change my mind about voting this year. I'm a registered Republican that hasn't voted in a primary since Bush Sr. After seeing the stink about Paul after the first debate (which I didn't get a chance to watch until after the stink began), I did some research and decided it may be possible for the GOP to run an acceptable candidate after all. Since then, I have jumped on the Ron Paul bandwagon, made 3 contributions to his campaign and have attended meetup groups. And guess what! There are real people at the meetups. It's not one person who keeps leaving and showing up in a different outfit to make it appear there are more members of the group than there really are. I'll be voting in the primary for sure and shouldn't have a hard time getting selected as a delegate either (it wasn't hard at all in 88).

Any net-savvy dolt would know that you can track votes by IP address using a simple script.

Too afraid to do that because it might show that there really are tons of Ron Paul supporters out there???

Ron Paul supporters are now spamming with their dollars too..... HA!

http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=43192

Ron Paul has gone from $500 thousand to nearly $5 million in just a few short weeks. This puts him just about even with McPain, and half as much as Giudy Ruliani, and the "Flipper".

As for telephone polls, here is what one person said on CBS News website. please note which state she is from.

-------------
I’ve personally been polled 4 times-although I don’t know which polls they were. Ron Paul was never an option. The pollsters have never asked me which caucus I planned to attend. I will make that decision based on the candidate I wish to support. At this point, that’s Ron Paul. The polls have a fatal flaw.

Posted By Deanna, Bloomfield, Iowa : June 7, 2007 2:22 pm
--------------------

This is why I look to the number of "Undecided" or "Other" and try to find Ron Paul's real poll numbers in there. I'm not saying this is the case in all polls. Zogby, for example (see above) usually does include Ron Paul, and he is polling in the 3% range. Ron Paul certainly has a long ways to go. But he is moving in the right direction, while everyone else is holding steady, or falling slightly.

The other problem is the near total mainstream media blackout. I was reading the AP report of the debates in one of the local newspapers today, and they mentioned every single person on that stage except one.... that's right, Ron Paul.

Not one word. Not even an "also on the stage was."

Say what you will about Ron Paul's chances. I know full well that at this point his chances are "slim" and "none". But Ron Paul's chances are at least as good as Tommy Thompson's chances. And Ron Paul is polling more in telephone polls, and Tommy Thompson doesn't have nearly the online "gravitas" that ron Paul does. Yet Tommy Thompson got nearly a paragraph.

Ron Paul was on the stage, he deserved to have his answers in the paper also. You wanna know why we are passionate for our candidate? It's 'cuz of bull-$#!+ like this. Oh, I know, I know, it's a private newspaper, and they have the perfect right to report, or not report on whomever they please. But it still stinks of manipulation and deceit.

When Ron Paul _IS_ mentioned it is either a hit piece, or an outright lie. For example, Rush Limbaugh tells his listeners that Ron Paul's support is all "spammers" a charge that has been throughly demolished here and elsewhere. Sean Hannity used the power of Fox News to lie about Ron Paul's position on Iraq, and then rather than play a clip of Ron Paul's response, they cut to a talking head reporter who say "And he [Ron Paul] confirmed it." Michelle Malkin (again of Fox News) tries to paint Ron Paul as one of those that believe the US government was behind the 9-11 attacks - a charge she had to withdraw, and appologize for.

You see, this is the ICE (Internet Changes Everything) age. Telephone polls don't mention your guy? No problem, go online. Someone makes a baseless charge - no problem, dig up the facts, and refute that person. Someone tries to spin their position? Go online, and convict them from their own mouth. Major media try to tell you that no one else supports your "fringey, crazy, kooky" candidate? Go online and read a hundred different pro Ron Paul comments for every anti Ron Paul comment.

The printing press changed religion, the gun changed warfare, the factory changed work, the car changed the city, and the internet is changing politics right before your very eyes.

You may be tired of us Ron Paul "Spammers", my friend, but we are here to stay. Enjoy the long hot summer, because I gots me all kinds of free time to hype and type my candidate.

Oh! and I gots me some money to donate as well. Me, and about 450,000 other "Spammers" all poinied up $10/mo. 8-D No more "Mr. nice guy" - we're gonna shove freedom down your throat, whether you like it or not.

Now that the Ron Paul campaign is starting to catch fire, watch for the hit pieces. First up will be the "racist" charge, featuring some newsletter written by someone else way back in the early '90s. Although he didn't write it, Ron Paul's name was on the newsletter, and he appologized for it, and took steps to remedy it. The haterz will never mention that part of course.

I also expect them to dig up some former patient of his, and parade her around in front of the cameras to say what a insensitive jerk he is, or that he touched her innappropriately.
Or perhaps it will be some disabled child and 60 minutes will try to get you to believe that Ron Paul's delivery of that child is the reason they have brain damage.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then they agree with you, then you win. We've had ignore, and laugh, now we will see attack. By Sept. it will be "we knew he could win all along."

Pauls campaign has gone from 500k-5m in 45 days, the spammers have apparently got deep pockets.

I dont mind your comments actually, you will have re evaluate them in 30-60 days I will send you a towel to wipe the egg off, if the current ground swell keeps going you will have a Ron Paul Army.

Are you oging to tell us then that they dont exist when they are marching in the streets?

Seriously I think it is surprising, it is hard to believe, I am long term GOP supporter, I voted for GWB and consider him guilty of of treason toward the party and America, Cheney is a liar and war profiteer, yeah I am mad, really mad with the disaster that has become the Bush regime.

As Pitchfork Pat said in 96, "the peasants are coming!", but this time they really are, can he win , probably not but its damn entertaining to watch.

If the money keeps rolling in watch out this guy has a genius for self promotion. The GOP are dead in the water, Bush destroyed our chances at least with this guy we might duck another Clinton or chain smoking Obama.

This seems like an attack on Paul. If you are going to say this stuff which may or may not be true, than please comment on how corporate media, and right wingers are afraid of Paul and won't even mention him. I really don't see how anyone can say he was out debated by any of the candidates. And, I don't see how anyone can say he's not conservative. The problem is the party has lost its way. It's been taken over by the Religous right and a whole other group I don't even know how to describe. They are just very supportive of the current leadership and think they are the only real supporters of America. They bash anyone who doesn't support the war and call them unAmerican or wackos. I have a Bushite friend who has been brainwashed into thinking you shouldn't be able to bash the president. I mentioned the Constitution and it was almost as if he knew nothing of it. I find it hard to believe that Rudy or McCain or anyone beat Ron Paul in the debate. IF YOU USE LOGIC THAN PAUL WON! IF YOU USE WHAT THE MASS PEOPLE THINK THAN MAYBE NOT. AND HOW CAN YOU HAVE A DEBATE WHEN YOU LET THE SAME PEOPLE ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS. THAT'S SOME REAL BS THAT'S NOT BEING TALKED ABOUT.

Ron Paul for President!

If you're really worried about people voting multiple times in your poll, fix it so that you must enter a valid email address and confirm the email in order to vote. Then set up a loop so that any email address used will not allow you to vote again in the same poll. How hard is that? I think you just want to be able to pretend a little while longer this Ron Paul wave is not real. It is real, my friend. Wait till the campaign contribution numbers come out in the summer. You'll be shocked.

I too have read the reports of Ron Paul supporters somehow cheating in all these online polls and such, but where is the evidence? I have seen plenty of accusations and no evidence when it should be easy to provide. You can track IP addresses or use cookies and other stuff. You could also discount votes from IP addresses outside the US and use email verification. It seems that if you are going to make these accusations, you should at least provide *some* evidence that they're true besides unexpected results. I thought that the point of polls was to judge public opinion. Just because you have a biased idea of what public opinion is, doesn't mean that people are cheating your polls. Sure, Ron Paul has a large amount of online support, probably a higher percentage of people online support him than people in general...but that doesn't mean that they're cheating or doing anything wrong. They're just using the media (plural of 'medium') that they're used to and already use.

What a silly article.

It's time for a change, a change back to what America was, the Beacon of Freedom to the world.

Support Ron Paul 2008. Its time to take back our country.

http://ronpaul2008.com/

I saw and reported to Matt several IPs that were attempting to bugger the poll from its appearance on my blog. What he did with the info is not known to me but I assume he has been watching his logs closely as I have mine. That someone has been buggering the results is pretty plain to me. Since the poll is the brainchild of Matt and his blog, the contents are his to set and the results are his to post or otherwise not post because of atttempts to fraudulently sway the results. If Paulistas are at fault...

It looks like some very desperate people are trying to shape the campaign early on!

I find it patently absurd that numerous outlets (mostly conservative, mind you) have been complaining about Paul's numbers and how they're inflated through cheating. It's ridiculous to accuse supporters of cheating online when the major candidates do nothing but cheat. At such a disadvantageous position and with a clear and consistent message, his numbers are of course overrepresented, because they're coming from the American people NOT just Republican primary voters. This is the important distinction here. That his message doesn't resonate with the most committed and extreme Republican supporters is something we should all be thankful for. But again, these are why his poll numbers are low, registering in the scientific polls are only being counted in so far as his popularity among REPUBLICAN VOTERS ONLY.

"I had absolutely no idea who he was or that he was even in the race." Yes, ignorance is bliss, but still you're authoritative enough to write this article. OK.

I've been a registered voter and a Republican for 37 years, and for the first time in my life I will be voting for a worthy candidate, Dr. Paul. Call my vote at the voting booth "spam" if it makes you feel (in)secure, but it's getting cast for Dr. Paul.

I'm a NYC resident and have been all my life, so I've come to know many other New Yorkers, Republicans and Democrats. Funny thing is, all of them claim to be Ron Paul supporters so I guess they're spamming my ears. Seems the Dems I know have no faith in their own candidates. Now they MUST be spamming my ears.

If you want to talk about manufacturing support, talk about Rudy. He was our mayor for a while, but I haven't met anyone who thinks of him in a positive light. He certainly wasn't all bad, just more bad than good. Hey, maybe we New Yorkers might know a thing or two about Rudy? I do know who he is and why he's in the race. As far as I'm concerned, from my real-life experience, any support for Rudy must be manufactured.