Funded by Pareto's Principle

The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many phenomena, 80% of the consequences stem from 20% of the causes.

An article I read a few weeks back, just before Ron Paul announced his bid for the presidency, said that if Ron Paul was to compete monetarily against the likes of Hillary, Barack, McCain and Giuliani, he would have to raise about $50 million. In other articles, $20 million would make other people take notice. Implied is that Ron Paul does not have the clout to compete, let alone make other people take notice.

As the grassroots movement continues to swell, Ron Paul no longer needs $20 million to make other people notice him. Already, he has been interviewed on CNN and Fox, the latter being prompted by hundreds of emails. An even greater step of notoriety will be his appearance tonight on Bill Maher's HBO show, Real Time with Bill Maher. Being so vastly different from the Republican clones, I wouldn't be all too surprised if Maher and his liberal following find favor with Constitutionalist Ron Paul. That would certainly raise the eyebrows of many. And let's not forget Nancy Reagan's personal invitation to Ron Paul to a presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Library on May 3rd. Talk about being put out on the spotlight!

But would it be enough? Would there be enough people to help Ron Paul monetarily compete with the rest? Let's hypothesize for a moment.

When Ron Paul ran for president under the banner of the Libertarian Party in 1988, he received about 400,000 votes. Using Pareto's Principle, let's say 20% of the voters funded his campaign. That's 80,000 people. Let's say 20% of those were generous and, on the average, funded $100. 16,000 people X $100 = $1.16 million.

But let's break this down further. Twenty percent of 16,000 is 3,200. These would be people who were quite generous and, on the average, gave about $1000. 3,200 people X $1000 = $3.2 million. 16,000 - 3,200 = 12,800 of those who gave $100. 12,800 X $100 = $1.28 million.

Going back to the 80,000 who actually gave funds. 80,000 - 16,000 = 64,000 of those who gave, let's say, on average, $10 to the campaign. 64,000 X $10 = $640,000.

Let's tally it up. $3.2 million + $1.28 million + $640,000 = $5.12 million dollars. Ron Paul certainly falls short of the $50 million to "compete", but there is a law that can and will tip the balance in his favor: Murphy's Law.

In the current state of our government, it would seem Murphy's Law is the rule of law: Iraq, the economy, government encroachment of our liberties. Murphy's Law makes the powers-that-be all that more incompetent, and that is an incredible advantage that Ron Paul has. He is not perfect, and certainly no one is, but he far outshines all others like a freshly minted gold coin.

It will be this stark political contrast that Ron Paul offers that will negate Pareto's Principle. His political career and voting record will back his integrity. People are tired of the same old rhetoric from career politicians who promise gold and deliver mud. In their zeal to see a change in the government, I wouldn't be surprised to see more than 50% of them help fund his campaign. In their revolt of the Establishment, they'll give generously before it loses too much value to be worth the paper it is written on.

And as Ron Paul gains more exposure through his grassroots movement, the mainstream media will continue to buckle and will have to give him more news coverage. It's already started and it will continue on. I wouldn't be surprised if Ron Paul becomes "viral" on the internet. He had 400,000 people vote for him in 1988, but this time around, I think he'll be getting millions.

So what do I think this will look like monetarily? Just through the grassroots movement alone and without campaigning hard, he's already raised $500,000. That's 1 percent of the $50 million, and that's not even trying. And considering Ross Perot received 19 million of the popular vote, Ron Paul could easily get a quarter of that. So to calculate:

5 million x 20% = 1 million
1 million x 20% = 200,000
200,000 x 20% = 40,000

40,000 x $1000 = $40 million
160,000 x $100 = $11.6 million
800,000 x $10 = $8 million

Grand total = $59.6 million

And that, my friends, is a very conservative number.

Welcome to Ron Paulitics!

Hi and welcome to Ron Paulitics! In an effort to help campaign, this blog was created to promote Congressman Ron Paul’s bid for the presidency. We are but one of many grassroots upstarts that will endeavor to educate, discuss and debate as to why Ron Paul is suited to be the next president of the United States.

Topics will vary, including libertarianism, the free market, and the Constitution, all being the foundation of Ron Paul’s political views. And as Christians, we will also provide commentary on these subjects from a Christian point of view.

Everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike, is welcome to participate. All we ask is to respect one another and put forth sound arguments. I am sure we will have some vigorous debate, but the aim for such discussions is to gain understanding, not to demean a person’s character.

It is our hope that this blog will give you a better insight into Ron Paul and his views, and that you will see that he is the best candidate for the presidency!