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player ready...Photo from ronpaulblimp.com.
by Gabrielle Russon
WASHINGTON— In political season, signs are everywhere. Candidates’ logos are plastered on television advertisements, front yard signs, T-shirts, buttons, you name it. But this week, the newest form of presidential advertising appears, this time in the sky.
Ron Paul supporters, acting independently from his official campaign, have subleased a 197-foot long blimp with the message: “Who is Ron Paul? Google Ron Paul.” Organizers plan on flying along the Eastern Seaboard, weather permitting, to South Carolina on Friday. Their goal is to remain in the air until the Jan. 8 New Hampshire primary.
“It’s really no different than a billboard; essentially, it’s a flying billboard.” said Bruce Altschuler, a political science professor at New York’s SUNY Oswego. The $350,000 monthly cost of renting a blimp and a crew are offset by grassroots fundraising done on the Internet, where the longshot Republican presidential nominee has been successful, largely due to his loyal, spirited followers. About $235,000 has been raised so far.
Because of campaign finance laws, people can only donate up to $2,300 for a political campaign. But those rules don’t apply to the blimp’s fundraising because it’s considered an independent expenditure, said FEC spokesman Bob Biersack.
“Paying for an ad would be an independent expenditure, as long it wasn’t coordinated with the campaign,” Biersack said. “They’re very common…groups and organizations will do it, political action committees will do it.”
“It’s not really a donation; it’s a sponsorship,” added Trevor Lyman, who started a for-profit business to implement his blimp idea. “People can sponsor any amount they want.”
While Paul supporters say the presidential blimp is the first of its kind, many candidates before him have gone for less-conventional ways to attract the public’s — and the media’s — attention. One politician jumped into a polluted river, others hired skywriters, Altschuler said.
There’s the Illinois 1973 gubernatorial candidate, coincidentally named Daniel Walker, who walked across the entire state, almost 1,200 miles, as part of his campaign. Walker won recognition and eventually the election.
During his 1978 race for Florida governor, Bob Graham took on a different job each day. Graham became a media darling when he worked as a hotel bellhop and encountered his opponent’s wife.
“There was her husband’s rival carrying her suitcase,” Altschuler said.