San Antonio (TX) - In one of the most unexpected turn of events to take place in this U.S. presidential campaign, it seems the V for Vendetta fans have come out in force, making this a day of:  "Remember, remember, the 5th of November".  Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul has raised over $4.2 million dollars this November 5th, as of 11:45pm ET.  There were over 35,000 online contributions, making his fund raising the single-day largest amount of any Republican candidate in 2007, either online or in any other form.  Mitt Romney comes in second with $3.1 million raised  on January 8, 2007.

Dr. Ron Paul is an OB/GYN who has delivered more than 4,000 babies throughout his medical career.  He's a 10-term U.S. congressman from Texas.  He ran for president in 1988 on the Libertarian ticket.  He's earned the nickname "Dr. No" by voting for resolutions which align solely with the role of the federal government, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution.  He is often the only member of congress to vote against a bill which violates that document.

 
 
Dr. Paul's viewpoints stand out from the rest of the Republican pack.  He is currently the only Republican candidate postulating a return to the U.S. Constitution and its inherent admonition that all citizens are endowed by their creator with certain rights, and that those rights aren't granted by government.  He wants to pull the troops out immediately from various places around the world, beginning with Iraq and Afghanistan.  He wants to employ a strong foreign policy of commerce with every nation, and treaties and alliances with none, following the gentle advice and suggestion of George Washington during his farewell address.

What makes this an interesting story is Dr. Paul's Internet presence.  Following all Republican debates, online polls indicated that Dr. Paul was leading, often by a staggering amount taking in 30% of the total vote or more.  In straw polls he is consistently in the top three, often at number one.  His poll numbers have been characterized by the mainstream media as the result of a group of clever, devoted Ron Paul supporters/hackers who figured out a way to break into the polls at Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and others, and fix the results.  These claims were repeatedly refuted through video demonstrations on YouTube showing that voting for a candidate more than one time from either a cell phone or single IP address is impossible.

It appears the Ron Paul movement has some substance to it and, if true, can no longer be denied.  After all, a group of clever hackers cannot pull money out of thin air and deposit into a presidential campaign fund.  Especially not $4.2 million in one day.  According to the Ron Paul campaign, more than 35,000 separate donations have been received as of 11:45pm ET, an average of about $120.00 per doner.

Today, Dr. Paul's online campaign contributions moved him to the number one slot for one-day gains, and number three slot for all time single-day gains, behind Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama, both Democrats.  His campaign is hoping to raise $12 million by the end of December.  So far the campaign has raised $7.1 million since October 1, with over $5 million raised between June 1 and September 30.  The campaign began the day with approximately $2.8 million.  His supporters seem to have mustered the men and women into service on this November 5th, honoring Guy Fawkes Day, remembering an English "patriot" who wanted to blow up the British Parliament on this day in 1605, in a most peculiar way.

It will be interesting to watch the campaign over the next few weeks to see if this sudden financial windfall continues, or if Ron Paul is a one-day wonder.

Read more ... RonPaul2008.com, view the donation chart.

UPDATE:  According to the Ron Paul 2008 campaign, the final tally for the day was $4.34 million, with over 37,000 donations, 22,000 of which were new doners.