Quick Reaction

One of the problems with the Ron Paul (RON PAUL!) campaign was the manner in which it was run. A lot of people have questioned where the money went and why he didn't run a more visible (read: better) campaign with the funds. The answer is in his campaign staff. Ron Paul kept, for the most part, the same campaign staff he had for his congressional campaigns. So you had a national Presidential campaign being run by the staff of a third-tier congressman from Nowhere, Texas. Strangely enough they didn't run the best campaign imaginable for a national office. I imagine this comes as a shock to some people, although I'm not sure why.

I've heard the suggestion that he could have hired a more knowledgeable campaign staff. The number of people who have run campaigns at the national level is vanishingly small, and none of them were going to go work for Ron Paul. The winners are all establishment players, and the losers want to be. Neither group is going to offend people they may need jobs from later by working for a campaign trying to upset the established power structure. It's not a smart career move unless you can win. I'm sure they parsed the chances of Ron winning about like I did. (See also: snowball, hell, chances in)

Having said all that, Bob Barr's people are reacting quicker and being more politically astute than Ron's people. This is a good sign and bodes well for the remainder of the season.