US:Dismissed by Republican rivals as a libertarian crank and scarcely registering in opinion polls, presidential candidate Ron Paul has stunned the political scene by raising more than $4 million in a single day.
The Texas congressman, who opposes the Iraq war, wants to end the US alliance with Israel and favours the abolition of income tax, took in $4.2 million in internet donations during a Guy Fawkes Day fundraising drive.
Mr Paul raised more than $5 million between July and September, almost as much as former Republican frontrunner John McCain and five times as much as former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, whose campaign is taken much more seriously by most commentators.
At 72, Mr Paul is the oldest candidate but his supporters are young and he has been more successful than any other Republican in exploiting the internet.
The Guy Fawkes fundraising event was inspired by the film V for Vendetta, a futuristic thriller about an insurgent modelled on the 17th-century gunpowder plotter who seeks to overthrow a fascist government.
Mr Paul's spokesman Jesse Benton said the effort was started by supporters two months ago but Mr Paul began mentioning it in speeches and interviews. "It's been kind of building up virally," Mr Benton said.
After 32 years in the House of Representatives, Mr Paul remained obscure until he launched his presidential bid this year, calling for an end to foreign military adventures, condemning the Iraq war as unconstitutional.
Mr Paul would close down the justice department, the CIA and the FBI and allow people to opt out of the federal pension system and Medicare, which provides health care to senior citizens.
"If we don't want the government running our lives and we get to run our lives, then we have to assume total responsibility for what we do," he said last week.
"But the great thing about this philosophy is that if you believe in life, liberty and the right to pursue your happiness, you also believe you get to keep all of the fruits of your labour."
