RON WHO? CAMPAIGN 2008 Longshot candidate from Texas, once an unknown, gains on GOP leaders and rakes in funds

** FILE ** Republican presidential hopeful, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, talks to The Associated Press during an interview at Nashua High School South, in Nashua N.H. Wednesday Nov. 7, 2007. Those who dismissed Rep. Ron Paul as a joke in the Republican presidential primary aren't laughing so hard these days. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter, File)A NOV. 7, 2007 FILE PHOTO less ** FILE ** Republican presidential hopeful, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, talks to The Associated Press during an interview at Nashua High School South, in Nashua N.H. Wednesday Nov. 7, 2007. Those who dismissed Rep. ... more Photo: Cheryl Senter Photo: Cheryl Senter Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close RON WHO? 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

They were a lonely band of rebels until just a few weeks ago, backing the darkest of dark horse presidential candidates.

But with Republican Rep. Ron Paul's fundraising on the rise - $4.2 million raised on the Internet in one day this month - and his poll numbers jumping, the Texas congressman might no longer be a "who?" but a potential problem for leading Republican presidential candidates in key states such as New Hampshire.

And in California, the state where the 72-year-old doctor-politician has raised the most money, those who call themselves part of the "Ron Paul Revolution" couldn't be happier.

Paul's backers are people such as Brad Sanford, 29, a Silicon Valley tech worker who said he never had been involved in politics or campaigns until this year.

Sanford, attending a Paul campaign Bay Area "meetup" event this week, said he first caught Paul's appearances on cable programs like "The Bill Maher Show," "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report."' Since then, Sanford has registered Republican for the first time to vote in the California presidential primary on Feb. 5 while "maxing out" his political donation budget with $2,300 to Paul's campaign.

Sanford now is walking precincts for Paul - another first - because he said the candidate is strongly against the war in Iraq and can appeal to millions who believe that America has "strayed too far from our values" and fundamentals laid out in the Constitution.

"For young people, it's the war; for older people, it's a straight common-sense approach" to taxes, the economy and values, said Holly Clearman, California field coordinator for the Paul campaign.

Clearman said the life of a Ron Paul supporter used to be a lonely undertaking.

"I thought there were only 10 of us, and nobody I knew," she said. But that changed in recent months as the candidate raised $9 million this quarter, and "the cat is out of the bag."

Indeed, the meetup group has swelled in recent weeks to more than 400. At a meeting Monday night, a diverse assortment of hip, 20-something techies, Financial District professionals and graybeard Baby Boomer activists jammed into a San Francisco yoga and massage studio to plan strategy in the decidedly unorthodox presidential campaign.

Paul followers are buoyed by the latest polls from CNN and the New York Times showing that their candidate has jumped ahead of former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in New Hampshire, the site of the nation's first 2008 primary on Jan. 8.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain still dominate the race in that independent-minded, "Live Free or Die" state. But Paul's recent rise has prompted pundits to acknowledge that the Texan - once dismissed as a fringe candidate - could have an impact on the presidential race.

Paul's eclectic mix of fiercely libertarian and conservative values has created a passionate support base that might be unlike any other candidate in the 2008 presidential race.

The former practicing obstetrician, who has served in the House about 20 of the past 35 years, is vehemently anti-abortion - voting against federal funding of abortion, stem cell research and even family planning funding in U.S. foreign aid - and strongly pro-gun rights. His views have gained him high ratings from conservatives and groups such as the Christian Coalition and the National Rifle Association. Paul also is seen as strongly anti-environmental by groups such as the League of Conservation Voters, which gave him just a 5 percent legislative rating on his voting record.

But Paul also appeals to progressives on a number of issues: He supports repealing most federal drug laws, including those against medical marijuana, is against the death penalty, vigorously opposes the war in Iraq and is against the Patriot Act and free trade agreements such as NAFTA.

Indeed, some political analysts suggested he is the 2008 campaign's political ink blot test - able to represent whatever voters see in him.

"Ron Paul is the perfect place for Republicans who are upset to park their anger," said Sacramento-based GOP consultant Patrick Dorinson. Paul, he said, appeals to some voters who are looking for a candidate who "goes against the grain ... like Ross Perot."

Dorinson predicted that, like Perot's campaign, the Ron Paul Revolution "will fizzle after the first shots are fired in January. He has no organization ... it's one thing to say to a pollster what you will do - and another to actually do it."

Gloria Nieto, a South Bay Democratic activist, said that she's seen "so much grassroots activism going on for Ron Paul; it's really plugged in. They feel really strongly that he's the answer." But she noted that "it's interesting spectrum ... anti-war to anti-choice. Who are these people?"

Some Republicans said Paul's campaign is the antidote to the disappointments of the Bush presidency and what they call a straying from core GOP values.

"The last six years of GOP rule in Washington, D.C., is something most Republicans would like to forget about," wrote Alan Bartlett, a blogger on the popular California GOP Web site, Flashreport.org. "Unfortunately for us, the voters haven't forgotten about it, and they threw us out of office in 2006. We have a chance to get it right again, though, by supporting Ron Paul."

That was echoed inside the Ron Paul meetup among eager volunteers armed with "Ron Paul, Hope for America" signs.

Stephanie Burns, 50, a construction manager from Sausalito who helps arrange biweekly Bay Area meetings in support of Paul, said the Texas congressman's campaign - like Democrat Howard Dean's in 2004 - has skillfully utilized the Internet to reach out to voters who might otherwise never be connected. "And ever since the $4.2 million, it has changed things," she said. "There's a lot more recognition by the media."

Burns motioned around the room to some of the people the Internet has brought to Paul's cause.

"I've never even been interested in politics my whole life," Brandy Alexander, 34, a UCSF researcher, told the group.

But after she and her boyfriend, William Newby, 28, a computer programmer, watched Paul slam U.S. involvement in the Iraq war and expound on his views during the televised GOP debates, they were hooked.

Thanks to Paul, she said, "Now, I find myself borderline obsessed with it."

To hear The Chronicle's July 2007 interview with Ron Paul, go to sfgate.com/ZBQM.