During the 2008 election cycle, supporters of Dr. Ron Paul used the concept of a “money bomb” to stage some dramatic one-day fund raising efforts that provided the financial foundation for the Paul campaign and provided a significant amount of press coverage as well. After the Paul campaign ended, the money bomb concept didn't go away, but it did melt into relative obscurity.

Until now, that is. Efforts have been organized to rally behind some off-year money bombs in support of Senate candidates backed by hard core supporters of the Texas Congressman. Most notably, his son, Dr. Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist from Kentucky, has indicated an interest in running for the seat of Sen. Jim Bunning, who recently announced he would not seek reelection, claiming that Republican party leaders had undermined his fund raising efforts. Dr. Paul is not the generally acknowledge leader in that race. That distinction goes to Trey Grayson, Kentucky's Secretary of State and the favorite of the Republican Party's most powerful and influential leaders.

Rand Paul's supporters staged a money bomb for him this past June 29th which raised a paltry $25,000. Undeterred, they've scheduled another one for August 20th which they've labeled, “The Big One.” As of this date, about 1,400 people have pledged to give Paul $100 on that date. If they follow through, that mean that Paul would raise $140,000 on that date at this point. Their goal is 10,000 total donors, for a one-day hit of $1 million. It's possible they might get there this time, with 19 days left to continue to raise support and awareness.

Even more interesting is the not-yet-active campaign of Peter Schiff, an investment guru and self-described supporter of Austrian economic theory, who correctly predicted the financial crisis of 2008. His book, Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse , has received mixed reviews. On the one hand, most people laud it for correctly predicting the crisis. On the other hand, many people, including his supporters have criticized him heavily for the financial advice he gave in the book. People who followed his advice have reported losing as much as 60% of their investment. Understandably, many of them are quite ticked off. Schiff recommended investing in gold, silver, and foreign stocks.

Once again, like Rand Paul, Schiff is not the front runner for the Republican Party's nomination. He must compete with former House speaker Tom Foley and former Connecticut Congressman Rob Simmons, both of whom are very well-funded. Simmons currently leads in the polls.

Schiff has created an exploratory committee for a Senate campaign against Chris Dodd, who has, for many decades now, held down the seat his father held before him. Combined with Dodd's recent announcement that he has early stages prostate cancer, the prospect of Schiff running has generated excitement both inside the Constitution State and outside among the freedom movement. A money bomb for Schiff is scheduled for August 7 has acquired about 6,500 pledges to donate $100, putting the money bomb 65% toward their goal of 10,000 pledges, or $1 million.

Obviously, that money bomb now has a tremendous chance of reaching its goal. If both the Schiff and Paul money bombs succeed, the whole concept of the money bomb will have successfully resurrected itself during an off-year election cycle. That will be a significant feat.

The Schiff bomb in particular is backed by a group calling themselves Retake Congress. So far, the group has expressed their support for thirteen Congressional candidates, including the Nolan Chart's own Jake Towne. Curiously enough, while the Retake Congress group trumpets the fact that Rand Paul has endorsed them, they make no mention of whether they endorse and support Rand Paul's upcoming money bomb. An omission worthy of note, it raises the question: what are they waiting for?

Regardless of what that's all about, it will be interesting to watch what happens with these upcoming money bombs. August 2009 could be another mile stone in the freedom movement.