Paul to Surprise Again?

Yesterday marked the end of the third quarter of FEC reporting, so we'll know in the near future how the presidential campaigns have done. Unsurprisingly, much of the chatter remains focused on Clinton and Obama both because Obama can generate serious amounts of cash from an enormous number of donors (and fail to turn it into success!) while Clinton's clearly the more establishment candidate.

The Republican side is less interesting because (among other things) no Republican, presidential or Congressional (or at least the NRCC and NRSC) can raise much. There's also the Romney factor - the ultra-wealthy ex-consultant can dump any amount of his enormous ($250 million?) fortune into his campaign if he so desires.

The shocker of last quarter was when crazy Texan Ron Paul finished with more cash on hand than John McCain. And it looks like Paul may surprise people again this quarter; his surprising success means he'll be able to compete (and in a weirdo state like New Hampshire, may actually get a fair amount of support), and makes struggling candidates like McCain look even more pathetic.