MARIJUANA ADVOCATES, ENGINEERS BACKING PAUL

A quick look at the list of those who have donated to presidential
hopeful Congressman Ron Paul shows a diverse mix of people,
including several engineers and investment firms and some who support
the legalization of marijuana.

Most all of the donors, listed at www.opensecrets.org, are private
individuals backing the campaign of the Lake Jackson Republican, said
Kent Snyder, Paul's campaign manager.

Paul has been a successful fund raiser, getting many donations via
the Internet from private individuals, Snyder said.

So far, Paul has about $2.4 million cash available to spend in his
campaign, which is more than mainstream candidate Sen. John McCain,
R-Arizona, Snyder said.

McCain has made several changes to his campaign staff and spent too
much, which is a mistake this early in the campaign, Snyder said.

"Dr. Paul is a frugal spender," he said.

One of Paul's donors is the executive director of the Marijuana
Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that backs the
legalization of marijuana. The group's Web site claims it has 20,000
dues-paying members.

The $2,300 was not made on the organization's behalf, but by the
group's director as a private individual, said Dan Bernath, the
group's assistant director of communications. Even so, the group
still backs Paul for president, he said.

"This one's easy for us," he said. "We really need more people in
politics with the courage like Ron Paul."

Though Paul himself does not use the drug, he has always had a
problem with the nation's stance on marijuana and favors legalizing
it because citizens should have the right to choose, Snyder said.

"It really doesn't work," Snyder said of the current system. "He's
voted time and time again for legalizing medical marijuana."

Much of the campaign's unexpected success has been Paul's message
being dispersed on the Internet, Snyder said.

On Friday, Paul and his campaign were at an auditorium on the campus
for Google Inc., which runs one of the most widely used search
engines on the Internet. The crowd was standing-room only, Snyder
said.

"It's fascinating to see all these young people," he said. "His
popularity is being driven by the Internet."

Many of Paul's donations come from Internet users and those who work
on it, which likely accounts for the engineers donating to his
campaign, Snyder said.

His campaign also is drawing those who yearn for the more traditional
view of conservatism, such as limited government spending and
intrusion into private lives, said Richard Martin, owner of Bitmax
LLC, a digital video service based in Hollywood.

"I've been a fan of Dr. Paul for a long time," said Martin, who also
donated $2,300 to Paul's campaign.

Paul reminds him a lot of Ronald Reagan, who championed the cause of
limited government, he said.

"I've not been happy with the direction the Republican Party has
taken," Martin said. "This is the first time I've ever donated to a
campaign."