Ron Paul in Appleton

Evidently, this was the cover of the Appleton Post Crescent two days ago. The comment section is pretty wild.

MORE: The Politico has more on the Ron Paul Blimp ... complete with a totally kick ass lede. The blimp effort actually has some rather far-reaching financing implications:

Like the unprecedented online fundraising behind Paul’s bid, the blimp effort, which appears on pace financially, isn’t affiliated with the official campaign and pushes traditional political conventions.

And that’s not just because it likely would be the first blimp to be turned into a flying billboard for a White House hopeful.

It also tests the reach of campaign finance rules by employing an innovative funding structure that could expose a new way to pour largely unregulated money into politics. If the model is successful, hypothetically it could allow a media consultant to produce slick attack ads and — without ever disclosing how much was raised or spent — solicit millions from “sponsors” to air the ads in key states.

What's so strange about the blimp crew? It's actually a for-profit endeavor. The ramifications of this thing succeeding even to the simple point of self-sustainability are rather enormous if other campaigns figure out a way to utilize this method to their own advantage. I wouldn't expect that to happen this cycle, though.

MORE STILL: I've been following this for a few days now: Ron Paul supporters in Maryland are actually fielding candidates to run as Republicans in districts where the congressional seats are held by Democrats (and not doing anything in the two CDs held by the GOP):

Dr. Melissa Deckman, a political science professor at Washington College, said Paul's candidacy has become "a protest movement" appealing to "those who believe the national GOP has gotten away from its core principles of low taxes and a limited role for the federal government," and in that sense, the Paul congressional candidates "are part of this larger movement to shape their party - not to win elections."

EVEN MORE: Deja vu: Tech Daily Dose has more on the Ron Paul Blimp ... complete with a totally kick ass lede.