Group hopes blimp lifts Paul's bid
Airship to promote GOP hopeful’s presidential campaign
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Monday, December 03, 2007
Backers to outfit blimp with Paul logo
By JOHN HENDERSON
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(ENLARGE)
Staff
photo by justin fallsA grass-roots organization backing Republican
Congressman Ron Paul\u2019s bid for president says this airship, shown
here Monday tethered outside Airship Management Services\u2019 hangar
in Weeksville, will be used to promote Paul\u2019s campaign. The blimp
will be flown over New Hampshire and other early primary states,
ronpaulblimp.com says.
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Staff Writer
One of the largest blimps in the world will be launched in
Weeksville on Monday promoting Republican Ron Paul’s presidential bid.
The blimp tour supporting the Texas congressman’s presidential
campaign is slated to formally kick off next week out of Airship
Management Services’ office in Weeksville.
Ronpaulblimp.com states that the inaugural launch of the ship is slated for 8 a.m.
It will cost Paul supporters $350,000 a month to lease the blimp
from AMS, a Connecticut-based company with a satellite location in
Weeksville, where blimps are stored and maintained. Company president
George Spyrou said this is the first time a presidential campaign has
been promoted on a blimp.
Spyrou said the blimp has been used in previous advertising
campaigns including Pepsi, Fuji film and Ameriquest mortgage services.
A company sister ship was flown over the Olympic games in Athens in
2004.
Spyrou said that Paul supporters have the blimp reserved on a
month-to-month basis, and could be leased out up to a year, if
necessary.
“Ron Paul supporters seem to be from a very enthusiastic part of the world,” Spyrou said.
The blimp is 200 feet long with a volume of 240,000 cubic feet.
“The cabin part is the largest in America,” he said. “The balloon part is the same size as the Goodyear blimp.”
Paul’s supporters have been soliciting contributions to sponsor the aerial campaign. Their web page,
ronpaulblimp.com, states that $51,875 has been collected as of 2:33 p.m. on Monday.
Some of the sponsorship terms include flight benefits.
For instance, for a $5,000 sponsorship, donors can travel on the
“Ron Paul Blimp Tour” for three to five days, the page states.
Organizers are asking for amounts between $25, for 2.7 minutes of
sponsorship, to $1 million for 10 weeks of sponsorships.
The Web page tells supporters that they can “buy as much blimp
(sponsorship time) as you want without having it count toward your
current campaign contributions.”
Officials from Paul’s campaign office and his congressional office
said they had nothing to do with the Ron Paul Blimp movement.
However, the blimp will promote Paul’s presidential bid in several ways.
Decals are going to be stuck on the side of the blimp. One design
is slated to read: “Who is Ron Paul? Google Ron Paul.” Supporters are
tagging the other side as the “Love revolution,” and it reads Ron Paul
R”evol”ution.
The blimp will be flying over the northeast and critical primary states. Key dates include:
— 2022(unknown) —Dec. 12, a flyover over Wall Street is planned.
— 2022(unknown) — Dec. 14, tea will be dumped from the blimp into the Boston Harbor.
— 2022(unknown) — Dec. 15, a New Hampshire and Boston flyover is planned.
“Why is the blimp spending so much time in New Hampshire during the
election season? That is where the cameras are,” the Web page reads.
(Contact John Henderson at jhenderson@coxnc.com)
