Rumors About Ron Paul's Fundraising

It's been a little less than a month since the rumors started trickling out about Ron Paul's second quarter fundraising. Plugged-in ex-Rudy Giuliani web guy Patrick Ruffini speculates:

My surprise prediction on the Republican side: Ron Paul will raise at least $4 million.

That would be huge news. Only the top three GOP candidates are expected to announce multi-million dollar hauls. Romney and McCain are actually expected to report a little less than last quarter.

But there's no news from the Paul camp yet. A little while back a source in Paul's campaign told me that the very first debate, on May 3, kicked off a "four-fold increase in the number of donations." That accelerated after the Rudy clash. Still, their numbers won't come out 'til the July 15th reporting deadline. (Obama et al are announcing their totals early.)

Meanwhile, John McCain is shedding staffers and bracing for a dotcom circa 2000-style finance report.