Non-Candidate Raises $1 Million

It seems like one great way to raise money for your U.S. Senate campaign is not to run.

It seems to be working for Peter Schiff, according to the Hartford Courant’s Capitol Watch blog.

Schiff has not even declared that he is running, but a group of California libertarians started a grassroots campaign for the financial pundit to run for Senate in Connecticut.

Just the suggestion, the Web site, the Facebook page and the tweets were enough for people to start throwing money toward the man who might, or might not, challenge Sen. Chris Dodd in 2010.

The total as of Friday is more than $1 million, according to Peter Schiff for Senate 2010. The rapid-fire donation campaign is the “money bomb” approach, according to the Washington Post.

Over 24 hours alone, Schiff supporters collected more than $30,000, according to the Will You Fight Web site. Incidentally, the Web site includes clips of Schiff on television and a YouTube clip of Braveheart. So, if you don't care about donating, you can still see Mel Gibson with a mullet.  

For those of you who don’t know who Schiff is, he’s the guy who lambasted the federal bank bailout and stimulus efforts on national television and made early predictions of the Wall Street meltdown.

He was also an economic adviser to Ron Paul during Paul’s presidential campaign, the Post reports.

While Schiff has support in California and the Webisphere, he's trailing Dodd in popularity, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll. When pollsters asked, 43 percent of people polled said they would vote for Dodd and 38 percent would vote for Schiff.

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