How do I start a political group designed to support a future presidential candidate? Are...?

[corynne]

...there rules I need to know?
I met a person on Facebook who is also interested in starting a group to support Sarah Palin. I need to know how to get started and if there are any procedures I need to follow to form the group.

[Daisy]

It depends on how you plan to "support" a candidate. If you're going to raise money for them to use in a campaign, yes, there are lots of rules. Google "starting a PAC" as a start.

[straightwish966]

Ronald Ernest Paul, M.D. (born August 20, 1935) is an American physician and Republican Congressman for the State of Texas, who gained widespread attention during his unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Republican Party presidential nomination. During the campaign he attracted an enthusiastic following, which made use of the Internet and social networking to establish a grassroots campaign despite lack of traditional organization or media attention. He is the founder of the advocacy group Campaign for Liberty.

Paul is a member of the Liberty Caucus of Republican congressmen which aims to limit the size and scope of the federal government, and serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Committee on Financial Services, where he has been an outspoken critic of American foreign and monetary policy. He was one of the first congressmen to support Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign and endorsed Reagan again for President in 1980 and was himself the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in 1988. His ideas have been expressed in numerous published articles and books, including The Revolution: A Manifesto (2008).

[chattern]

As the races for the 2008 presidential nominations heat up, two recent surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press make it possible to examine how the candidates in both political parties are faring among a variety of religious groups. The parties' front-runners, Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, sit at or near the top of the list of preferred candidates among a variety of religious groups. Giuliani, though, garners considerably less support from white evangelical Protestants than from white mainline Protestants and white Catholics. These surveys were conducted in September and October, prior to evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani on Nov. 7.
The Democrats

Overall, the contest for the Democratic nomination has been fairly stable, with Clinton leading her opponents by wide margins in most recent surveys. An aggregation of surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center in September and October finds that Clinton is the clear front-runner among all Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters, with close to half (44%) of this group saying that they would most prefer Clinton to be the nominee in 2008. A quarter prefers Barack Obama, while slightly more than one-in-ten (13%) favor John Edwards.

But support for the three leading candidates varies considerably among certain religious traditions. Support for Clinton crosses religious boundaries, with pluralities of Democrats in every major religious tradition preferring her as the nominee. Meanwhile, Obama and Edwards receive different levels of support depending on voters' religious affiliation. For instance, Obama does more than twice as well among black Protestants (36% of whom name him as their preferred candidate) than among white Catholics (17% of whom prefer him). Edwards, on the other hand, does poorly among black Protestants (only 5% express support for him) and is supported by only one-in-ten among the religiously unaffiliated. But he does much better among white Catholics, who express slightly more support for Edwards (19%) than for Obama (17%).

Interestingly, Dennis Kucinich, who has only 3% support among all Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters, is the first choice of almost one-in-ten religiously unaffiliated voters, nearly equal to this group's level of support for Edwards (10%).
Figure

[Nat Fayer]

Ronald Ernest Paul, M.D. (born August 20, 1935) is an American physician and Republican Congressman for the State of Texas, who gained widespread attention during his unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Republican Party presidential nomination. During the campaign he attracted an enthusiastic following, which made use of the Internet and social networking to establish a grassroots campaign despite lack of traditional organization or media attention. He is the founder of the advocacy group Campaign for Liberty.

Paul is a member of the Liberty Caucus of Republican congressmen which aims to limit the size and scope of the federal government, and serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Committee on Financial Services, where he has been an outspoken critic of American foreign and monetary policy. He was one of the first congressmen to support Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign and endorsed Reagan again for President in 1980 and was himself the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in 1988. His ideas have been expressed in numerous published articles and books, including The Revolution: A Manifesto (2008).

Personal life

Paul was born in Pittsburgh to Howard and Margaret (née Dumont) Paul.[2] As a junior at Dormont High School, he was the 220-yard dash state champion.[3] He received a B.S. degree in biology at Gettysburg College in 1957.[3] After obtaining an M.D. degree from the Duke University School of Medicine, he served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s.

Paul has been married to Carol Wells since 1957.[4] They have five children, who were baptized Episcopalian:[5] Ronald, Lori, Rand, Robert, and Joy. They also have eighteen grandchildren and one great-grandchild.[6] He has four brothers, two of them including David Paul are ministers, and Wayne Paul is a CPA.

[edit] Early Congressional career

While still a medical resident in the 1960s, Paul was influenced by Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, which led him to read many works of Ayn Rand and Ludwig von Mises. He came to know economists Hans Sennholz and Murray Rothbard well, and credits to them his interest in the study of economics. He came to believe that what the Austrian school economists wrote was coming true on August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon closed the "gold window" by implementing the U.S. dollar's complete departure from the gold standard.[7] That same day, the young physician decided to enter politics, saying later, "After that day, all money would be political money rather than money of real value. I was astounded."[8]

[edit] First campaigns

Inspired by his belief that the monetary crisis of the 1970s was predicted by the Austrian School, and caused by excessive government spending on the Vietnam War[9], and wholesale welfare,[10] Paul became a delegate to the Texas Republican convention and a Republican candidate for the United States Congress. In 1974, incumbent Robert R. Casey defeated him in the 22nd district. When President Gerald Ford appointed Casey to head the Federal Maritime Commission, Paul won an April, 1976 special election to fill the empty seat.[11] Paul lost some months later in the general election, to Democrat Robert Gammage, by fewer than 300 votes (0.2%), but defeated Gammage in a 1978 rematch, and was subsequently re-elected in 1980 and 1982.

Paul was the first Republican representative from the area; he also led the Texas Reagan delegation at the national Republican convention.[12] His successful campaign against Gammage surprised local Democrats, who had expected to retain the seat easily in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Gammage underestimated Paul's support among local mothers: "I had real difficulty down in Brazoria County, where he practiced, because he'd delivered half the babies in the county. There were only two obstetricians in the county, and the other one was his partner."

[Lorna]

A guide to reporting requirements for groups formed to support or oppose candidates.

1. What is a Group?
Under the Alaska Campaign Disclosure law, a “group” is two or more individuals who act jointly to influence the outcome of an election of a state or municipal candidate or ballot measure. (AS 15.13.400(8)(B)). A PAC or political action committee is another name for a political group.

2. When does a group need to register with the APOC?
A group must register with the Commission “before making an expenditure in support of or in opposition to a candidate.” In addition to paid expenses such as ordering checks or paying for bank charges, an “expenditure” is defined broadly to also include a promise to pay. Reserving ad space or hiring a consultant are promises to pay. Thus, it is best to register as early as possible. (AS 15.13.050(a))

Remember, the group must have it’s own bank account, separate from any affiliated organization, union, or corporation.

3. Are there any restrictions on naming the group?
In general, there are few restrictions on the name of the group. If a group is formed to oppose only one candidate, the group’s name must clearly state that it opposes that candidate.

In addition, if a group expends 331/3% or more on a candidate, the name of the candidate must be a part of the group’s name. (AS 15.13.050(b))
http://www.state.ak.us/apoc/faqgro.shtml