The Wall St. Journal reports that Ron Paul has raised over $5 million this quarter in the quest for his 2008 presidential bid.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Ron Paul disclosed more than $5 million in third-quarter fund raising for his insurgent Republican presidential bid, the only Republican in the field so far to report increased donations.

While the Texas lawmaker remains a second-tier candidate in a party field dominated by the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, his grass-roots campaign continues to build steam, thanks to thousands of small donors over the Internet.

Campaign spokesman Jesse Benton estimates that as much as 80% of the campaign's donations are received online. In the final week of the third quarter, Dr. Paul, a licensed obstetrician, raised $1.2 million in Internet donations alone. The $5 million haul more than doubles his $2.4 million showing in the second quarter.

Note that much of the campaign money has come from small donors from his grass-roots following, and that "as much as 80%" of the donations are received online.

I guess that should finally quell the incessent and ridiculous rumors regarding Paul's supposed online network of "spam" supporters who somehow managed to "rig" major online election polls and news web sites.

Or maybe they'll come up with a story about how all that money was actually donated by two spammers working out of a basement somewhere, trying to fudge the campaign finance figures to make their candidate look more successful than he really is!

You know what, at this point I wouldn't even be that surprised...

Actually, some outlets such as WSJ seem to finally accept as fact Ron Paul's highly dedicated network of supporters, but continue to deem him a "longshot", etc.

Paul, a libertarian and a former medical doctor, has a fervent band of supporters and an active online community in support of his candidacy. Washington Wire readers and Ron Paul supporters, feel free to disagree, but Paul remains a long-shot candidate for the White House.

For more on Congressman Ron Paul and his 2008 Presidential campaign, see Ron Paul 2008, and check out this great Candidates at Google video of Ron Paul speaking to an audience of Google employees earlier this year.