The libertarian-minded Republican enjoys a hefty lead in two unscientific online polls: 56.3 percent in one hosted by the conservative group FreedomWorks.com, and 56 percent a poll created by GOPstrawpolls.com, with undeclared candidate Fred Thompson coming in second at 18.7 percent. Paul is Technorati's most searched-for term, in front of stalwart contenders such as "iPhone" and "Paris Hilton," and recently reclaimed the spot after briefly falling behind a Puerto Rican singer with the undeniable advantage of having a sex tape on the loose. He's a close second to Barack Obama (and far outpaces Hillary Clinton) on Eventful.com's list of in-demand politicians, and, as a New York Times notes, is the most "friended" Republican on MySpace.

The platform is mainly attractive to young voters, who tend to dominate online circles. He's popular with the geek crowd as well, due to mainly Libertarian-style believes in electronic privacy.

Not everyone is that enamored of the candidate, of course. In fact, there's a number of people who seem to have ample evidence that his supporters are "spamming" his name in many popular forums and on social networking websites.

Copyright 2007-2009 by Times of the Internet. All Rights Reserved.