Ron Paul’s blimp is in the news because it’s flying near where I live. As the local news reports it,

“The blimp is being paid for by supporters who aren’t officially connected to Paul’s campaign. The blimp is scheduled to float up the East Coast past major cities.

The aerial billboard is emblazoned on one side with ‘Who is Ron Paul? Google Ron Paul.’ The other side reads ‘Ron Paul Revolution.’”

I’m not a Ron Paulite, but I find this first Presidential blimp to be a fascinating innovation in campaign communication. Obviously, it is an excellent example of communicative ISmarts.

But the blimp idea is also a fantastic illustration of analytical ISmarts–in the way it gets people to donate to Ron Paul’s campaign while getting around campaign finance rules. Ron Paul supporters created a private company, Liberty Political Advertising, LLC, to finance it. However, since Liberty Political Advertising is not a political action committee or officially affiliated with the Paul campaign, it is not subject to campaign finance laws or regulations. So supporters who pay for the blimp are not considered contributors, but are instead, purchasers!

Desperate times call for innovation. The Federal Reserve Bank is trying to do what it can to stop the hemorrhaging caused by the subprime mortgage loans crisis. Jill Barshay on Marketplace this evening has the best analysis I have heard so far on this.

As Jill puts it, the problem is that the credit market is frozen–there is tremendous distrust, and banks don’t want to lend to each other. In such a situation, the Fed has two options: try open market solutions such as cut interest rates (which it did by 0.25% yesterday) or open a discount window where banks go directly to the Fed and get loans. The problem with interest rate cuts is inflation, and the problem with the discount window is the stigma (there is often a rush on the banks seen going to the Fed). So here comes the Fed’s innovation. In collaboration with four foeign central banks, it announced a new scheme where any financial institution can go to it and pledge any kind of collateral (even subprime mortgage loans!) to get a loan. Further, the lending is made out to be a big party, you’re one more anonymous bank in a crowd.

Will this work? Well, the answer hinges on whether the Fed has addressed the central problem: the banks’ distrust of each other. As long as this situation where banks are wary of what loans other banks are hiding continues, the credit freeze will continue.