Ron Paul ignored?

United States
October 23, 2007 12:03am CST
Everytime I click on a poll to see who the viewers think "won" a Republican debate, Dr. Paul seems to win. However, none of the news analysis seem to include him in the analysis, and newspaper articles state he garners around 1% of the vote in polls. Yet, he raised more money than John McCain during the last reporting period. He gets some coverage from Fox news, and CNN recently did an alright, but a bit skewed (I thought) segment on him. George Stephanopolis did have him on once, which I missed, which was great, but then apparently, Stephanopolis told Paul that he (Paul) will never win, which was not great. I enjoy watching This Week with George Stephanopolis, but thought that remark was out of line. Paul seems to have a lot of grassroots support. Is the media ignoring him? and if so, why - do they not want him to win? Or do they think he will not win anyway and don't want to seem like they are propping up a 'minor" candidate?
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6 responses
@kbanta11 (59)
• United States
28 Oct 07
Ron Paul is ignored simply because the government controls the media. With the government controlling the media they want most of their attention to go to the candidates they want and neither party wants Ron Paul to win. Republicans are against Ron Paul because he does not share their exact beliefs within the party, Democrats don't want his name out there because they are scared that Ron Paul will take votes not only from republicans but also from their valued democrats.
1 person likes this
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
30 Oct 07
If the government controlls the media, then why is bush hatred so rampant? This statement makes no sense at all. The myth that the government controls the media is just that, an unsubstansiated myth.
1 person likes this
• United States
13 Jan 08
Because it's not supposed to be known that they control the media, they only do what they can gt away with. And yo're both wrong, a giant corporation owns the media...with Rupert Murdoch at the top, and it's long been known that he'll lean on whatever bit of news for whoever'll pay him. And he has a record of being than happy to do so for the government whenever theyfind an occasion to.
1 person likes this
• United States
13 Jan 08
Regardless of who or what control the mainstream media, the media does control public perceptions. When less performing candidates such as Giuliani and Thompson get more media attention, it does seem that they really want Paul out of the picture. Watching CNN the night of the New Hampshire primary, the Republican result pie chart had a slice for Giuliani, which is okay, but another noticeable slice which was unnamed, which would have been Ron Paul's slice at 8%. The Democratic pie chart did list Richardson by name even though he only received 4% of the vote. Maybe their computer was set up only to only allow four names onto the pie chart, but still seemed kind of fishy to me.
@mkirby624 (1598)
• United States
22 Jan 08
Thompson and Giuliani are (well, "were" for Thompson) minor candidates but the press had no problem covering them. I honestly can't tell you why the media won't cover Dr. Paul. Some say that they might be scared of his message, but in this time in our country, his message brings hope to the people of America, not fear. I love him because he says what he believes and what is the truth, rather than saying what sounds good (like every other candidate). He doesn't waiver in his beliefs and political standpoints. He has voted the same in all of his years as a congressman. He is the least greedy and superficial of them all (repeatedly voting against congressional raises and returning his leftover "budget" money at the end of the year). Yes, his campaign is most certainly grassroots. Yes, the media is ignoring him. But I can't tell you why.
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@mkirby624 (1598)
• United States
30 Oct 07
Ron Paul will be on Jay Leno Tuesday, October 30...be sure to check it out. You're right, he's not seen as a forerunner. He's running kind of a grassroots campaign and I don't think the media really DOES realize how many people he has backing him. Also, guilliani's law firm represents Fox, so they are less likely to throw a positive light onto one of his competitors, no?
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@NeoComp (1316)
• United States
23 Oct 07
Yeah I agree! Ron Paul is leading in all the polls! He also gets the most donations from the Military people... so you know he has everyone s support! he also opposes the new world order!! So he is going to win. The media can go screw itself!
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@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
24 Oct 07
I posted in the other thread on him and I think it applies here so I'll quote the text from my response: "After some thought, I decided that this answer requires an objective, political and electorial anylasis rather than a commentary on national and international policy. Ron Paul carries a very basic true to federalism philosophy. While that resonates well with a great many americans, the deeper republican voting base cannot reconcile the isolationist views that come with that philosophy with today's international climate. In addition, It is almost accepted inevitability that Hillary Clinton is going to win the nomination for the Democratic party. Many of the conservative voters feel his views on iraq are a bit too similar to the democratic messege on Iraq, and though he wants out now and Hillary wants out in a few years, the voting base feels that, A. Mrs. Clinton changes views like we change socks so that one can never be sure of what her views are, and B. that either way you look at it, the Dems carry a defeatist messege that the conservative base simply does not respect. People are identifying Ron Paul with the same philosophy. People seem to be looking for a candidate that can beat hillary clinton. The thought of Hillary Clinton winning the general election is more frightening to people than the thpought of Ron Paul NOT eventualy becomming president.It is as if the general election were already off and running. This is not the fault of government but of media and the general voting public as that is what drives the polls and media both. The hotter poll winners get the media attention. The media attention gets the candidates exposure and votes. As an additional kicker, Ron Paul is often associated still with the libertarian party as his views are still fairly leaning with that party. I think some people are still having a hard time identifying him as a Republican candidate. Conservative he is, Republican is still a lable people are struggling with and in the bloodsport of the political arena, lables matter. He is often too associated with conspiricy theorists and extreme groups like the free staters and causes such as federal tax denial and abolishment. As well as more far end ideals such as a comming new world order, Mr. Paul is considered the champion against all of this. The main stream voting base does not identify with these views, it is largly considered fringe. I would say that Ron Paul would do well to run as an independant in the general election, he would get far more votes than he would in the primaries. This could well have the effect of stealing th anit-war vote from Hillary Clinton and stealing the strong federalist vote from who ever wins the Republican primary. If that candidate is Guliani, some feel he is not conservative enough for the republican party and his vote may also go to Ron Paul. This could all have one of 2 effects, A. It could steal votes from the republicans in the general and cause Hillary clinton to become president, backfiring in the face of anti-Clinton voters. B. Ron paul steals enough votes from both sides to win slightly more than one third the popular vote and possibly enough to win the general election and the presidency. The final wild card that occures to me is Barak Obama wins the democratic nomination and regurdless of who wins the republican nomination, Barak does not get enough votes in the general election leaving it an open race between the republican candidate, and Ron paul, fairly having the effect of rendering the democratic party impotent and irrelivent in the political landscape, this alone would be considered a victory in those who desperately want drastic change in our electorial system, the near elimination of one of the "Big Two" parties and the possible election of a third party or indepoendant to the white house. So thats my arm chair quarter backing:)"
1 person likes this
@kbanta11 (59)
• United States
16 Nov 07
The simple explanation: The media has chosen who they want to win and they see Ron Paul as too big of a threat to their candidate to have publicity.
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