Ron Paul supporters: Do NOT read this. Please!

READERS' WARNING: Supporters of Ron Paul should not read this item. Perusing the following paragraphs may cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, disappointment and renewed anger at political polls, the mainstream media, all institutions holding financial power and anyone not terribly concerned about that mysterious planned highway across Texas that somehow threatens national security.

O.K., now that they're gone to their chatrooms or one of their impressive 1,200 meet-up groups, for the rest of you some background: The Ron Paul Conspiracy has received more news coverage and made quite an impression online in recent months for its followers' persistence, pervasiveness and, to put it politely, outspokenness in favor of their Republican candidate, the 72-year-old, 10-term Texas congressman with the libertarian ideals and the numerous books. He's even been on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and this Sunday is scheduled for an hour-long grilling by Tim Russert on "Meet the Press."

With fundraising persistence, dedication to "Dr. Paul" and admirable political energy in recent days their growing numbers made a huge name for themselves by raising more than $6 million online (more than $18 million for the quarter, they say), a new one-day political record.

Yet these Paulites have always dismissed polls, hated them, even despised them. They have many reasons besides the fact that no polls have given Paul much chance of winning anything. Polls, some suggest, are fictitious summaries of the mainstream media designed to suppress the Ron Paul Revolution. Polls are fake because no Paulite can remember ever being phoned for a survey. Many Paul supporters are new to the political process, so not on voter rolls to be polled. And they mostly use cellphones, not landlines. So they'd be somehow under-represented.

They maintained this stand even when Ron Paul's polling numbers in New Hampshire, for instance, increased geometrically from 2% to 4% to 8%, twice the support of better-known Fred Thompson.

Now, here's the news that would drive Paul supporters berserk if any had kept reading down to here, which they haven't: Ron Paul's polling numbers are now plummeting. Yup, going down, down. Once, he got the money to afford TV advertising in the Granite State, his support as measured by these no-doubt fraudulent polls began crumbling.

The new CNN/WMUR New Hampshire Primary Poll out today shows Paul's support falling from its high of 8% in early November to 7% at the start of December and 5% last weekend, when he had his big fundraising success. (The phone survey of 411 random, likely Republican primary voters was between Dec. 13 and 17.)

Of course, if Paul supporters believed in polls, they would point out that....

with a margin of error of +/- 5%, Paul could theoretically be at 10%. That also means, naturally, he could be at 0% too.

Belief in Paul's ability to handle terrorism held steady at 3%, to handle the economy fell from 7% to 3% and to handle taxes from 9% to 5%. His support for handling illegal immigration was steady at 4%, to handle abortion up from 4% to 5% and his ability to address the Iraq war (he's the only GOP candidate who favors withdrawal) was steady at 5%.

Now, in case anyone cares about the non-Paul candidates who have a chance of winning, Mitt Romney's percentage jumped from 32% to 34% from the beginning to middle of December, with the endorsement of the Manchester Union-Leader and Boston Globe John McCain increased from 19% to 22%, Rudy Giuliani fell from 19% to 16% and Mike Huckabee went from 9% to 10%.

Thompson and Tom Tancredo, who will announce the end of his candidacy Thursday, according to an Associated Press report tonight, held steady at 1% support while California's Congressman Duncan Hunter went from 0% to 1%.

On the poll's Democratic side, 469 likely primary voters produced a margin of error of 5%. After some troubled weeks when her support faded from a high of 43% in September to 31% at the start of December, Hillary Clinton's numbers surged back to 38%, while Barack Obama's slipped somewhat from 30% to 26% and John Edwards from 16% to 14%.

Bill Richardson went from 7% to 8%, Dennis Kucinich from 3% to 2%, Joe Biden from 1% to 2% and Chris Dodd from 1% to 0%.

If they were still reading down to here which, of course, they're not because they don't believe in polls, Paul supporters would say that none of this matters because only real votes count come Jan. 8. And, you know what, on that they would be 100% right.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Ladiliberty]

"Many Paul supporters are new to the political process, so not on voter rolls to be polled. And they mostly use cellphones, not landlines. So they'd be somehow under-represented."

This is totally wrong! In my local meetup group of over 300 90 percent of us are over 40 years old,homeowners,many with Grandchildren and most with a landline phone as well as a cell phone...In addition to that I do phone banking and the vast majority of the supporters I call fit the same criteria. The students you mention are a much smaller percentage of the Ron Paul supporter base, they are the foot soldiers and play an equally important role, but are not the majority as the varied medias would like Americans to think...

I have been registered to vote for years as have most ron paul supporters and it is very nice to finally have someone to vote for and support. Since Reagan I have voted against the lesser of two evils of presidential Candidates...Reagan liked what Ron Paul stood for and so do I! I do not take unidentified or solicitor calls, therefore I have never been polled...

Speaking of polls I'd like to point out that straw polls are fundraisers for the party...Buy as many tickets as you like and vote each and every one of them... Ergo straw poll results are symbolic of who brought in the most money not who won...

I am a struggling senior that supports my Candidate in a grassroots way not financially...I spend approximate 4-6 hrs per day calling,writing etc... There are many of us that do the same...One cannot place a price on that, I will leave it to those that have little time, but do have money to do their part of the Ron Paul support!
http://ronpaullibrary.org/

Its a terrible thing that has occurred in journalism over the years. True journalists are not happy about it and many have quit the trade of media journalism because of the censor issues... And that is the beginning of a fascist country that sadly is headed into a socialistic country... I weep for my country, I pray for Ron Paul to WIN! And I call American citizens to vote change, vote the issues, vote the only hope American has of assuring her future!

[pumaz]

Andrew,
Congratulations on boosting your readership, which I assume was the point of the article. Tough to fight through the noise of the holidays and get people to read your articles, but with a title like that and millions of Ron Paul supporters out there how can you go wrong.

P

[pumaz]

Andrew,
Congratulations on boosting your readership, which I assume was the point of the article. Tough to fight through the noise of the holidays and get people to read your articles, but with a title like that and millions of Ron Paul supporters out there how can you go wrong.

P

[bob a]

looks like the attacks sre increasing!!

the momentum is gaining!

a new term for american politics has emerged!

i am

a ron paul republican!

thanks andrew and keep up the great work as a "journalist"

[scott]

what are you afraid of malcomb someone who really stands for something and is not bought and paid for by big corporations..oh I forgot you work for one.

[Michael Shanklin]

The truth is, Ron Paul is going to do alot better than 10%!!! Me and about 50 other (non-polled) people just in my city have switched from Romney, Giuliani, and Tax Hike Huck to Paul within the last week!!! Paul is going to win my area for sure!

[bob a]

looks like the attacks sre increasing!!

the momentum is gaining!

a new term for american politics has emerged!

i am

a ron paul republican!

thanks andrew and keep up the great work as a "journalist"

[Uniblogger]

Andrew Malcom... You, Sir, are a hack journalist looking to impress your peers by attracting a massive flood of comments from angry Ron Paul supporters. What are you bucking for a better job with the MSM? We'll see what happens when the voting starts. Everywhere I go, all I see are RON PAUL signs.

[Renae C. Mitchell]

I'm not sure who you really think that we "Paulites" are, but just to let you know I'm a 36 year old stay at home mom of a 2 and 4 year old. I voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004. I have a craft business out of my home. The local meetup group had a rally at one of the craft shows I was in. I liked what I heard! I'm not your "brand" of Paulite you could say. And no, I'm not going to go to another chatroom now, I have laundry to do!

[Dan]

This may be true, but you forgot to mention that some 74% of Republican voters are still undecided...at least in NH and IA, if not the whole country
I don't think that it is so much that Paul's numbers have gone down, but that with more people starting to decide on a candidate, it dilutes his percentages when compared with the whole polling group.

[Doug]

I checked out a pollster site and randomly picked a state to check into the details. I chose California, they listed a number of polls from different polling companies. I then chose the last poll (the poll had a dash for Ron Paul) which was a SurveyUSA poll done between 12/14 through 12/16 (very recent). Reading the question that was asked by the pollster Ron Paul wasn't even a choice. Just 2 days before Ron Paul raises the most confirmed donations in one day by any candidate ever, and they don't even bother including him in the polls. So do you really believe that we are to take these poll results seriously? Do you take them seriously?

[TIm Maitski]

By your logic then, the easy way to stop all of this Ron Paul stuff is to make sure every American know exactly what Ron Paul's message is. You are saying that once people know him, they reject him.

My personal observation is just the opposite. Once people learn more about Ron Paul, they find out that they really like him. This then logically explains why the media and other candidates try to ignore him.

Time will tell.

[JD]

The polls are accurate. Ron Paul is polling nationally at around 5%. However, what the media should emphasize, being that it is blatantly obvious, is that this is about 5% of the republicans that voted in the last election. As a lifelong "lesser of two evils" democrat, I'm not in that 5%, neither are the millions like me, or the millions of republicans that did not vote in the last election, or the millions that preferred to steer clear of the "lesser of two evils" method of voting and have not been active politically until Dr. Paul cured their apathy.

I don't necessarily trust pollsters, but it is very believable that only 5% of the people that voted for people like Bush are supporting Dr. Paul. Furthermore, I believe that at least 20% of those morons would support Pastor Huckabee from Nazareth, or Guliani who would most certainly attempt to circumvent our Second Amendment rights, or start a war with Australia over kangaroos, and Switzerland over mountain snow; or Romney, who changes his core believes according to who is listening; and McCain, who used to stand for something, has fallen into the same "whatever you want me say" b.s. my way into office political mentality.

The bottom line however, is who cares what the polls are at. Let the elections tell it. I'll bet this journalist, who has my email address, $100 that Dr. Paul will get no less than three times what the polls show today.

Are you willing to take that bet?

[ChiefCook]

I was not a Ron Paul supporter until I started reading all of the negative blogs about him. Once I looked into who this guy really was. I found him to be the most experienced, honest, upright, humble and decent candidate running. He never dodges questions with sound bites. I also found that after ten terms in congress, he has a flawless record for honoring his oath to support the constitution and the rights of all Americans. No other person in Washington D.C. can make that claim.

I can see why there are people who hate Dr. Paul. Why? Because he represents positive change and there are too many leaches (non producers) sucking the system dry. This will all change under a Paul presidency and the leaches will actually have to work for a living.

The MSM is now the just Old Media. It is becoming more irrelevant every day. This yellow journalism hit piece is just one of the many reasons why more and more people rely on alternate news sources.

Fewer than 5% of regular voters vote in the primaries. I can guarantee that 100% of the Paulites will be out in force on election day. They will wade through ten feet of snow to get there. This election is NOT about Ron Paul, it is about taking America back from the neocon hijackers and getting back on the right coarse. Win or lose, the revolution will continue with or without Dr. Paul. There is something going on and it is really BIG. Get used to it.

"It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." Samuel Adams

[Rick D.]

Bla Bla Bla,

Another (keep your eyes on the pocket watch as it sways) blog.

The oath to be taken by the president on first entering office is specified in Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my "ABILITY", preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Our currant President, seems to have lost his ABILITY.

Nuff Said...

[Phil]

This Ron Paul blogs are so lame.

Basically it's a "I want to drive more traffic to my blog so I'll write somethingj about Ron Paul because I have nothing else to say that anyone would care to read".

lol

[Jack K. Wilborn]

Seems like you people in LA know how to make the laws, since you are now number 1 in Murder. (The Murder Capital!) Not to mention, I am in my mid 50's have always voted and have NEVER been polled about politics.

[Bro7]

Everytime a news journalist or anchor attacks or tries to discredit Ron Paul, I always seem to get more people to support him. I don't know if the mainstream media is recognizing this but people see it and don't like the attacks and they listen to the humble man's words more. There are many Ron Paul supporters and I think now they may be the majority so I think the news journalists and anchor better start being nice to Ron Paul now if they want the ratings to keep their jobs.

Ron Paul has my vote!

[David]

Just another future Ron Paul voter chiming in...

But I don't exist... and Only 4% of me will vote for him...

[Nicolas Martin]

The tedious jottings of Mr. Smirk and Mr. Sneer don't deserve a response. Ron Paul is leading a movement of ideas, and these typist are not idea men.

[Michael D]

Here's an experiment in thought (Andrew Malcom is excused for lack of skills).
Let's imagine that every issue that Ron Paul (Dr. No) ever pursued was voted yes on by the majority. For all the years he voted no on issues look at where the majority vote has gotten us. I think a great idea for an informative and entertaining article might be to hypothesize how this country would look if Dr. Paul's "no" record turned out to be a "yay" record (majority vote) and his ideas were passed instead of ridiculed. Wow what different country this would be. The fact is that for all his almost solitary stances on politics, he had the right answers all along. And now back to reality, his ideas have regressed in the political arena to the point of ignorance (Guliani still doesn't accept the causes of 911 etc. etc.). We have Corporate fraud beyond imagination, and bandit tax system, a tyrannical, above the law government that has attempted to negate the constitution an thereby rejected their oaths to uphold it and what should be the punishment for the latter? An oath of office is a contract and unfortunately most politicians have broken their contract with the citizens of this country. Consistency counts with me and Ron Paul has consistently done his best to adhere to his oath. The proof is that for 20+ years he has been a lone voice in the congress and the flip side is that where he fought for his position he was dismissed by the "rest". Were the "rest" to support their oath they may not have voted for Ron Paul's approach but they would have no choice to vote with him. I am not interested in doing the research to see how things would have come out if he had support for his positions. I am however interested in putting Ron Paul in the white house where he will hopefully gain a more apt nickname than "Dr. No". Maybe something like "president of the people"?

[Vince]

Mr. Malcolm,

You seem to think that we, Dr. Ron Paul's supporters, are illogical and lack any perception of reality. No sir we are not like that. We can take reportage so long it’s factual and offers equal access to Dr. Paul as, say, the so called "tier" candidates. We believe Dr. Paul's ideas and integrity win hands down given the same media time the others get. I, like many others, am not upset with your reportage. If anything, I take it you are reporting on what you are given as facts. It just would be nicer if you held us in a higher esteem, you know like we do you even if we may not agree with you.

Thank you

[tracy jones]

He has my vote and oh yes my daughter will be 18 right before election he has our vote,fight the good fight Dr Paul and the fact that the media hates you is your most powerful endorment.

[erik]

look - no one ever talks about the methodolgy of how the sample was chosen - you control the sample and you control the results.

I am a Ron Paul supporter and I will admit he is a long shot. I will admit that most Americans can't find Iraq on the map or even knows what the FED is - let alone how it controls interest rates. I don't expect much from Americans in terms of original thought.

I will say that Ron Paul has supporters that turn out to straw polls, open their wallets, and I am willing to bet will actually vote....he will end up better than projected. One good way to combt him is to convince idiots he has no chancd to win - for some reason many people do want to vote for someone they are told can win - as oppossed to the best person. They don't like to confront his ideas.

The simple fact is we can't afford these wars and welfare program. The US can do better, but the dollar is going to crash and all of our assets will be sold at dirt cheap prices and then there you have a - you can't be a strong nation without a strong economy and by all indications we are living a life on borrowed money and borrowed time.

[Darrin]

'you should vote for whoever we cook big numbers for'
or
'you shoudl vote for whoever other people are voting for'

both are ludicrous, both display the lunacy of democracy.