Hey, Ron Paul folks, Rudy Giuliani pays tribute to your guy

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been on the, uh, naughty list of all loyal, dedicated, fervent and vocal supporters of Rep. Ron Paul since he appeared to scoff at the Texan during one of the early Republican debates last year, gave a formal tip of the hat to the good doctor during his Florida concession speech last night.

As one result of that debate incident, which involved Giuliani taking offense at Paul's suggestion that Americans were at least partly responsible for 9/11 by their occupation and offensive actions against Arab countries, some Paulunteers have hounded many of Giuliani's public appearances with chants and sign-waving throngs. And they have often filled the comment section of The Ticket with scores of denunciations of the man who successfully turned life in New York City around.

These thousands have also reveled in the several times that Paul drew more primary or caucus votes than Giuliani in early states where the New Yorker did not seriously compete, starting with....

Iowa. Many will no doubt delight now in the expected end to Giuliani's campaign later today followed by his anticipated endorsement of Sen. John McCain. Ron Paul, on the other hand, has the endorsement of THE Jane Roe, is working on Tom McClintock. and has launched an eight-state ad blitz including California.

But Tuesday night as he was preparing to bow out, as first reported on the Ticket Monday noon, Giuliani gave a gracious concession speech in which he listed all of his Republican competitors and called them good men.

He added Ron Paul on the end, smiling, and said after all the debates he'd go back to his hotel room and watch television and how every time, according to the texted tallies, Ron Paul won all the debates, much, he did not say, thanks to the determined voting of his many busy-fingered followers. "Ron Paul won every debate!" Giuliani said.

Alas for Paul's followers, who have given many millions to his campaign treasury,--nearly $3.8 million so far this month, according to his website -- Ron Paul, a 72-year-old, 10-term House member who ran for president previously on the Libertarian ticket in 1988, did not win in Florida. In fact, Paul came in fifth, dead-last, well behind even Giuliani and Mike Huckabee.

In fact, the former ob-gyn received only about 3% of the vote, way less than 100,000 votes, which was about what pre-election polls measured as his support in the Sunshine State and what Paul supporters will argue was caused by a mainstream media conspiracy to run those fraudulent polls, to under-report Paul's support and to minimize his chances.

Under Florida winner-take-all rules, McCain now takes the state's 57 delegate votes at next summer's Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

So tonight's Republican debate at the Reagan Library near Simi Valley, co-sponsored by The Times and live-streamed here on this website at 5 p.m. Pacific, will likely have only four surviving Republicans -- McCain, Paul, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. Paul will be the strict constitutionalist who opposes the Iraq war and proposes to slash the federal government. Chances are, he will be given less time to speak than the other three.

On CNN last evening Wolf Blitzer went way out on a limb about the future of the Republican race going into Super Tuesday, Feb. 5. He boldly predicted that the results next week were "anybody's guess."

And you can take that to the bank.

--Andrew Malcolm

Photo: Richard Sheinwald / Bloomberg News

Comments

[Kevin]

I'm from Europe and I can see that this is glaringly biased against Ron Paul. It's as if the writer could not stop adding verbs and adjectives to make Ron Paul's campaign appear stultified, with assumptions of what the Ron Paul supporters would say of the Florida results.

Why not mention that Ron Paul had abandoned campaigning in Florida, prefering to visit other states instead? Why not mention that Rudy got less than Ron Paul's 3% in many of the earlier states where he did not make an effort?

This has been the ploy of the MSM: portray RP as unelectible so even those who agree with him feel they are "wasting their vote" if they vote RP - a ridiculous mode of thinking to say the least...

Maine is next. Ron Paul is expected to do well there. But don't expect much coverage from the MSM.

[andre]

Thank you, Andrew. I have to say that it is true - There is blatent censoring;
Google 'Ron Paul -exclusion,censoring, unfair' and there you will see the evidence. You Tube also have video clips of this. Whether one is a Paul advocate or not, people should be concerned that this practice is going on.
Which candidate gets to be censored the election after next? This is not right especially when we are supposed to be instilling the virtues of democracy elsewhere in the world. Unless you have access to the internet you will NOT see fair appraisals of ALL the candidates. So to make up here is a website where the internet trawling has been done for your readers:
www.whattheysayaboutronpaul.com :)

[David]

You forgot to mention Dr. Paul's 2nd place showing in the last two primaries in Nevada and Louisiana.

[Kent]

Andrew,

You know as well as the rest of us that Rudy's comments were a backhanded compliment. You know as well as I that he was talking about that tiny handful of crazy Ron Paul spammers, wink wink, nudge nudge.

And he seemed to mention Ron as an afterthought -- probably because, even at his concession speech, he looked out into the audience and saw a bunch of Ron Paul signs.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to see Benito Giuliani crushed and broken. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy...

[mark]

There is self-fulfilling prophecy that won't allow a candiate with less name recognition to become recognizable through MSM channels. Now there are sensible arguments to be made in support of that, namely that channel airtime is a scarce good, that media companies are there to serve their customers (who might not be supporters of candidate A) or that reporting conflicts with the interests of a media company's shareholders. That's all fair. What is not fair is to say that this system is balanced (fair or not), that it increases citizens' participation in democracy, that young people can become more interested in politics with this system, or maybe more important, that in the end this system will create a better government.

I'm happy to see that technological advances make a campaign like the one of Ron Paul possible. Without internet sites like Youtube or Meetup, this was never possible, as it would have been to hard to self-organize or spread a message in a cost effective way. Who would have thought that Ron Paul would even come this far a year ago? Certainly not a large part of the media, which has never shown to have an affinity for or an understanding of libertarianism. I doubt that will change. I also doubt that they will fail to pick up the fundamental changes that are going on right now in society. Not that I care, as these changes make these media outlets more irrelevant each day.

[Kevin Houston]

And then there were 4...

This isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. And Ron Paul is a long-haul runner.

I am not so much interested in Rudy Giuliani praising Ron Paul, as I am in whether or not he completed his homework assignment. Did Rudy ever read those books that Ron Paul suggested?

If Rudy doesn't drop out before tonight's debate, may I suggest the headline of the debate report read something along the lines of: "John, Paul, Mike and Ringo." (ah, if only Ron Paul had run in 2000 when a certain 'George' was running, the headlines would have just written themselves...)

But seriously, I think Paul should watch his back in tonight's debate. Rudy may be out for revenge. Without a credible chance of winning, he may focus, instead, on destroying Ron Paul.

[dwc]

A.M. , Keep up the good work ya crazy thing! kick ass Ron Paul!!!

[Henry]

This guy has the immaturity and anger of a 15 yeard old. Absolutely no professionalism and writes like a drunk. If you want to criticize somebody, do it professionally and not like drunken buffoon. "Veteran journalist" my rearside. Press secretary to Laura Bush. Thats right, you were indeed a pimp.

[Mike W]

Unfortunately it took segregationist Governor Wallace to reveal the truth that "there's not a dime's worth of difference between" Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats willingly went along with the War in Iraq, suspension of Habeas Corpus, detaining protesters, banning books like "America Deceived' from Amazon, stealing private lands (Kelo decision), warrant-less wiretapping and refusing to investigate 9/11 properly. They are both guilty of treason.
Support Dr. Ron Paul and save this great nation.
Last link (before Google Books bends to gov't Will and drops the title):
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-38523-0

[K. Fisher]

First they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win" Ghandi

[John L Gulledge]

"Hey, Ron Paul folks, Rudy Giuliani pays tribute to your guy"
As he should, and should be ashamed of himself. As for you, it is clear your not a Freedom loving American, with your slanted article. Why not mention Ron Paul taking 2nd in Nevada, or the 2nd in Louisiana, that may very well be a 1st place win there? No, you would rather be a part of the system that has helped but not succeeded in keeping Ron Paul down. Ron Paul has a message of freedom, and liberty to us, and we as true Americans LOVE him for that. Rudy is an idiot, and so are the rest of the republicans that are running. The ONLY man with any integrity running is in fact Ron Paul. As for you Andrew Malcolm try being a man for once, and not part of the politically correct puppets in MSM!

John L Gulledge
Pensacola FL.

[Brian]

Ron Paul has run a beautiful rope-a-dope campaign. The other candidates have spent themselves and beat themselves up into oblivion. There are now only four candidates remaining, and most of the conservative base will end up going to Paul. Romney, McCain, and Huckabee cannot defeat Hillary or Obama in th fall, only Ron Paul can.

[Ron]

Let's not forget our leader's anniversary. Let's give what is necessary to reach 8.5 mil!

[JimS]

Ron Paul can use your Giuliani defense for a low showing in Iowa for himself in Florida. The interesting thing is Giuliani did campaign in both Iowa and New Hampshire he spent nearly 4.5 million in ads. Now in Florida Giuliani he spent close to 45 million and Ron Paul spent next to nothing. I unlike most RP supporters never voted in text polls, never waived signs nor gave a toss about Giuliani so please don't try and group me. No self respecting Ron Paul supporter has ever thought that getting him in the White House was going to be easy - so please don’t try to make it sound as if we did. No self respecting anybody supporter ever doubted a media bias early on. Now that he didn’t win Florida and in fact came in with 3% please don’t make it sound as if that justifies what the media has been doing since before New Hampshire - give me a break. Do I think the lack of media attention is some sort of conspiracy? No I do not.....I think it’s as obvious as the day is long that the media needs a future candidate that will bring viewers. So they cover the ones that will - nothing conspiratorial about that just basic marketing. A full on liberal or crazy war monger brings ratings pure and simple.

[Orlando]

I'm glad MCain won in Florida. Don't get me wrong, I'm a dedicated Ron Paul fan. Mitt Romney was way ahead of everybody else including Mcain on the delegates untill Florida, if he had won Florida (winner takes all) he would have increased his delegates by 57 and been the clear frontrunner. MCain took that away from him so now it's still a fight. MCain is the most undesirable candidate of all and I just can't see him winning the presidency specially because he is so pro war (not to mention his freaky yellow smile) so the republicans are shooting themselves in the foot. President Paul did good in not wasting our good money and effort in Florida as again (winner takes all) there are no delegates for nobody. That's what Giuliani overlooked. He spent countless millions in Florida and 15% of the state gave him nothing, Paul still has more delegates than him. I live in Florida and there where Mittney ads everywhere, millions and millions of dollars, I saw none from President Paul. Mittney got 31% of the vote, President Paul got 3%, they both got the same amount of delegates, 0. Even Score, Smart move President Paul. While these guys are spending there funds Killing eachother in a state that really does not compensate anybody (except the winner) for there efforts, President Paul has been campaigning in Maine and many other Super Tuesday states and making inroads in all of them.

I'd say President Pauls strategy is the smartest of all.

[Maria Harding]

And he WON the straw poll in my state - Connecticut -- but you don't see big news of that anywhere, now do you? Interesting that these media drones attempt to dictate to us who are candidates are. And McCain - who is pro-war won in NH where most of the people are AGAINST the war. Something stinks in the water --

[Pete]

I'm watching with interest from Australia. We get US cable TV via satellite and US news via radio... plus all the free to air networks of Australia. Ron Paul is not mentioned at all, but everyone seems fixated on Rudy for some bizzare reason. I think this is the election the world is watching - and the world is starting to see America for what it really is.... f#cked!

[Jason]

You might want to check out the fact that Giuliani campaigned more in Iowa and New Hampshire than Ron Paul did... he just didn't win any votes.

Also Paul saved his money by not campaigning in Florida, where everyone else blew through their remaining money. There was no conspiracy in FL, Paul wasn't there to get coverage. And why should he have been? This is about delegates, and there are plenty of those that can be gotten much cheaper than wasting tens of millions trying to out spend McCain and Romney to come in at the top of one state. This is a new kind of election, one that will be decided at the convention, and you can bet that the revolution will be there.

Paul probably has half the money he has raised in the bank still. If he ran the government like he runs his campaign, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in.

[gjothesen]

Why is it so hard for the media to do their job and simply report on what is happening? You get commentary like that that makes Ron Paul look like a moron and Giuliani look like a hero. When opinion is the only thing reported in an election cycle no one gets a fair shake. You can joke all you want about this but it is a serious problem. We are not supposed to be voting for Mr. Popular. We are choosing our President. Based on the one we have now we should be very freakin’ careful.

[DB]

Perhaps it is MSM bias and corruption, but how much of it has to do with the fact that his supporters can't face the reality of Ron Paul losing? It is like religious cults always thinking that they are the smartest ones, the one's who know everything and everyone else is wrong. At least I could understand this whining if he wasn't running as a Republican and maybe an independent instead. He has no chance in the Republican Party because he is not one of them. His best chances lie on a 3rd party ticket.

[Randy]

"Busy-fingered" ??? You guys never stop. Technology prevents multiple voting, and I think you know it

[Dale Pettit]

Florida was a winner take all (delegate state) and Ron Paul moved on to campaign in states that are more fair in the distribution of delegates. Ron Paul understands and demonstrates how to use his time and energy very efficiently. He focuses on the important stuff, like delegates to the National Convention.

It is obvious to the rest of the world and most people in the United States, that the powerful major media is attempting to control the election and control our lives. Obviously the major media's conduct in this matter is violating the trust of the world. One more way, forces used destructively, will destroy our nation and the Liberty and freedom for which it stands. We then wonder why the so many other nations mistrust and despise our meddling in their affairs. The citizens of the United States should join the Ron Paul revolution in taking back our country, renew our belief in the constitution and our previous world enfluence.

A must read for "Supporters of Ron Paul " http://www.blackhillsportal.com/npps/story.cfm?ID=2426

[Ken in NH]

Rudy successfully turned around NYC?!?!? I assume you're not referring to the blatant disregard for the workers health at ground zero. I'll also assume you're not referring to his spending of NYC's taxpayers dollars for his affair. I'll also assume you're just another herded sheep that wants nothing more than your own personal desires to be realized. Baahhh bahhhhh.

[Jay_C]

No, this time, Paul was chosing not do much campaining in Florida. He knew it was not a good state for him so he spent the time sreading his campaining around the other Super Tuesday states. (basically the complete opposite of Giuliani's Strategy) If anything we will probably here more MSM propaganda about Paul, and his "dismal Florida results", as "proof" of his unelectability. Never mind that there is still the issue with the Louisiana caucus (what is going on there by the way, Paul may win that state or come in second? Where is the MSM coverage on that?)

[akaye]

You'll get no thanks from me...
ANOTHER smear at RON PAUL.
You mention Paul beat Giuliani in states where Rudy did not campaign.
You FAILED to mention RON PAUL did not campaign in Florida.
Yet he still drew a better percentage than Rudy did when not campaigning.
When will someone just get it right?
We don't need you to think for us. We don't need you to hold our hand and lead us. We need unbiased reporting.
Ah, it is only a no name's blog.........