Ron Paul gets some revenge

An easily overlooked aspect of the Iowa caucuses -- Ron Paul not only besting Rudy Giuliani, but doing so by more than 2-to-1 -- sparked a trip down memory lane for us.

It was mid-May, and the former mayor of New York was riding high following one of the early debates among the Republican presidential candidates. The primo sound bite had been a snap to identify: Giuliani's outraged, impassioned reply to Paul's assertion that U.S. foreign policy, especially the periodic bombing of Iraq in the aftermath of 1991's Gulf War, was to blame for the Sept. 11 attacks.

Giuliani, not waiting to be called upon, seized the moment by terming Paul's comment "an extraordinary statement" and urging the Texas congressman to retract it (which Paul did not).

To give Paul his due, even in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 -- when the emotional response to the assault was at its rawest -- serious scholars had begun hashing over the role played by American policy in the Mideast, particularly long-standing support for Israel, in fueling Islamic extremism and hatred for the U.S. But in the format of a candidate debate -- where rhetorical zingers count far more than lengthy discourse -- Paul's remark amounted to a grooved fast ball down the middle, and the consensus at the time was that Giuliani parked it.

As MSNBC's online political note put it at the time, Giuliani may want to "hire out Paul for the campaign trail -- he could be the Washington Generals to Rudy's Globetrotters" (i.e., the patsy willing to get beaten in every game).

That was then, this is now. In Iowa, Paul, 10%; Giuliani, 4%.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Yukon Dave]

Look at the source data as of 10:01 pm PST. Ron Paul may be 5th but 253 votes separate 3rd, 4th and 5th

1. Mike Huckabee 5,635
2. Mitt Romney 3,163
3. John McCain 1,853
4. Fred Thompson 1,842
5. Ron Paul 1,600
6. Rudy Giuliani 418
7. Duncan Hunter 44
8. Alan Keyes 20

We currently have 1749 Counties/Precincts in our system, with
54.49% of precincts reporting in.
The total number of votes cast thus far: 14,575

[Duane Maddy]

Here's a few things people are overlooking. Dr. Paul didn't put a lot of money into Iowa. Evangelicals vote for evangelicals without looking at the message or policy. New Hampshire and Wyoming will be a different story. He picked up 2 delegates tonight without a whole lot of effort. The third place finishers only picked up one more than him. Not bad for a "fringe" candidate that doesn't stand a chance!

[Paul]

Right on Don Frederick. This article is a nice, grooved fast ball down the middle. A+++++++

[frank]

actually, Giuliani is 3.46% (which is usually rounded down to 3% since it's less than half the way to four)

RP08!

[Patrick Henry]

Ron Paul's supporters have always known that Iowa was a tough state. The same straw polls that have shown Ron Paul winning most states also showed 5th place in Iowa. So this is an awesome victory today!!! 10% AND beating Giuliani. And lets not buy this "Giuliani wasn't even trying" stuff. He didn't try because he knew it was a tough state for him, just like Ron Paul. At least we tried and got 10%!! Go Ron Paul!

[Richard Brodie]

No meaningful conclusions can be drawn by comparing Ron Paul's showing negatively to Huckabee, for whom Iowa is merely a fluke, nor positively to Giuliani who wasn't campaigning in Iowa.

The important thing is that in the last several weeks he has shot up FIVEFOLD from 2 to 10 percent. And even MORE significant is that tonight Mitt Romney, even with all his name recognition and free media hype, only received somewhat more than double the number of votes Paul did, instead of twelve times as many, as would have been the case had the contest been held when Paul was still at 2 per cent.

This election season is often compared to a horse race, and I see a certain dark horse closing pretty damn fast on the front runners!

[Brian]

Cant wait to see how Dr Paul does in New Hampshire. Think he'll gain a couple positions there. Great to see Julie Annie get put in his place tonight. He has no business being president.

[Aakash]

Go Ron Go!

[Matt, Alabama]

Hey Rudy, SCOREBOARD sucker.

Please don't implant a chip in me if you somehow do win though...

Thanks for the blog post.

[Outside observer from Canada]

Wow, I'm really surprised to see someone in the media actually giving Dr. Paul some credit. From an estimated four percent to ten percent in a week is quite a huge jump.

Most of the mainstream media around the world seem to be mentioning Guiliani (4% of the vote) and neglecting to mention Dr. Paul (10%)

Nice job in the objectivity department, LA Times!

[Joshua Wise]

I am glad Mr. Frederick fielded this one. Otherwise the headline might be, "Ron Paul loses miserably, Giuliani shrugs" If this isn't the end, it's the begining of a very large change in American politics, that might last decades.

[Brenda]

Well-made point and you're right about Paul's significant victory over Giuliani being easily overlooked. But not by us Paul supporters. I take note and am encouraged. Nearly every day I run into someone who has not yet heard of Ron Paul or doesn't know much about him. In less than 15 minutes of summing up his positions, most people become very interested in him, go on to check him out more thoroughly and become Ron Paul supporters themselves. The caucus showed that Ron Paul indeed has more support than the traditional polls show, and I expect this support to continue to grow.

[Jen Lewis]

10% is just the beginning for the Champion of the Constitution! Once the dirt starts flying on the Huckster, Mitt, and McCain, and some of them can't finance their campaigns any longer, the tides will turn and liberty will prevail. New Hampshire is fertile territory for Ron Paul.

[Tom deSabla]

If he got the ink that Huck got, he might have really made some noise. I wonder how many people in Iowa knew about the San Francisco Republican Alliance straw poll that was canceled at the last second to keep Paul from winning?

Very few, I'll bet. With the media basically ignoring him whenever they can, while constantly talking about his rivals, 10 percent isn't bad at all, especially in a non-libertarian state like Iowa. Also, he was the only candidate other than Huckabee and Romney to actually carry a county - Jefferson County.

[SkepticTexan]

I write this with extreme caution, as my hatred of the LA Times for crimes upon those that will go *Unnamed* --
thanks.
Batter up.
1-2-3-4
Who's knockin' at yer door?

:)
LIBERTY AND FREEDOM FOR ALL

[Kate Lesley]

Hi. I have to say that I watched the debate that you mention and I wonder often how it is that we all see things so differently. You see, I come from the midwest and maybe that makes my view point a little different, but at the time I was just so pleased to hear Ron Paul say what I considered pretty obvious. He did put a name to it for me ... blow back, but up until then I pretty much had the same idea. Mr. G is pretty much a blow hard. I was thrilled to see him put into his place that night, and that was my take on the situation.

I am also very happy to See that Ron Paul has thwarted him once again.

I think all candidates deserve respect. Hope this earns the Good Doctor his fair share.

[Nicholas Adams]

10% in Iowa for Ron Paul was a victory. Let's not forget that this is the state that saw Mr. Clinton getting 3% of the vote in the caucuses the year he WON and that the year George HW Bush won he got spanked by Bob Dole and Pat Robertson! Iowa is a notoriously "vote your religion not the issues" state, and Paul doesn't wear his religion on his sleeve. Huckajesus was going to be the obvious winner, Romney next because at least he seems religious even if its not the right religion, Thompson next because all the old religious types like his TV show, and McCain next because they can at least recognize him. My prediction? Paul places 2nd in New Hampshire...

[floridaforronpaul]

I just wanted to say that I have not been hearing a lot about the GOP Wyoming caucus coming up on Jan 5th. But reading about it online, it seems as though there are a lot of Dr. Paul supporters out there. I hope that our campaign can pay a bit of attention to Wyoming as well. I was a bit sad with the results but I know we can do better.

[Andre]

Mike Huckabee said "the way to end the (Iraq) war is to win it". Huckabee has made this statement quite a few times. COULD SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME what Huckabee plans to 'win' in Iraq. Why hasn't a journalist questioned him on this? Americans would figure out Huckabee (unlike Ron Paul) has NO foreign policy.

A true Christian wouldn't be so hypocritical & deceptive as Mike Huckabee has been. A true Christian wouldn't use religious symbols for personal gain like MIke Huckabee has done. And true Christians shouldn't be supporting such a dishonorable man like Mike Huckabee.

It's truly amazing what you can get away with in American politics when you wrap yourself with the American flag and you hold up a cross. Maybe these Evangelicals should take their head out of the bible and actually ask a few questions and do a bit of research on the candidate before they vote. Haven't they learned anything from this horrible nightmare called Bush.

The only presidential candidate who talks about peace is Ron Paul. Not only does he sound like a true Christian, but he the only one who acts like one too! "Ye shall know them by the fruits of their labor"

[Tom]

Make that 29 to 1.

As in the Score among INDEPENDENTS = Ron 29 / Rudy 1

Rudy "Mr. Electable" nearly gets skunked and Ron Paul, the real Big Tent Republican, takes the day among the Independents who are the KEY to winning any general election. If you want to TRUTHFULLY talk about electability, the discussion starts and ends with Ron Paul in the Republican Party.

According to Exit Polls, Paul won Independents by a commanding margin:

Paul - 29%
JM - 23%
MR - 19%
MH - 17%
FT - 8%
RG - 1%
HT - 0%

[Mark Eibner]

Bravo Ron Paul. We have one of the first true "Statesmen" running for president against bought and sold politicians. Go Ron Paul 2008.

[amir]

I like Ron Paul and many of his ideas, but he has no chance of becoming president. It's a protest vote from the libertarian part of the Republican party, just like Huckabee is a protest vote from the Christian segment of the party.

It seems like the Republicans are tearing the party apart between Christian conservatives, fiscal hawks, defense hawks, and libertarians. This coalition worked for a long time under Reagan, but it's falling apart at the seams now.

[Rick Fisk]

I can't help but be a little disappointed. But interestingly enough things could change even in Iowa by the time the delegates are actually selected. Not that I'm counting on this.

I do expect much better in NH. Huckabee is a scary man. He's so slick. But I don't think he can sustain his campaign. He has no cash.

I think that Ron Paul's campaign needs to analyze the results, look at the counties where they did well and compare that to the efforts of their volunteers and staffers.

For instance, did the hand-written letters have an impact? The Phone banks? The canvassing? The radio ads? Pick the things that produced results and carry those through to the next states. There are still 49 to go. Dr. Paul is right, it isn't the end, it's the beginning.

[infojunkie]

Not only did RP beat Giuliani by almost 3-to-1 (with 96% of precincts reporting), we beat him in every county except Cass County. We came in second in a few counties, and WON Jefferson. Woohoo! Go, Ron Paul!

County-level results:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21228645/

[SkepticTexan]

My summation-
The NeoCons have taken over the party, using the Apocalypse as a tool to dig oil. Like the land of milk and honey they rapeth uipon the ultimate bearings of the tender of the wheat in the lands of the desolate.
They steal they lie they cheat, they try to win.
The NEO-LIBERALS, conversely, have suceeded in TAKING from the hand outstretched. The NeoCIones STEAL, the NeoLibs hold up the hand of the theif.
THIS will be their downfall.
HUBRIS.
if we see it for what it is= if we look around and see the bullets flying about our heads, we can DUCK.
If only Dick would have said those words...
things would have been different.

[Doug D]

More like 3:1 for Ron Paul, with Rudy barely over 3%.

Huckster's win and Ron Paul's double-digit showing should serve as a huge rebuke to the TV networks that doled out air time in their debates based on meaningless early poll standings. There was no justification for it, and yet no one seems to be calling them on it.

[FormerTancredoFan]

I'm not worried about the early (relatively) low percentage of Ron Paul, because I know he will likely win, because Americans are tired with illegal immigration and want to fox this mess and self-deport illegals!

[JoninMN]

Giuliani probably still thinks he won that exchange. In fact, it was the exact point where his campaign began to fade.

Ron Paul standing up to the the war and fear-mongering Giuliani in that debate has since become one of the elements in hundreds of youtube videos. Intelligent people from all parties have seen in Rudy's rebuttal from that night his shocking ignorance in foreign policy. In fact, the more Rudy talks and gets exposure, the worse his poll numbers become. Maybe it is because voters are realizing he has very little experience outside of being the Mayor of New York? Or maybe it is all the videos of him prancing around in a dress. So very Presidential.

Rudy's plan of campaigning in the big states will look more and more foolish in the next few weeks. He will have a harder and harder time explaining all the major defeats. By the time Super Tuesday comes around, there will be nothing left of Rudy.

[KevinN]

When MSNBC viewers voted on who they thought won that debate, they voted overwhelmingly for Ron Paul, not Giuliani. That the pundits have completely ignored this point irks me to no end. Giuliani's "rhetorical zinger" was devoid of intellectual content, and I think that the viewers realized this. The pundits have so little faith in American voters.

[Carlo, from Italy]

I think that Ron Paul is preparing a long campaign: he has strong ideas and now he has even a lot of money. And I am sure that after this good score in Iowa, New Hampshire will give him other satisfactions. Libertarian America needs it, and all the lovers of freedom in the world are waiting for it.

[Larry Friend]

The media black-out on Ron Pal's message of Freedom & Liberty has taken a toll but Iowa proves that the momentum is building and that the People will be heard. Just as Giuliani was not the gift of 2008, as the media had touted him, so too will the media be wrong about Ron Paul. He will be the next president.

At 58 years of age I finally found a candidate that believes as I do. He has wholeheartedly supported the Constitution throughout his career. It is not some quaint, out of date document. From Democrat to Independent and now a registered Republican, I find I never knew what the Republican Party was meant to be until now. The reason is that the party has drifted away from its own roots. Don’t believe me! Read the Republican Party Platform of 1856: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=2073.

Ron Paul’s messages are so common sense and all you need to do is follow the Constitution. His messages tell of known wrongs and what the Constitution says we should do about it. Many of these were written about in 1971 in a book called, “None Dare Call It Conspiracy”. Try: http://reactor-core.org/none-dare.html

Anyone that has not watched Ron Paul videos or looked at his voting record are doing their grandchildren a very great disservice. Ron Paul is America’s future.

Visit: www.ronpaul2008.com and see what the revolution is about.

[Mark]

The entrance polls show that IA GOP voters were 70% heavily pro-bush evangelicals. If we can get 10% of that voter base, we are much much higher already nationally that polls currently suggest. Also notice that we took 29% of independents, and a whopping 54% of the ANGRY anti-bush crowed, which wasn't that big in IA, but will be in other states.

[Rob Lewis]

Rupert Murdochs Newscorp certainly have made it their sole purpose to exclude Dr Paul from any decent news, and in a way a purposeful blacklisting of his campaign. The NEOCons are surely worried that the people may discover Liberty remains with one candidate, bringing the troops home imediately, getting rid of the FED and actually telling the truth whilst knowing SOMETHING about history and foreign policy only side with Dr Paul. Only Dr Paul has shown he can be trusted and to still see numbers of people vote because, "shes a woman" or "hes black" or hes the 911 guy is rediculous, where people STILL forget the issues at hand. Have not they learnt after Bush, and other Presidents that have led the US into wars with dubious reasons.
The time is at hand, and the lives of millions depend on your votes. The last thing that is needed is another flip flopping, corporate supporting, cash taking, lying warmonger in power again.
Please spread the word, because the media wont, they protect their profits too.

[DRH]

Whoopy-doopy... Ron Paul beat the Guy that Didn't Show Up?

[Rudy G]

Looks like Iowan's threw Rudy off the ferry and let Ron Paul stay on. Ruuuuuuudy - where are you?

[Rudy G]

Looks like Iowan's threw Rudy off the ferry and let Ron Paul stay on. Ruuuuuuudy - where are you?

[Jack Sanderson]

Ron Paul lost big time because he failed to discuss the issues that would have gotten 75% of Republican males to back him regardless of their support for the WOT.

Ron Paul could have discussed Internet regulation. Heck, he could have told American males "The Dems now agree with the Republicans on banning pornography". At least 75% of war hawks like buying pornography.

I am serious. Being anti-war and stressing that will only get you 10% or 15% tops. But being pro-free speech will get you 40% especially if you force your opponents to say they are NOT in favor of that.

Romney thinks it is "just tough" that new laws allow men to be more easily falsely accused of rape and abuse. Why not have Ron Paul confront him directly on these issues in a debate.

Ron Paul, instead, sets himself up for marginalization (even when it is a 10% or 15% marginalization) when he just talks about the war on terror in debates.

[Jason Wilson]

Hahahha @ Guliani
Any who ...I have seen some very intelligent remarks up there like the fact that Bush and Clinton got low scores and still became president...
The fact that Huckabee was escorted to the throne by evangelicals...I bet Pat Robertson feels silly endorsing Rudolf now! I hope that wasn't the holy spirit's decision Pat!
Any who again...Yeah really Ron Paul didn't put allot of effort in, but the seeds of lovers of freedom after years of being choked by the weeds of tyranny are starting to blossom again...

It will be good to see a new beginning to the constitution.
I mean I was a die hard democrat hate republicans kind of guy, until it dawned me hey it's true, Why do we send millions and billions for Aids research to other nations... Some people may think oh it's heartless not to endorse such a plan...
Actually people like Ron Paul are not saying you cannot do it as such he's just saying it's unfair to use tax dollars to do that there are many people opposed to it so their rights are respected too...
Hmmmm and the views about abortion gay marriages state issues, it will be different in different states really reflects the demographics of America...again
ingenious...
I also see the spirit of Christ working in Ron Paul allot more than with those other guys peace and a very good new year indeed!.

[Tess101]

Don thank you for this write up. WOW! Double digits for Ron Paul. I am sure the old media is beside themselves now, especially after saying he was a longshot for so long and would never get double digits. Foxnews/ABC has no reason or excuse to exclude Ron Paul from their New Hampshire debates and Forum scheduled for this weekend. Since Giuliani had such a poor showing in Iowa I believe he is the one that will be excluded. Ron Paul meets the set criteria that Foxnews/ABC made for candidates to be included in their New Hampshire Debates and Forum as printed earlier this week. Ron Paul surpassed Rudy, now that is a true victory. Ron Paul has raised enough in donations (19.5 million-4th qtr) to keep going for the long haul. Now we are off to New Hampshire for a much stronger showing of support. Huckabeen has had his 15 minutes of fame, it's time for the Ron Paul Revolution.

[liberteebell]

Ron Paul for the long haul!!!

[Jake]

Agreed.

Guiliani wasn't competing in Iowa, so beating him is nice but not too significant.

What is significant is that Paul supporters showed up: 10% of an entire state's republicans. The Iowa caucus is no straw poll (of which Ron Paul has been winning many). It shows Paul's support is fervent but not limited to a small "core" of support. There are easily thousands like that in every state.

Also, Paul had WOMEN show up!... in a ratio of 11:8, men to women. So there are some!

Not to mention that Paul pulled in over 50% of the voters who were "ANGRY" about Bush and 21% of the 18-27 age bracket. This means Paul is clearly the Republican's youth candidate, their disaffected, anti-republican Republican candidate, and generally just a solid, very much in-the-running, candidate.

Lastly, a mere 200-300 votes behind McCain and Thompson. That's pretty impressive. This means Paul can be called a "long-shot" and a "kook" but never outright dismissed as less of a candidate than any of the top 6 Republicans... at least until February 5th.

It was not a bad day in Iowa.

[Weston J. Kathman]

Maybe Iowans have caught on to the fact that Giuliani is a total fascist who will amp up the police state like nothing we've seen since Franklin Roosevelt started throwing Japanese Americans in internment camps (and Giuliani might do even worse things, for all we know). Looking at all of the "top tier" candidates of both parties -- and trying to keep from losing one's lunch in the process -- it is clear that all of them think they are running for dictator. There doesn't seem to be any area of your life they don't want to control, whether it be your wallet, your health, your guns, etc. That is why so many people -- many more than the corporate-controled, propaganda-peddling mainstream news media are willing to tell us -- support Ron Paul. He is a once-in-a-hundred years candidate who believes in something for which every other politician at the national level has nothing but contempt: individual freedom. There are still a few Americans left who, having overcome the brainwashing to which they were subjected in the centers of state worship known as our schools, don't want the government to do anything but leave us alone, and leave the rest of the world alone as well. Dr. Paul is the only candidate since Barry Goldwater -- and Paul far surpasses Goldwater -- who champions these principles. That is precisely why there has been a virtual blackout of him in much of the media. Despite his stance against the big-money interests, particularly the bankers and the military industrial complex, Dr. Paul still managed to raise more money in one day than anyone else has ever done. There is a reason for that and it has a lot more to do with freedom than the internet.

[Mark A Smith]

Ron Paul WON JEFFERSON COUNTY! ;-)

[Matthew Grose]

Way to go Jefferson County, Iowa! Ron Paul - winner in Jefferson county! Way to stand up and make a difference. There is hope for America after all.

Ron Paul 2008 - let's make it happen!

[Less Antman]

I continue to be impressed with the fairness of Top of the Ticket, especially in the light of a rather boisterous display of incivility by some Ron Paul supporters in the early days of coverage.

I don't always agree with the analyses, but the thoughtfulness behind them is always evident. Thanks, Don.

[Nick]

So, let me get this straight. Ron Paul wins Jefferson County, presumably named after Thomas Jefferson, whom Ron Paul is more like than any of the other candidates. Maybe the people in Jefferson County actually understand what their namesake stood for and they voted in kind. Good for them.

[Denise White]

Thank you LA Times for giving Ron Paul some very well deserved and objective coverage. It seems most of the players in mainstream media are pretending Ron Paul doesn't exist. The truth cannot be denied forever. Go Ron Paul, Go!

[Tyler Nixon]

What Don points out here is something I believe many Ron Paul supporters believed would happen.

But it is not so much Dr. Paul's revenge (Dr. Paul is not like that) as it is Rudy Giuliani's self-inflicted come-uppance.

After Rudy's rudeness to Ron Paul in a couple of debates last year two other GOP candidates followed suit (calculatedly so to my mind).

Huckabee confronted Dr. Paul with the essential implication that our government's wars abroad are not to be stopped by the people of our nation, but born by them without question simply because our government started them in our names and our "honor" must be vindicated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKn_DigW9Js

McCain chided Congressman Paul as an isolationist of the variety that gave rise to Hitler.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTj3STZqviY

Giuliani got his come-uppance.

Perhaps McCain and Huckabee are due.

[K Russell]

CNN would not even list Ron Paul on the PIE Chart on last nights coverage. They left him and Giuliani off of it. They did not even mention him the entire time I watched. Amazing. Even his hometown paper the Houston Chronicle puts a stinging spin on it.

[million]

Rudy's actually at 3%, 4013 votes for Rudy out of 116,119 votes = 3.46% which is rounded DOWN to 3% or 3 1/2% if you want to get "technical." but this is w/ just 96% of precincts reporting. Ron's at a solid 9.99% which is a lot closer to 10% than Rudy is to 4%.

:-)

[Guy]

reporting facts not manifested fiction....way to go, there is hope for your online paper yet!

[Mike]

One thing we'll never know, but which should be reflected in New Hampshire: the number of people that were primary supporters of non-viable Democrats like Kucinich, Gravel, Biden, Richardson. Being already committed by physical presence, they switched their vote to Obama, Edwards, or Clinton. Some of them DEFINITELY would come Dr Paul's way. Those %'s should be considered to be his. But the Dems never report such numbers that the non-viable candidates attracted. We just know that it wasn't 15%.

[Scott]

For someone who gets very little respect from (most of) the press I am impressed with how well he did.
It's funny the stories they pick. The stories i heard last night on TV were...
Romney got slaughtered (He lost by about the same margin as edwards and clinton)
Clinton had a bad 3rd place loss (she lost by 1% to edwards)

I thought Ron Paul would have been a story they could have at least mentioned. And they only made excuses for Guliani. Don't give him excuses... a top notch candidate should be able to get lots of votes without even having to make an appearance. He's the most well known of them all.

[Justin]

Why would Iowa vote for Paul? Noone should be discouraged that Ron Paul did not do better. Iowa voted for Jesus, ethanol, and corn subsidies. Ron Paul does not do subsidies, ergo he had little chance to begin with without pandering to the corn farmers.

[Louis Nardozi]

I think we can WIN in NH! Go Dr. Paul!

[Sk00L]

Hmm I wonder how this plays into the fox news forum that Faux was planing on excluding Ron Paul from. By their logic wouldn't they have to exclude Rudy now(?) but we all know that game is rigged. I guess I will have to wait and see how the powers that be usurp our freedoms once more.

[Parke]

The difference in the youth/independant vote:

Obamma= More handouts (not trying to dis the guy but its true)

Paul= More freedom (our rights mean more than free healthcare)

Any questions?

[Tim]

10-15% was going to be a win for us in Iowa and we hit 10%. Baby steps.

My family all stated the following from their precincts and mine...

6 votes out of 54
12 votes out of 110
8 votes out of 25
21 votes out of 130

From my precinct and my folks....we were the only supporters that came in with signs and shirts. Across the 4 precincts above, Ron Paul was the only candidate that was represented by a supporter's speech in all 4 precincts.

We know we're not going to get any help from mainstream media to continue to pass on Ron Paul's message. There are still people that haven't a clue who he is -- I just talked to a co-worker in Penn. and a coworker in Mass. yesterday and neither had heard who Ron Paul was.

Keep the cogs turning and the machine on. All we need is a 1% improvement in the each of the next dozen states.

[Carl Adam]

10% is good, especially since the media has been cramming 0 to 4% down our throats for months and completely ignoring him.... and Ghouliani...hahaha he didn't join the party because he knew he wouldn't win but still the media had him slated for third place... Boycott the products advertized on Fox...
RON PAUL '08

[Pirates sam]

GO RON GO -- He did really well considering that all the major media and PBS ( shame on PBS - they are no longer the public broadcasting - they are also corporate ) just ignore him as if he does not exist . I watched PBS for 1 hour last night at 6 pm and not once did they mention his name. And as usual the NBC nightly news as well did not even mention him . This is a good start given the odds and with that blimp many people will will actually see his name .
GO RON GO

[Pablo Escobar]

Whoever wins the nomination should take Ron Paul as their Vice President.

If Paul can poll 10% in Iowa without doing much campaigning (compared to Huckabee and Romney) then he will easily get 15% in New Hampshire where he has laid more groundwork.

[S Hall]

Last night showed me that the Republicans had better get behind Ron Paul or they have already lost this election. The Democratic turnout was twice that of the Republican. Obama, Edwards, and Clinton each had TWICE as many votes as Huckabee - and that came from a 'conservative' state. Huckabee, nor any other Republican, besides Paul, stand a chance against the Dems in a national race.

It's obvious the people want change, and are tired of the Bush/Cheney neo-con's running the world. If the Republicans don't get their heads out of the sand and realize that Ron Paul is the only one of them actually offering any change, and can actually beat the Democrats at their own game, then this fight is over before it's even started.

Last night showed that Ron Paul is needed more than ever. Otherwise, we just witnessed our new president last night, Barrack Hussein Obama.

[Scott]

With Iowa's track record of picking the nominee in either party, Im not very concerned about a 5th place showing. Paul supporters should be pleasantly surprised Ron Pauls showing in Iowa. Between the large Evangelicals turn out and Pro Farm subsidy voters. Its really quite a surprise that Ron Paul recieved 10% of the vote. Its important to note Ron Paul out paced John McCain in Iowa amoung Independent voters by 6% according to exit polls. This will be a much larger and important block in the NH prmary.

Polls currently show John McCain and Romney fighting it out in NH. Ron Paul campagin is much more organized in NH and has much more support in the Live free or Die state. The campaign didnt really start campaigning in Iowa until the fundraising bonanza on the 16th. I truly believe a 2nd or 3rd place finish is a distinct possiblity and even first isnt out of the question if McCain, Romney, Huck and Julie go at each others throats.

Be interesting to see if Fox & ABC reconsider and invite Ron to the debates this weekend.

Why is Wyoming being ignored?.Ron could do very well there too this weekend.

[AngelofTruth]

Here are some eye opening quotes that just might cause you nightmares:

1933 Franklin Delano Roosevelt – U.S. President

“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson.” [the Federal Reserve]

1950 James Warburg – Rothschild banking agent

“We shall have WORLD GOVERNMENT whether or not you like it…by conquest or consent.”

1991 David Rockefeller – Trilateral Commission Founder

“We are grateful to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop OUR PLAN FOR THE WORLD if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But the work is now much more sophisticated and prepared to march towards A WORLD GOVERNMENT. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto determination practiced in past centuries.”

1991 Henry Kissinger

“Today, America would be outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow, they will be grateful! This would especially be true if they were told that there were an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead to deliver them from this evil. The one thing man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by A WORLD GOVERNMENT. “

1994 Rudy Giuliani – World View Speech

“What we don’t see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority...Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.”
[Oh my God that is scarey.]

Carroll Quigley, CFR member, mentor to Bill Clinton

“The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is the American Branch of a society which originated in England... (and) ...believes national boundaries should be obliterated and ONE-WORLD RULE established."

Admiral Chester Ward, former CFR member and Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy

"The main purpose of the Council on Foreign Relations is promoting the disarmament of U.S. sovereignty and national independence and submergence into an ALL POWERFUL, ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT."

"Once the ruling members of the CFR shadow government have decided that the U.S. Government should adopt a particular policy, the very substantial research facilities of (the) CFR are put to work to develop arguments, intellectual and emotional, to support the new policy, and to confound and discredit, intellectually and politically, any opposition." [like Ron Paul]

Who belongs to the CFR? All current Republican and Democratic presidential candidates except Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel. All mainstream media networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, MSNBC, and CNN. Most of the major newspapers. The oil companies, the pharmaceutical companies and the military industrial complex.

From the above quotes it's easy to see that the gameplan for the CFR is WORLD GOVERNMENT, AKA GLOBALIZATION or the NEW WORLD ORDER. It is interesting that Hitler called his plan for world domination the NEW ORDER. Add WORLD between NEW and ORDER and the picture starts to look familiar. Hitler took away all of the civil liberties of Germans during his reign too. Ron Paul is adamantly fighting against this mentality. He knows exactly where their power lies and how to remove it, rendering them powerless (eliminating the Federal Reserve). Even though 70% of the Republican Iowan voters choose their candidate based on religion rather than position, even though Ron Paul is against farm subsidies and made this clear (which many Iowans are strictly for), and even though Ron Paul was put down, ignored, and marginalized by the CFR controlled media, Ron Paul still got 10% of the vote! That is a true miracle and a sure sign that God is working hard to awaken the sleeping republic to the truth.

[jd]

"Whoever wins the nomination should take Ron Paul as their Vice President." ?
don't get me wrong,I agree with Ron Paul's 'peace first' policy but I dont see any of the republican candidates picking him up for their "vice" seat. did not you know Fox opinion TV is trying to exclude him from Jan. 5th debate in NH?

[Afi K. James]

Ron Paul is the only candidate I'm voting for, the rest are nothing but politics as usual, all politics and image and no substance.

[Who are the media companies?]

Just so we're all on the same page:

1) Congressman Paul placed in the top 3 in 17 Iowa counties! Hardly a so-called long shot. Corporate media is going to have to try much harder to keep Ron Paul out of our election - and they will definitely try. Just watch them start to attack Paul any time he seems to be gaining ground from now on.

2) Anyone who found Giuliani's debate exchange with Paul about 9/11 to be authentic must be half asleep. Rudy's response was clearly phony (pretending to be impassioned) and, of course, divergent from reality. We don't want a good ACTOR for president. We want a brave, honest man who knows the facts such as Ron Paul. (Kucinich & Gravel were other choices in this category. And let's see Obama, Clinton or Edwards forced to answer hard questions or debate Ron Paul. Paul would expose them as political actors as well.)

3) The mainstream 'news' media are not an independent, unbiased group. The top U.S. news corporations are ALL interconnected with each other and with other enormous corporations, such as those who make billions of dollars on weapons and war. Want to take a frightening peak at the board members of our news media? http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/Board_to_Death.html

It is perfectly logical that Ron Paul will be either ignored or ridiculed by mainstream media companies. These people OPPOSE Ron Paul's ideas.

[Roger]

People –

It is ironic that we are sending to undeclared wars by Congress thousands of our young man and women to Kill or be kill “to bring Democracy and freedom” as President Bush once says, while here at home we have a set of media and industries conglomerate behaving in ways that point to a different trajectory. These groups are following the trajectory that our founder’s fathers were against it, the trajectory they suffered from, the one they saw and felt and united them to bring about our beloved Constitution.

For the most part these conglomerate using sillies excuses act like third world countries during any governmental elections. Once only need to look next door elections (Mexico) as well as Venezuela just to mention a few. If you look at those two countries past elections you will see the same pattern of distortions and half-truth to those individuals they do not want to get any track while giving as much media cover to those they represent and want.(did someone says Fair and Balance?) it must be an illusion. May be that is why In venezuela one main Tv station GlobolVision was closed by the goverment not so long ago for portraying to be "Fair and Balance"...

One need to think What is going on? Do they think the American people is so concern about their daily chores that we have actually become sheep just as Judge Napolitano latest book “A Nation of Sheep” explain?

There is so much the American people can take before the giant awakes, and that my friends is what is taking place, this and other important issues is resonating to the American people of all ages, they are being carry by Dr. Ron Paul message.
It is common Americans that are awakening from all the noise that for so long has been dominating the political arena and the people in general felt disfranchised.

A concern of our present and future wellbeing is at stake and change is desperate WANTED. Use the power of your vote and voice
[*** Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper. THOMAS JEFFERSON ***]

http://forpresidentronpaul.blogspot.com/

[Ed Ram]

Funny, check the other stories for the other candidates, 2 or 3 comments, here is where the action is. Corporate media blackout of Dr. Paul won't work, we will continue to spread the word. 2 Delegates 1 state, more states to go. Just check the other "main stream websites" Choosing the ugliest pictures of Dr. Paul, telling in a negative way everything that he wants to do. Watch this video on how he is misrepresented: http://youtube.com/watch?v=J8oO_OD3PtI Come on people, you are being brain washed, wake up!

[John Knight]

"Whoever wins the nomination should take Ron Paul as their Vice President"

No way, Jose. Ron Paul is nobody's patsy, and none of the other candidates are principled enough for him to be vice president to.

He'll win this out of sheer morality.

[Maria]

I'm in MA. Glad to see little Rudy cut down a notch. I've affiliated with the GOP (first time ever!) for this election so I can vote for Paul in the primary here.

If Paul doesn't make it to the general, hopefully I'll have Mike Bloomberg as a fall-back by then, though his fascism does bother me.

If I can't have a prez representing the constitution , at least I can try to get someone who knows how to run a business instead of another gravy-sopping party hack.

[1951Patriot]

Spoken like a true journalist, Don. Right down the middle. No curves or sliders. Just the facts.

[Abbybwood]

I was a loyal Democrat until Pelosi, Reid, Harman, Clinton, Obama and all the rest of the pathetic Dems decided they'd rather "go along to get along" with Bush/Cheney than do the right thing. The right thing would have been to publicly speak out against all the corruptive, unconstitutional legislation that has been passed that is a flagrant destruction of our civil rights. You will recall that after 9/11 Bush said, "AQ has done this because they hate our freedoms". So what does he do? Introduces the Patriot Act and begins stripping us of our freedoms, and spying on us, all with the help of the loyal Neocon Democrat supporters.

The Democrats took an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution" along with Bush/Cheney. Now, with the House passage of "The Homegrown Terrorism Act" (thanks to L.A.'s own JANE HARMAN!), and the Senate about to pass it (Obama sits on the Homeland Security Committee...let's see how quickly he rushes back to D.C. to fight against what should be called, "The Stifling of Dissent Act of 2008), I realize that the Democrats no longer support my American values.

There is only one "viable" candidate left who I would trust to defend the Constitution and that is Ron Paul. He voted against The Patriot Act, The Military Commissions Act and although he missed the House vote on "The Homegrown Terrorism Act" he publicly spoke out against it in a speech in New Hampshire two weeks ago:

I http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7493899900883927358&loc=interstitialskip

I am thrilled he received 10% in Iowa. As a result ABC has included him in their New Hampshire debate. Of course I believe Fox is still excluding him, although Giuliani has been invited. We must not allow the corporately controlled media to decide who our leaders will be. That is called fascism, not democracy.

In the above speech he addresses the issue of "Executive Power" and states unequivocably that he opposes all the unconstitutional infringements of our civil liberties that have been made law by Bush's various Presidential Directives and numerous "signing statements" (over a thousand to date...more than all other presidents combined).

The United States is now in the company of China and Malaysia as being among one of the countries having the MOST surveillance of it's citizens than any other country in the world. The most free country? Greece!:

http://static.crooksandliars.com/2008/01/surveillance-societies-map1.jpg

And Ron Paul, (unlike Obama, Clinton, Richardson and all the other Democrats (except Kucinich)) is fervently against the death penalty and always has been!

I am thankful I had the insight to change my voter registration from Democrat to Republican so I can hold my head high on February 5th and vote proudly for Ron Paul in the California primary!

It will be very interesting to see how the voters of New Hampshire respond to Ron Paul's candidacy.

Godspeed to the voters of New Hampshire! "LIVE FREE OR DIE!"

[Dr. Kibble]

Ron Paul came away from Iowa with a victory, even though he placed fifth. He was not far behind Thompson and McCain, and he gets barely any media coverage compared to the other candidates (excluding Hunter). Faux News should be ashamed for deciding to not include him in the Jan 6th forum. Even though Ron Paul beat Giuliani, Giuliani is still invited while Ron Paul is not. This is tyranny of the mind at its best! Boycott Faux News and their advertisers!!!

[Republicae]

The Baltimore Sun has an article running today that has the headline: What will we do if big two go bust? Talking about FannieMae and FreddieMac potentially facing huge losses, so huge that they will require a massive taxpayer bailout.

The article goes on to say that Congress should have listened to Ron Paul back in 2005 when it proposed legislation to prevent such a bailout on the backs of the taxpayers. Unfortunately, Congess and the voters of Iowa haven't listened to Ron Paul on many issues and yet Dr. Paul has, time and time again, not only warned us, but predicted many of the problems we now face in this country. Yet, we continue to be swayed by the Media Darlings and Political Pigs as they continue to slumber up to the trough awaiting for the taxpayers to continue to back a system that is rapidly failing.

I don't blame the people of Iowa, they are simply following the pied piper of the Media and the hype of the entrenchment candidates who will ultimately do little to pull the reigns of this government back into sound policies, rational actions and clear thinking.

VOTE RON PAUL IN 2008 OR BY 2012 WE WILL ALL WISH HE HAD BEEN ELECTED!

[Larry Briant]

I am in central Iowa and my family Voted for Ron Paul You can watch TV or look at internet polls all day and never hear his name yet you can here of the ones that recived 0% Media controlling voters !!
GO RON PAUL !!! I met him in Des Moines he is the future He is the only candidate I trust
He lead off with Prayer and then The pledge of Alligence, Both wich are almost illegal in the USA anymore
It's time to take our Country Back !!!!!!
I would rather Die on my feet than Live on my knee's

[Drewkowski]

Isn't there a conflict in that: Fox cites Paul not polling over 10% nationally as reason to exclude, but supposedly the state race polling data is cited as their criteria for the debate? Am I mistaken about their "formula?"

(Formula = A combination of polling data that is least favorable to Paul + the ignoring of ACTUAL voting results + arbitrary money qualifications, including a "fundraising total" with a deadline prior to Paul's first money bomb.)

Or something like that...

Regardless of what combination of polls you use, at this point Ron has demonstrated that he has at least double the support on the ground than was expected. I do statistics myself, and if one is to consider trends, Paul is NOT the one that should be excluded from the debates if "the trailer only has room for 5" as some are claiming.

[Rick Jones]

See http://blackboxvoting.org - Iowa Republicans ran an election that cannot be verified and they broke their word about releasing results in real time.

Blackboxvoting dot org. Educate yourself - Elections can be stolen at the primary level too.

[Onkar Mandlekar]

Peace, Liberty, freedom, ....Ron Paul 2008!

[purple stater]

I find it hilarious that Paul's statement about US foreign policy as the catalyst for 9/11 are being cast by the LA TIMES as centered around "bombing Iraq after the first gulf war", and not about what they REALLY point at, which is four decades of supporting the Israeli occupation and settlement movement.

The Iraq study group, the 9/11 commission, the UN (virtually almost every other member nation), Jimmy Carter, Pat Buchanon, George Bush the elder, Colin Powell, and a HUGE list of other qualified people all point to the Israeli Palestinian conflict and our role as the financial and diplomatic supporter of the settlements as the largest single factor that drives terrorism against the US and Israel.

This is what Paul is referring to.

That is also why Hillary and Julie have gotten her lunches handed to them. The front runners are people who have insinuated CHANGE in our middle eastern policies, not MORE OF THE SAME. and they are not referring to bombing Iraq more than a decade ago. They are referring to our CURRENT policies, and putting an end to the Israeli settlement movement (which even Bill Clinton, after 9/11, said was the philosophical underpinning of middle eastern terrorist recruitment ) once and for all is a BIG part of that change.

People recognize the central role that our Middle eastern foreign policy has played, especially our ongoing financial and diplomatic support of the settlements, and want change. When we cut Israel off financially until they agree to withdraw from ALL settlements (as Bush Senior tried to do) The settlements and the occupation will finally end, and the real beginning of peace will soon follow. As Paul suggested maybe both Hillary and Julie should do some homework and read the 9/11 report and the Iraq study groups recommendations.

[ron paul rox!!!]

ron paul is the best he is gunna be the next prez and free us from all the TAXXXEes that making us slaves to the goverment! gooo ron paul 2008!!!

RON PAUL 2008!!!

[ozamerican]

The straw poll results listed on Ron Paul's website (www.ronpaul2008.com) predicted fifth place in Iowa with 9.1% of the vote. So Iowa was no surprise (in fact, he did a little bit better than he did in the straw poll, and also has the satisfaction of trouncing Guiliani).

The heartening fact is that, if the straw polls are any guide (so far, so good!), he ought to do extremely well in Wyoming and New Hampshire.

Carry on!

[scott]

The CFR uses 'their' media to promote 'their' candidates. Don't expect any help from the CFR media. What the Ron Paul supporters need to do, is raise money to buy out a Newspaper or start up a TV network that can reach the masses.

$20million is not much because the media doesn't sell air-time. They provide it free-of-charge to CFR members and non-CFR members get no coverage. Huckabee was getting 100s of millions of $$ of free coverage when he was polling at 2%.

[John]

I love it. If Huck was born on Second Base in Iowa, Paul and Rudy weren't in the lineup and Paul still scored an RBI. Rudy... still didn't make the cut. 0 delegates... it's going to be a short convention for Rudy if he can't hit his Feb. 5 targets. Paul should continue to exceed in states more apt to hear his message... and now that people know he can show up in the VOTES... screw the polls.

If there's a case for Rudy still being in the game... Dr. Paul's case is by default, better. As Paul supporters, we want to win states, but we're good with delegates. That's why we've been working so hard to get delegates. We've been trying to get delegates at the convention harder than get out the votes. I don't know about the campaign but this has been the revolution's strategy.

[blakmira]

Call me overly suspicious, but I don't believe for a minute that dead-men-walking Thompson and McCain got more votes than Ron Paul. Even in Iowa. The "results" were announced hours even before precincts totals were in. Even then, the Republicans took hours counting the remaining 14% of precincts -- I'm still not even sure they're all "in."

One red flag pointing to vote count fraud is taking an abnormally long time to count votes. And Ron Paul won (at least) one whole county, while McCain and Thompson did not. Places 3, 4 and 5 were so close, if this were a real election, people would be demanding to see a recount to check for vote count fraud.

There was some vote watching going on in Iowa but this needs to be 100x multiplied in New Hampshire. Ron Paul supporters should be more than aware of the reality of vote count fraud!

If Ron Paul does not place 1, 2 or 3 in NH then I'm contacting Dan Rather to do a follow-up investigation on the election fraud expose he did a few years ago.

I still don't understand why the American people are not demanding total transparency in their voting process. Why can't we have paper ballots counted in front of the poll-goers at each precinct?

The Ron Paul Revolution can only win with a Vote Count Fraud Revolution!

[K VIlla]

From an international view: It would be interesting to see an Obama-Paul debate. Both provide very interesting views on foreign policy, but would like to know what they think of Asia, too.

[John]

Too bad that Evangelical Iowans don't realize that a Paul presidency would allow them to live the Puritan, oppressive, homophobic lifestyle they desire. They could ban gay marriage, outlaw abortion, teach creationism, burn books and watch all their young people flee the state in droves. Huckabee? Wow. Luckily, and I need to believe this, Iowa was an awful fluke of human judgement and the remainder of the country actually researches the issues and votes based on reason and logic. Please let this be the case.

[Wendy]

HAHA @ GIULIANI. SUCKER

[Edie Calhoun]

Black Box Voting is throwing red flags on the Iowa Republican Caucus

And with the Republican race, I wouldn't look first at fraud in the number one position. I'd look for it in the area of repositioning candidates in the second through sixth spot.

- The delay in results is a red flag.
- The vote totals going down during the count is a red flag.
- The failure to release county results in live time, as promised in a Republican Party press release on Jan. 2, is a red flag.
- The failure to release precinct totals at all is a corrupt procedure. Note that the day before the caucuses, after much pressure, the Republicans did (belatedly) promise to release the precinct results on election night. They didn't.

In addition: I'm trying to get information on whether the public was kicked out of the room during hand counting in all locations, or just some.

http://blackboxvoting.org/

[Jerry Alexander]

I fail to understand why not one of the candidates is interested in educating Americans on the "CFR".
All of the candidates,except Ron Paul,and Dennis,are members of the "CFR".
Is it not important to know that our next President is interested in Americas well being,and not the well being of those that want to destroy Americas Sovereignty?
I don`t understand why any America would even consider voting for a member of such an organization.
Also! I can not understand why the "CFR" has not been mentioned in the debates.
Americans need to know the candidates that are not "All American".

[stonewall]

Iowa is irrelevant except as a barometer of the cognitive abilities of sheeple and the smallness of the world they live in. So they want another neocon. Shocker there.

[joseph]

I recently learned about Ron Paul. I knew nothing of him but something about him tweaked my interest, so I spent several days over the holidays to do research on him. What I learned was so exciting to me that I donated money for the first time to any cause. During the course of attending many holiday parties, I would bring the subject of the campaign and ask my milieu if they if anyone could really say what any candidate really stands for? I was not surprised when none really knew what a candidate stood for. Then I would speak about Ron Paul his record and views. It seemed some already knew about him but nothing that would indicate that they really knew him. When I was done I had their complete attention and suddenly a dozen or so people discussing Ron Paul. If these informal settings are a barometer of things to come Ron Paul's campaign is just beginning.

[Gregory Richards]

Considering the polls showed him at 4% in Iowa up to election day, I think it's fair o say that the pollsters have grossly understated Ron Paul's support.

Speaking for myself, I don't agree with Congressman Paul on many issues, but still plan to vote for him simply because I strongly believe him to be the most honest politician of my lifetime.

New Hampshire will decide the fate of Patriot Ron Paul. If he places in the top three, Then he will be a major force going forward. -If not, then it's over for him.

Giuliani, Huckabee, and McCain have blasted Congressman Paul on his views about 9/11 and his objection to the war in Iraq. Interesting to me then is the HUGE support for Ron Paul in the US Military, and Veteran circles.

Check out this soldiers powerful video. (link bellow) It's from one of our American Iraq War Veterans himself..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uk-T46soz8&eurl

[Jon P.]

GO RON PAUL!! Rudy has no business in this race, if he can't manage his money, and "wasn't trying" both are bad marks for the leader of a country!!! Ron Paul is against heavy spending and is working hard despite people continuously telling him that he can't win.. perseverance.. that's the mark of a leader!! RON PAUL 2008!!!!