Ron Paul loses the battle for the mic

By most accounts, it wasn't much of a debate in Florida last night among the surviving Republican presidential candidates. Everyone played nicely, for the most part, and stuck to their campaign scripts. And though the campaigns struggled to prove to the political world that Candidate X had shined in the debate, in the end it was one of those set-tos that everybody has probably forgotten by now. No blood drawn, no ground broken.

But the folks at MSNBC.com did something fun that's worth digesting. They kept a clock going of how long and how often each candidate spoke. Mitt Romney topped out at 13 comments totaling 21 minutes and 11 seconds, making him much more long-winded than current front-runner John McCain, who got his 13 comments in in 16 minutes.

Who came in dead-last on the chat clock? Ron Paul -- six comments lasting 6 minutes and 31 seconds. While brevity is to be admired in politics -- we tend to admire things that are rare -- the Paulistas aren't likely to be pleased that Paul got less than half the opportunities to talk as Romney and McCain. A complete transcript is available here.

-- Scott Martelle

Comments

[Colin-Stuttgart]

But Ron Paul talked the most sense especially about Iraq. I really admired him for his courage.

[DefendTheConstitution]

What the hell? Ron Paul spoke as much as he was given the opportunity to speak and he stayed within the imposed time limits. If anybody had something meaningful to say on that stage it was Ron Paul and he succinctly stated his positions within the time alloted to him. Yet somehow you guys manage to criticize Ron Paul for receiving far less time to speak than the other clowns?

The media is a joke. That's why so many of us aren't buying your newspapers, magazines or watching the boob tube any more. I'm sure you'll respond with some snide little comment because you can't help yourselves but one day you're going to have to face the fact that the media doesn't enjoy the mindshare it once did and is losing it's ability to distort reality.

[AAAAANDRE]

Another confirmation of the "Silencing" of Ron Paul.
I haven't seen one report that has more than two lines
about Ron Paul at the debate.
Isn't a debate about discussing different ideas?
This was just a meeting of the mutual admiration society.

[Dennis]

For the sake of fairness, not only should all RP followers be angry but all Americans. How can you make a fair assessment of the candidates when there are inequalities in the process?

[JImS]

Like in the polls and in life about 5-7% of the US is into the details and subject matter that matters most in international relations. Unfortunately the "Haircut" and "smile" lack of substance, and general "believe whatever you tell them" crowd about 95%, don’t care. We live in a time that the general global and political knowledge of the masses amounts to barely above that of Bevis and Butthead. Just watch Jay Leno when he does his Jay Walking bit and asks questions that a 5 year old should know and adults here don’t have a clue.

A perfect example of this is the Patriot act - what a great name - who would ever not want to be a patriot...Lets support that.,,, If only folks would read the darn thing then read the bill of rights - They are inverse functions of one another.

The good news is and I truly believe this - Ron Paul has inspired a new bread of folks to get involved in politics and 15 to 20 years from now they will be coming into power :)

[Michael]

The real question is if the L.A. Times will give him a fair shake at the Jan. 30th debate...

[Dr Ward Ciac II]

Senator McCain was stupefied when Dr Paul asked him an economic question about the President's Working Group on Financial Markets. Senator McCain had no idea what it is or what it does. The Group tries to protect the stock market from catastrophic failure (if link wraps around remove any white spaces):
http://thirdpartywatch.com/2008/01/25/ron-paul-pings-john-mccain-in-last-nights-debate/

[Karl]

They never are "debates". The whole process is a testament to how dumb the American public is. Simply ignoring the only man on the stage with the record and knowledge of how to help this nation points simply to fascist owned media.
Most of the bozos on the stage did not answer the questions asked except for Ron Paul.
I'm not surprised to see how dumbed down nation continues to vote for failed Bush like clones like McCain, Romney, Huckabee & Rudy.
More Ron Paul news here:
http://www.ronpaulforpresident2008.com/

[Paul]

Ron Paul being treated horribly unfairly by the MSM in their debates and elsewhere, is certainly nothing new. Yet, in spite of their actions, Ron Paul keeps rising to the top as the other contenders drop out.

6 down, 4 more to go...

[Melissa]

While I find it disheartening, I'm not surprised. Supporters of Ron Paul have come to expect this and, guess what? The revolution is growing in spite of it.

Ron Paul for President!!

[Mike Knapp]

Now what would make the LA Times think that Ron Paul supporters would be upset about this? I jest, of course. As a fervent Ron Paul supporter, it took everything I could muster to not scream at the top of my lungs as Romney continued to run his mouth yet say nothing.

But again, many thanks to the LA Times for bringing attention to this latest addition to the mounting pile of mainstream media snubs directed at Dr. Paul.

VOTE FOR RON PAUL 2008!!!

[Jimmy]

OK, so I know journalism as I learned it in j-school is on life support if not dead and buried by now, but am I the only one who's outraged that these networks don't even try to be equitable in terms of how many opportunities they give each candidate to speak in these so-called debates? When I wrote stories on local political races back in the 1990s, my editor used to literally count the lines I gave to each candidate in a story. While that may be a bit extreme, I really think we need to demand the networks at least try to hide their obvious bias. I mean, this is supposed to be a democracy, right? Don't let the bastards win! Vote for Ron Paul and the return of our freedom in 2008!

[Josef]

That's OK, when the elections are over the first thing I am going to do is cancel my Time Warner Cable. That way I will not have to spend any more time in front of the glowing box.

[Adam T. Feldon]

I didn't keep an accurate count on each candidate to know that Dr. Paul came in dead-last, in regards to speaking time. Although he had much less time than the other candidates I thought he used it well. One good example of this is when he asked Senator McCain about "working groups". After just telling us he had this wonderful record of being well-versed in economical handling he completely fumbles around the answer. When it became apparent to Congressman Paul that the Senator had no clear answer he made an effort to point it out but McCain knew this and tried to throw us off by rambling on about how he had other people to deal with this.... he never answered the question.

[jim Hines]

I only needed a brief moment of Paul's comments to seal my voter FOR him.

The war in Iraq was and is a mistake.

Go Ron Paul

[Concerned Citizen]

IT'S ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION, STUPID!!! It's about protecting our National Sovereignity. It's about our dollar and how it is being destroyed because none of the other candidates have a clue on Fiscal Policy nor Monetary Policy. People, it's time to do your homework and you will not get it from Big Media. Let us fight for our rights as Americans...let us fight for our troops to come home...let us fight to stop the wasteful spending on these foreign wars that are breaking our economy and our nation as a whole, and let us fight for "We the People...". It is not about the Democrats or these "NeoCon Artists" Republicans...it's about our Republic, our Nation...it's about who will be for you and me. President Ron Paul. Now get out there and VOTE for your individual LIBERTY...VOTE RON PAUL!!!

[Tess, California]

Ron Paul may have lost the battle of the mic, but he surely made McCain look like a deer staring into a set of headlights when he asked McCain a question about the economy and the Presidential Financial group (the Plunge team). I just about fell out of my chair laughing when I heard John McCain's NON BOGUS ANSWER. McCain kept mumbling people that are his friends, and blah...blah...blah, but never answered the question. It was more than obvious that McCain has no clue about our economy, or what to do. Ron Paul is a very intelligent man, and he knows what it will take to put our economy on the right track. Maybe McCain needs someone that works on Romney's team to whisper the answers to him. Did anyone else hear that last night on the debate? Romney was asked about taxes and Reagan, and before Romney could answer, you could hear someone whispering the answer to Mitt, what was up with that? I am voting for the only sane, bring our troops home, save our country from collapse candidate, and that would be Ron Paul.
http://ronpaul2008.com

[Joe from Austin]

Well us Ron Paul Republicans are not suprised by this. This has been the MO by all the networks in all the GOP debates. I could go through the many reasons why this is but by now I think we all know. 10 years from now people will look back and say that this was the period in time in which the MSM finally blew what little credibility it had left.

All of this has been documented thanks to websites like youtube. No more will people be misled and propagandized to by the MSM. The truth is now out there and readily available. It only takes a person with an open mind and the drive to seek the truth were ever it might lead.

Though we may lose this battle we can hold our heads high because we are just starting to fight! God bless Ron Paul and all of his supporters and God bless America!

[andre]

I agree with many others'.- It is the american people who are being censored of this extraordinary farse as I witness from the U.K. The main stream media (Whatever that means, 'cos it won't be for much longer), are denying the opportunity to voters and observers the unbiased information neccesary to form their own opinion. This works both ways with the likelyhood of sponsor loss and dwindling reception to thier MSM propaganda.
One can make up the temporary loss by going to youtube + 'Ron Paul economy'.

[Keem O'Saby]

So....where's the news here?. Dog bites man..The sun rises...and Ron Paul get censored again. The real story is the obviously confused John McCain fumbling over the one Question that Ron Paul asked...and was cut off on the follow up when he would have proved McCain's complete lack of knowledge in the economic sphere, while others were left to ask follow ups and chatted awhile.la-de-da Oh, and did anyone note the obvious hand-off McCain's question was to Hucklebee..lol. A hand-off to his new VP running mate!!. and of course the MM didn't pick it up great newsmen that they are....Gee...I scooped you news guys again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 lol..Oh and what really happened down there in ole Louisiana? No story there either, huh boys? oh and girls too...Y'all want get promoted dontcha? Be good kids..! Daddy's watchin'!

[Nathan Carter]

This is ridiculous.. As has been reiterated Ron Paul was NOT given the opportunity to speak.. Appearantly we have time to listen to all the fascists and socialists on stage pal around and joke with each other, but when someone wants to talk about the Federal Reserve and the Working Group, we move on as if nothing has happened.. And appearantly John McCain doesn't even know who leads the Working Group.. Whatever.. Except for supporting Paul, I'm done with politics after this.. That includes, paying attention, voting, etc. There's no point when the media (this forum included) just plays part and parcel as a silencer of people who don't want to take over the world.. That IS what's happening here: World Domination..

From the looks of the la times's current leaning, I'll probably not be included

[TimM]

DefendTheConstitution said:
"Yet somehow you guys manage to criticize Ron Paul for receiving far less time to speak than the other clowns?"

I actually read this article as Pro Paul and anti-media bias, but we each see it our own way.
Tim M - Missouri

[Chris from Charlotte]

Surprising? not really.

[Jake]

Perhaps it's plausible that since the man who owns a large share of MSNBC has consistently been a "Friend of John McCain" (has donated to his various campaigns), that he may have a say into how much time candidates get to talk in an MSNBC debate?

The big government Republican establishment (Neorepublicans) fear Ron Paul because (1) his votes are consistent with his beliefs in small government (less power of influence available to be sold), (2) the public who take time to investigate his views tend to by and large agree with his views, and (3) with any type of media coverage Dr. Paul's voter base gets bigger - which would threaten the media's role in telling the public who they should vote for.

See for yourself: http://www.newsmeat.com/billionaire_political_donations/Bill_Gates.php

[Brandon]

Ron Paul used the most sense and appeared to know what he was talking about. This debate only further proved how incompetant Mc Cain is, did you listen to what he answered to Paul's question? Those people he named don't even serve on that committee and he's saying they are close contacts of his? Creepy. Just what America needs in this day and age, a president who blatantly lies.