Ron Paul, muffled by Fox, wows Jay Leno

Last week, Mike Huckabee gave up the last half-day of campaigning for the Iowa Republican caucus and flew to Burbank, Calif., to appear on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Next day, Huckabee won.

So tonight, the night before the big New Hampshire primary, Ron Paul tried to pull a Huckabee. He flew all the way across the country for his own second appearance with Jay. And Leno, now a developing political kingmaker, greeted him with a most sympathetic hearing. You can see it on your NBC stations in a couple of hours. Paul's supporters, who financed a new eight-state ad blitz for their man, will be very happy with tonight's program.

It's not easy for a 72-year-old, 10-term congressman from Texas, who once before ran for president on the Libertarian ticket, to get much media attention. He's been polling a long time in single digits. But then a couple of things happened. Paul's thousands of outspoken, fervent followers set a new one-day fundraising record and reaped almost $20 million for him in the fourth quarter, likely more than any other GOP candidate. Then last week Paul came in fifth in Iowa with 10%, a lot better than the 4% of Rudy Giuliani, who'd criticized Paul strongly in an early debate.

But the best thing that happened to Paul in recent days was that despite his $20 million and his 10% showing in New Hampshire polls, Fox News excluded Paul from its Sunday night Republican debate with the big five -- Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Huckabee, Mitt Romney and John McCain. So Paul gets 10% in Iowa and gets excluded, but Rudy gets 4% and sits on the left end of the Fox Box desk. Hmmm.

There was quite an uproar and the New Hampshire GOP withdrew its sponsorship of the debate. Paul supporters, mocking the network's "Fair and Balanced" motto, flooded Fox with protests, calls and e-mails and are organizing a boycott of Fox sponsors. Never one to miss an opportunity, NBC's Leno invited Paul to appear and explain.

Introducing his guest as "a long-shot maverick," Leno said, "I'm trying to figure out why Fox News chose not to put you on."

"You know," Paul replied, "we tried to find that out. But they didn't return our call."

"You seem like a gentleman," notes Leno. "You don't seem like that type. But it seems like you should be kicking somebody's ass right now." [Laughter] [Applause] "You're being extremely polite for something I think you got screwed over, quite, you know, ....

I mean, I might not necessarily agree with you, but I think, as an American, we like to see everybody get an equal shot."

Paul speculates that Fox "didn't want to hear the message. Maybe they're intimidated. Maybe they're frightened. Maybe they don't want to hear the truth. Who knows?"

Leno asks about Romney's slide in the polls and attacks by other GOP candidates. "I'm a little bit afraid that they might be doing that for religious reasons," says Paul. "And I don't like that. I disagree with Romney on some of the issues, and he's gone after me onstage, but that shouldn't be the reason that he doesn't do well."

Paul noted that "nobody's ever accused me" of saying different things to different crowds. "I say the same thing, no matter which ear it is and which crowd it is." Paul corrected Leno that he had not collected all that campaign money but that "we" had: his followers and their 1,400 meet-up groups nationwide.

Paul said after his earlier debate confrontation with Giuliani "when he was confused about what causes terrorism [Laughter] I sent him some books, And I said, 'Please read these books.' But so far it doesn't sound like he's read [them]. He hasn't done his homework." [Applause]

Paul, the only GOP candidate opposing the Iraq war, criticized the Bush administration. "The trillion dollars went to the war," Paul said. "It should be here taking care of our people here at home." [Applause] Paul also noted how all candidates now say they're for change but nothing changes. "To me," he added, "that means the only significant change we ought to have is get enough people in Washington that read the constitution, obey the constitution, do only the things that we're allowed to do." [Applause] To read the entire interview, click here.

Meanwhile, across the country in New York, Huckabee was trying to pull another Huckabee of his own on late-night television, this time on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

-- Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Roman]

It was interesting to see Ron Paul get a more thoguhtful interview from a comedian (Jay Leno) than he has gotten from any journalist. I think that says a lot about the state of the media in our nation.

Like him or not, you have to say he is articulate and not a fringe person.

[Marge]

GO RON PAUL.....HE DID A GREAT JOB ON THE JAY LENO SHOW. WE OWE
LENO A GREAT BIG THANK YOU.....

[brian Kuszmar]

Many Americans love the underdog and many more will often rally behind them when they are unfairly treated. Paul has taken on the status of the underdog and in a game where the fans score the real points, this will propel him further into the race where his fiscally conservative yet socially liberal and Pro Peace views could resonate with many Americans.

Regards to all

[Karl]

Ron Paul is a real man of the people. Please see the truth. Save yourself and us from the coming financial collapse. Vote Ron Paul. ALL the others are lying. Dig deep and do research and you will see.
Get all the news you need on Ron Paul and the video of the Jay Leno show here:
http://www.ronpaulforpresident2008.com/

[Cameron]

Great article, I will be watching Leno tonight!

[Tom J]

Fox News was the real loser. Did anyone actuallyw atch their debate on Sunday? After Saturday's double-header, I would have expected people to figure they didn't need another one so close.

[DenisL]

Thank you Jay Leno!

It is so nice and refreshing to hear straight talk from the un-politician, Ron Paul. At the Fox PRO-WAR forum on Sunday, with the exception of McCain, all the liars (excuse me flip-floppers) pointed out the flips and flops of the others. AND the one man present who was MOST sincere, namely McCain, is NOW against amnesty. .

Give me a break. .

At least with Ron Paul present on ABC on Saturday & with Jay today, new ideas got discussed, like the economy, inflation, the declining dollar, the Federal Reserve, & we got to hear just how a few Islamo-Fascists are winning in their attempt to bankrupt the United States in foreign wars. (I am sure that Ron Paul did not phrase it that way!)

I might remind you that this is EXACTLY what Osama bin Laden predicted he would do, just like Osama claims he bankrupted the old Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Does no one realize that Osama is telling us exactly what his intent is in his increasingly sophisticated communications? And that Bush, the impotent & incompetent, can NOT catch Osama even with annually hundreds of billions being spent on trying! With the economy heading down the toilet, Bush has only one hope, and that is to provoke a war quickly with Iran or Pakistan to distract people from domestic problems. Reminds me of March 2003 when we went into Iraq the first time! The Pro-War group would really love a war later this year when running against the Democratic candidate. Or so they think.

Thank goodness that the NH Republican party had the sense to withdraw their support for the Fox farce. And thank goodness that Richardson and Kucinich are running on the Democratic side because the other top 3 democrats want to stay in Iraq through their term if elected, or so they have said most recently, but who can keep track.

When all is said and done, I am not really sure another war will really help the Republican candidate if all the candidates are pro-war! And no one pays attention to flip flopping on the issues. No one seems to care now if people are inconsistent. Is it because everyone does it and no one is consistent? What happens if one has a consistent candidate like Ron Paul?

[Tom]

go ron paul!

F Fox!!

[Clarence Paulin]

Fox, fairly unbalanced. What is their agenda?

[Christopher Rasch]

Thanks for the fair coverage! It's much appreciated.

[Zach]

Woohoo! Go Ron Paul!

Ron Paul '08!

[Heather]

Yay, Leno and Letterman. They've been great about giving Ron Paul room to talk. I sure hope recent events give the other networks the guts to stop playing nice with Faux News and expose them for their yellow journalism.

I have read about people buying NewsCorp stock (just 1 share) and then holding on to it until their stockholder's conference in October. Owning a share allows you to take part in their event. I think I'm going to go ahead and do that. Then I'll call in and slander them to their faces. It wouldn't take that many of us to make a big stink.

Who's with me? I hope to hear from you in October. Long live the revolution and three cheers to the Patriots! I haven't been this alive in years. I'm a reformed liberal turned Libertarian! And I will be active in the causes of limited power in government for the rest of my life. So regardless of whether we topple the media now or later, the free individual will fight for many years. Power to the states and the people! Hurray!

[Robert Pylant]

GO RON GO....

[Dawn & Dale from WNC]

Great article.....we love Ron Paul in WNC....he is the only candidate with yard signs out!!! Ron Paul or nothing At All

Straight Ballot Democrats for Ron Paul!!!!!!!!

[Ryan from Philadelphia]

Was great show! Thank you LA Times for proving real journalism is live and well in America.

[Gregory Richards]

This was a great read, i really enjoyed it! As a life long registered republican, I am really put off by the hole Foxnews excluding Ron Paul thing. -They will be missed, but not much!

I will be rooting for Patriot Paul = in the New Hampshire primary. I hope the voters there see what I do in him.

[Rob]

I'm impressed with just about everything that Dr. Paul says. If you guys don't want him as a President, we need him up in Canada... Lesser government, lower taxes, cut spending, make government transparent, respect the constitution...

What's not to like?

[Jared Christensen]

Paul really does have a good message, and he is so very honest. The honesty is what I like most about him.

[Stephen B.]

Great article. It's refreshing to see real journalism, especially reporting in the realm of politics.

[Zachariah Wiedeman]

correction on Ron Paul quote:

He said, "I say the same thing, no matter which YEAR it is and which crowd it is."

(Point taken. Went by the NBC transcript.)

[Tom Walls]

The most priceless moment was Ron Paul's first appearance on Leno when he went up to Johnny Rotten after the Sex Pistols played and shook his hand.

[Jim S.]

Go Ron Paul - the message is getting out.. It will take some time for folks to take it all in but they are coming around. :)

[Eric Boye]

Andrew,

Thank you. Seriously, thank you for your best Ron Paul blog yet. Just one correction - and it may be a typo in the transcript, I haven't looked - his quote was "I say the same thing, no matter which year it is and which crowd it is."
Year, not Ear :) Haha.

Thanks again. -Eric Boye

(Thanks. Went by the NBC transcript.)

[Dave]

Funny that Huckabee is on the Late Show.
David Letterman endorses Ron Paul for presedient.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY5BZzOFtt4

[Dave]

Ron Paul rocks and that why we support him. He doesn't sugar coat it and tell us what we want to hear that everything is going great. He is the only one that warned us before the Iraq war that it would bankrupt this country and it is well on the way to doing it with a $10Trillion dollar deficit, a war with no end in sight (100 years if you vote for mcCain), 900 dead American troops this year, the dollar worth nothing on the international markets, oil now at $100/barrell and $3.25 at the pump. We can't afford to stay the Bush course and only Ron Paul is addressing the issues that are destroying the middle class in America.