Ron Paul beats Giuliani but loses to Fox News

OK, he didn't get the third place that Ron Paul said he thought his campaign might reach in Iowa. He got fifth, 10%. Which, as we noted earlier, is better than the 4% that Rudy Giuliani got. But then like most Americans, Rudy didn't put that much effort into campaigning in Iowa.

The next big test comes Tuesday in New Hampshire, where the libertarian-like license plate -- Live Free or Die -- gives Paulunteers hope they might score an even larger surprise. Everybody except good ol' boy Fred Thompson has put serious efforts into the Granite state.

John McCain, who won New Hampshire in 2000, seems to be closing in on Mitt Romney there. Rudy is trying hard. If he can tear himself away from being on one national TV show after another, Iowa GOP caucus winner Mike Huckabee will campaign there. But without the large cadre of resident....

Christian evangelicals he had in Iowa, he's trailing and hanging on, hoping for Baptist help come South Carolina.

But before the Big Vote comes the Big Debate. Fox News has invited five famous Republicans to a modified house trailer for a televised debate Sunday. They did not invite Rep. Paul, which has infuriated many people and not all of them Paul supporters, as you may have read in hundreds of comments on this blog recently.

The Manchester Union Leader, New Hampshire's major newspaper, ran a front-page editorial Thursday by its publisher, Joseph McQuaid, criticizing media that do not invite all serious candidates such as Paul because then it's big media and not regular New Hampshire voters making the decision. Fox doesn't return phone calls or e-mails seeking an explanation for excluding Paul, probably because it's very difficult to explain how you invite Giuliani, who's already lost one election to Paul, and the more-famous Thompson, who ran ahead of the lesser-known Paul in Iowa but trails him in New Hampshire polls.

And, frankly, Paul probably leads all Republicans in fourth-quarter fundraising with his nearly $20 million haul. But you won't be able to hear him on Fox Sunday where he would be the only Republican candidate to oppose the Iraq war, advocate pulling our troops home from all around the world to save money for domestic needs and slashing numerous federal departments.

While personally pro-life, Paul, an ob-gyn, would leave abortion or anti-abortion laws to the individual states as part of his strict constitutionalist approach. Paul's followers see the Fox News exclusion as part of a broader corporate conspiracy by the mainstream media to squelch the 72-year-old, 10-term Republican representative.

That doesn't explain how this item and this item and this item and this item, among many others, got into this blog. But that doesn't really matter because no one will hear Paul speak in the debate on Fox News Sunday. Fox says the trailer is too small for more candidates.

Ron Paul supporters have deluged feedback@foxnews.com with complaints. They are urging a boycott of all Fox advertisers and are exploring some kind of alternative event on Sunday. Maybe they could rent a larger trailer and invite Chris Wallace and the five famous Republicans over for a chat. And if those people don't show up, the Paul folks could set out empty chairs and pitch their own platform for the entire program.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[bgodley]

Paul most definitely will take Iows as a win. He did break double digits.

The truth is he will do very well in New Hampshire. He was FIRST place in Iowa among registered Independants. You know what, New Hampshire has almost half of it’s voters registering independant this year - a record.

He will do very well in New Hampshire. Way more than expected. I know that there are still people that love to write him off. They are part of that naysayer crowd that prefers to go with the flow of traffic rather than work against the odds.

Are the odds against Paul large? Yes in ever sense. That is what makes this battle even more exciting and worthwhile. This has given many of his supporters a purpose to involve themselves in the political process. His candidacy has brought many people out of apathy and that is nothing but good.

Is this blind loyalty? No, this is a testament to that great virtue of American ideals - tenacity. The willingness and desire to stick to a purpose no matter how many roadblocks, setbacks and failures.

[James C]

All in all, this is a pretty fair article. If only this were the mainstream news instead of a blog the press could maintain some sort of legitimacy, no matter how warped. The media blackout of Ron Paul should be a wake up call to all freedom loving Americans. Whether you agree with his views or not, the media shouldn't be picking our candidates for us.

[Dale]

What a silly excuse! If that's the problem, then why don't they just use a bigger trailer?

[Anthony]

Its the peoples job to elect the president not Fox! Good job LA Times. This will backfire on Fox!

[M Nimetz]

Thank you for reporting this!

[john]

Decent article on Fox News excluding Ron Paul. Nice to see the press covering the failings of their peers.

[Mark]

Geez, Malcolm, if only you had started writing about Paul like this months ago, we might have a more open and honest contest at this point.

[Jim S.]

Iowa had 215,000 democrats show up to vote and only 110,000 republicans. If the Republicans can’t get behind a candidate we may as well not show up at all.

What this tells me and should tell everyone is the number 1 issue is the IRAQ war followed by our messed up healthcare system.

How about we trump them and put up a real anti-war candidate and an actual medical doctor?

And I’m sorry as much as I like Huckabee he will get slaughtered in a General Election. So will every Republican candidate for that matter. Only one stands a chance against the democrats (albeit a small one) if you truly think about it.

Think GOP think....

[David Howell]

Isn't it against their license to broadcast AGAINST the public interest? This clearly doesn't allow a fair and unbiased platform where all VIABLE candidates can speak their mind. I think that the FCC ought to pull the plug on Fox until they can understand what their obligation to the public really is. Don't JUST boycott them, let's try and get their license REVOKED!(at least suspended) Now THAT would send a clear message to ALL media outlets! Anyone know how to go about getting that ball rolling?

[William Francke]

Maybe Fox News(?!) is giving Ron Paul back handed support. His campaign could not have paid for better PR than what these very smart Fox people are giving him.

[Yukon Dave]

WOW, Nice article. Ron Paul needs to win big in New Hampshire to force the other canidates to take some of his views. Ron has guts to go to Iowa and tell people he will end farm subsidies. Not to good for votes. In the end 3rd, 4th, and 5th are within 3 points of each other. Only Huckabee, Romney and Paul won an entire county and grabed 2 delegates for the Republican convention.

Funny thing about the votes, look at a map of Iowa internet coverage and you see it matches Ron Paul support.

Stay tuned. You can not walk in New Hampshire without falling over a Ron Paul sign.

[Matt]

Andrew,

My resolve is stronger today than it ever was. I hope that you have now seen the light. The news media has their own agenda, and Ron Paul is not part of it. Doesn't that send you a clear message that something is totally wrong?

The polls had him at 3-4 percent and he beat all of the poll predictions. He has raised millions of dollars and he's not a viable candidate? Maybe I'm just a nutjob like Ron Paul, or I smell a rat.

He is what this country needs.

GO RON PAUL!!!!! KEEP IT GOING.

[USAF Vet Dan]

Andrew, I've been critical of your reporting of Ron Paul in the past, but nobody can complain about this one. Your assessment is factual and unbiased. Thanks.

As one would imagine, there are some RP supporters who view a 5th place showing (as opposed to the 3rd place target) in Iowa as the end of the world. In reality, it isn't because 3rd, 4th and 5th were in a tight little group with a spread of only a few percentage points. Also 10% of the total vote is higher than the "official polls" had predicted. Emotions aside, Iowa was not a defeat for Ron Paul - it was a mild victory. I guess too many RP supporters are used to (and now expect) blockbusting victories like they've had with money bombs, blimps, straw polls, etc.

A few supporters will fall off, more will join, and the battle will continue. On to New Hampshire... on to victory for the Constitution!

Thanks again for fair and unbiased reporting. Fox should take lessons from you.

[Sean]

Is this surprising to anyone? John Stossel did a series of interviews with Ron Paul for a 20/20 segment but it was relegated to "online-only" status by ABC. It isn't just Fox, it is all of the big media conglomerates that will lose money if this man is elected President.

Beware the fight of the downtrodden and outcast.

[Andy K. Kuo]

Thanks for the great post, Mr. Malcolm!

We Ron Paul supporters were hoping for better than 10% but hopefully we will win NH and start picking up momentum.

[Jim]

Hmm... You appear to be suggesting something near the end :).

Actually, I think your idea would be excellent; It would blow the "trailer is too small" argument out of the water.

Fox News should be ashamed, they won't even step up to say why they've excluded him. The reasons they cite don't even remotely stand up to scrutiny. Paul beats Giuliani in Iowa, blows away Thompson in the NH polls...

The obvious reason they aren't inviting him is that he is the only one advocating a true "conservative" foreign policy... Where's the "Balance" in "Fair and Balanced"? They truely are "Faux News".

It's been well known that Fox traditionally has leaned to the right, but now they don't even appear to do that, they only lean to the "War" and "Terr'ists are gonna steal my Freedoms!". People need to wake up and see who is really stealing their "Freedoms".

[John]

I talked to a fox vp yesterday. Paul Moody decided to exclude Ron Paul. You can get his number from ronpaulforums.com in the Fox/Debate section.

[Sonja]

Thank you Mr Malcolm. Fox is truly exposed here, without the minimum excuse. BTW, we are not just boycotting all Fox sponsors, we are calling and emailing them, We are also dumping and shorting the stock. Enough is enough.

[Winghunter]

The results of Iowa proves only one thing, they have no idea who these candidates truly are...don't be one of them.

Candidate Research - Know Who You're Voting For
http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/entry/candidate_research_know_who_youre_voting_for/

[Pete Mackin]

I still maintain that Newscorp is violating US Code Title 47, Section 315(a) of the Communications Act. The Act allows stations to exclude candidates if they if it is bona fide news coverage of an event, candidates stopping by, random encounters, stories, etc.

But I believe, and have forwarded this concern on to the FCC and the appropriate congressional subcommittee for investigating such matters, that because Newscorp is actually hosting the event and "making their stations available", and is creating the discrepency in equal time deliberately, they may be in violation. I have forwarded the concern on to Rep. Bart Stupak (D), Menominee's office, who is the chair of the investigations committee for telecommunications.

I suppose a healthy fine or perhaps even pulling a license or two may wake these Newcorp monopolistic twits up. By the way, I'm going to urge President Paul to apply the Sherman Antitrust Act to Newscorp as well. Skewing a presidential election presents a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States. Start preparing your notes for the hearings Mr. Murdoch.

[Ed.]

Fox News hates Ron Paul, and always has, because he is anti-war and anti-Empire. Fox News loves war because its rating go up whenever America throws one, and it loves Empire because it provides it access to ever more markets. Its all about money for Murdoch and Co. But wait a minute...supporting wars for money and access to markets? Killing people for profit? Isn't that fascism? So there you have the real reason Fox hates Ron Paul...he's not a fascist. No wonder Fox loves Rudy Giuliani.

[Steve]

Those empty chairs wouldn't be empty for too long! Remember what happened a few months ago in Iowa when Paul was excluded from a certain debate? You'd think FOX would have learned something on that day. Excluding Ron Paul always backfires big time.

[N. Otter]

Fox News should be ashamed of itself! For a news service that has the motto "We Report, You Decide," how does excluding Republican predidential candidate Ron Paul from the New Hampshire Debate fit in with the "We Report" part of the motto. They are excluding a candidate who defeated Rudy Giuliani in Iowa and garnered double digit support. He's also the top earning Republican this quarter in polictical donations. Those fund raising numbers indicate he has quite a bit of national support and people want to hear what he has to say so they can make a good decision come primary election day in their state. Fox News should not exclude a candidate from a debate just because that candidate disagrees with military adventurism, wants to bring the troops home and use the money we save for domestic spending and to slash unnecessary federal departments. Remember Fox News We the People are the ones who are supposed to Decide whether or not we like what you Report! Please don't exclude someone just becuase his politics don't agree with yours. That's called censorship and is generally practiced by overbearing Communist countries and dictatorships, not by American television news networks. Whatever happened to objectivity and letting every candidate have his say. Why are you so afraid of letting Ron Paul speak at the debate? Afaid he might win even more converts to supporting the American Constitution instead of the status quo?

[Matthew Clark]

Paul must win NH or he has lost his chance at a GOP bid. I'm a RP supporter and I recognize this fact.

I think Andrew has grown rather fond of Dr. Paul :) Or, he likes the high traffic he generates from Paul pieces.

Thanks Andrew for the coverage and your opinions, even if they are often contrary to mine. I, unlike many it seems, appreciate them.

(And we appreciate all of our readers and commenters. This is supposed to be a place for dialogue and we're getting lots of it.)

[charlie adams]

This is definately a matter of the people verses the government.we have, little at a time allowed our government to run away with our country and all that it was created to stand for.Is that how we want this great country to end?.i dont think so, I believe for the first time in a long time we the people have been given back our freedom to affect this process through the internet.the government has not figured on this or they would have and will evetually find a way to control us in this also.
THE TIME IS NOW FOR WE THE PEOPLE