Ron Paul wows them in Pa. -- but does it matter?

A story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tells us that Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign is still puffing along ahead of the April 22 primary there, even though John McCain is already getting fitted for the coronation cape and crown at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. Paul spoke Thursday before a crowd of about 500 people at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and didn't make any news -- other than the fact that he's still campaigning in a Republican nomination fight that is long over.

The Paulistas like to argue that the reason Paul never caught fire is because the mainstream media (that would be us) froze him out. But with more than $30 million raised and a skeletal staff -- which means limited overhead -- Paul had plenty of cash to buy airtime in meaningful places to get his message out. In fact, he raised about half of what McCain raised.

And the Paulistas' savvy use of the Internet gave him yet another avenue to proselytize his political beliefs of a minimal, non-interventionist government. But those arguments just didn't resonate with enough Republican voters to get him the nomination -- Mike Huckabee, with half of Paul's cash, won 270 delegates to 14 for Paul.

So why do people still flock to hear Paul? Well, that's the interesting question. Judging by the comments lodged on this and other blogs, there's a fervent belief that Paul alone among the presidential candidates understands that something like U.S. disengagement from world conflicts, and the U.S. government's disengagement from the economy, is the only way to avoid economic disaster.

But there's also a touch of personality cult to it all -- similar to what we hear from fervent Barack Obama supporters. As Paul told the Pittsburgh paper, "steady determination" has marked his character over the years. "I think, if I should be compared to somebody," Paul said, "it might be called a true believer."

Maybe. But so are the supporters, many of whom use similar phrasing to talk about their embrace of Paul and the Ron Paul Revolution. The question is, where will these voters be in the fall?

-- Scott Martelle

Comments

[Shane Savoie]

I don't think we'll be where we were in Nov. 2000 or 2004. Most of us were sitting on the couch bemoaning the lack of credible candidates. This year I have talked to everyone in our Meetup group, learning that about half haven't voted in years, about a quarter vote GOP no matter what, and the remainder being split between Libertarian, Constitution, and Green Parties in descending order. NONE of them are planning to vote for McCain. Most are looking at third party options, with a few tinfoil hat-wearers that swear they'll never vote for anyone but RP, which leaves them with a write-in vote.
That's where we stand, united as individualists can be!

[Marty]

"The question is, where will these voters be in the fall?"

I am a state delegate working to go to nationals. In the fall, I intend to be at national voting for Ron Paul.

After that, I will continue to work within the local fake Republican party, and will be on city council. Yes, I am a Ron Paul Republican involved in the grassroots and was just elected to city council.

[michael adamucci]

Scott Martelle, you say Ron Pual had enough money to buy spots in the currupt, lazy, wana bee journalist and reporter new stations or main stream media, but what about all of the free advertising that all the other candidates are getting. The new is saturated with mcain,obama, hilary, and they don't have to pay a penny for it. Non stop, if you turn on any of these junk main stream media channels, fox,cnn,abc,nbc, all of them and any other that are on tv, there is a constant brainwashing of the three candidates and once in a while a speck of Ron Paul that is usaully patronizing to him. You all suck, your horrible journalists, your not even journalist, you don't deserve that title, you are all just propgandist who sole motivation is money and fear, it pathetic and you are helping people to maintain the suffering that they are causeing to everyone in this world. you all suck!

[David]

"The Paulistas like to argue that the reason Paul never caught fire is because the mainstream media (that would be us) froze him out. But with more than $30 million raised ..." First, I wouldn't call this blog very mainstream... Second, 30 million is drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of millions needed to do a real national ad campaign - possibly more than this, considering the only mention of Ron Paul on TV is how kooky he is....

But then pundits like to say Paul is ignored by the media because he doesn't poll well. But if the media ignores you (or call you kooky), no one will know who you are and you can't poll well. Not to mention Paul's name is not even included in most polls.

The media immediately called Barack a "serious candidate" and gave him oodles of positive coverage while they smeared Paul as someone who "can't win" and pretty much ignored him. The predictable outcome is Obama did well in polls and Paul didn't. If all the candidates were given equal treatment by the media, I think it's very likely Paul would be the leading republican candidate right now.

Paul consistently stands by his oath of office and opposes the radical status quo agenda that is destroying this country ... and he is being called "kooky." It's downright Orwellian. Up is down, left is right and pigs fly. The MSM has been a joke for many years, but in 2007 and 2008, it has gone into overdrive in protecting the establishment and destroying its own credibility. As MSM newpapers and t.v. news networks downsize and lose ratings, internet use goes up. It indicates that people are wising up and perhaps someday there will be enough informed people in this country to bring about change for the better. It can't happen until people break away from the MSM propaganda machine.

[Scott]

Ron Paul could have purchased all of the airtime in the world. That would not have changed the fact that the moderators at the debates barely acknowledged his presence, so the MSM comment is valid. By NOT letting him participate, the major networks essentially decided for their viewers that his positions were not relevant. It is terribly difficult to call them the media. Once upon a time, the press reported and the people decided. It is no longer that way...

[the problemwithcaring]

The fact that you report passionate supporters of Sen. Obama - a man who has received support of more than have of Democratic voters in 40+ states - as cultists, really, says more about the assumptions and predications of you and your newsroom than it does about the candidate and the voters.

How many states, primaries, pledges delegates, congressional and Senatorial endorsements, and presidential endorsements has Ron Paul had?

[D]

Once again; More evidence that main stream media has counted Ron Paul out from the start. Even more so, the main stream media undermines the Ron Paul suppoerters making the entire Ron Paul Revolution sound like some hippie fest with crazies demanding change. Not So.

The Ron Paul supporters continue on the good fight because more and more evidence of political corruption and law breaking among other candidates continues to surface.
I.E. http://www.dailypaul.com/node/44227. <- (To those that try and discredit the source; read the article and look up more information. You will be astounded to what the main stream media will not report to you. )

To tell you the truth if Ron Paul doesn't get elected to office, the Ron Paul campaign, the Ron Paul supporters, and the Ron Paul politics will NOT be to blame. It will be the Americans brainwashed by media outlets over glorifying a black man and a woman as symbols for change. It will be because of the same media outlets not reporting on the facts about a horrible man, a corrupt politician, a war hungry, rich white Republican who stands for what 90% of American's don't want. And it will be beacuse these media outlets are not being paid for 'enough air time' to fairly report on a candidate whos voting record, politics, and supporters all demand change. Good change. Change for bringing America back to what it stood for a long time ago. Freedom. Perosnal Liberty. Justice for law breakers (including politicians) If Ron Paul doesn't become the elected President; which he might not because look, George Bush wasn't elected by the people he was elected by the elitist members of the electoral college. I fear this will happen again; His politics, his ideas, and his supporters are out there now.

Dr. Paul's Revolution will not stop with this election. It will carry over to congressional elections. To Senate elections, until there are more elected members out there, involved in the political prosess slowly but steadily, bringing America back onto a right track.

[Tess]

I just love this (sarcasm of course):

"The Paulistas like to argue that the reason Paul never caught fire is because the mainstream media (that would be us) froze him out. But with more than $30 million raised and a skeletal staff -- which means limited overhead -- Paul had plenty of cash to buy airtime in meaningful places to get his message out. In fact, he raised about half of what McCain raised.

The problem was that all the other candidates received plenty of "FREE" airtime, with the exception of Ron Paul, and when you media types did write about him, with the exception of a few, the story always started with either longshot, darkhorse, unelectable, or has no chance of winning. It is no different than the Federal Reserve lying to the American people, and saying everything is okay a few months back, when in fact our economy is falling apart at the seams, just as Ron Paul has been saying all along, but you media types decided to ignore him. I guess it doesn't pay to tell the truth like Ron Paul has, and that is sad.

The mainstream media sounds no different than the Federal Reserve, they just want to tell us what they believe, and it is rarely the truth. All we ask for is some fair coverage, the same McCain is currently receiving. Oh, and McCain illegally got his name on several state ballots by saying he was taking FEC matching funds so he would not have to acquire the necessary signatures to be on these ballots as everyone else did. Tell me how fair is that, and why is that not making media headlines? McCain is no different than Bush, in fact McCain is 10 times worse. Personally, I cannot support or vote for a candidate (McCain) that cannot keep his Presidential campaign out of debt, just imagine what he would do to our country's economy, especially since he has publicly admitted he knows nothing of the economy. Our country can no longer financially sustain a war, or troops overseas, and Ron Paul is the ONLY Republican candidate who is man enough to admit this, and announce it to the American people.

By the way, Ron Paul will have my vote, and support this coming November 2008, he is the only Conservative Republican running. I will be voting with integrity, and principle. http://ronpaul2008.com

[Brandi]

I registered to vote just so that I could vote for Ron Paul in the primaries. If he is not on the ballot this November, and there is no way to write him in, I will not dare vote.

[D]

Once again. Another main stream media 'journalist' who misrepresents the views of the American public by making a pathetic attempt to not only discredit Ron Paul, but he takes it a step lower and hits the Ron Paul supporters below the belt as he writes this article and discredits us as well.

I'd like to inform you, sir, that as a journalist, even an opinion writer, you should be informed about the subject you are writing about. And Im not just saying look up what your other main stream media buddies are writing because it's all a bunch of garbage any way. Expand your resources. Let me explain. You and your fellow 'reporters' want to over glorify a black man and a woman as symbols for change in America. You also report only the good facts about a war hungry, rich white Republican so it doesn't seem like you take sides. (If I offend any McCain supporters read this:
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/44227 and you will feel offended by the underserving candidate you support.)

Since Bush has throughly screwed up the economy (didn't you know 'we built too many houses.') American's are hungry for any candidate, Democrat or Republican to lead America back to the right track. The Democratic owned media outlets such as MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, and even the Los Angeles Times, don't want the American public out there with a voting records and ideas and a plan to do exatly what we all want. Restore America. Unfortunatly thus candidate didnt 'buy enough air time' and therefore the 'fair and balanced' main stream news media outlets just can't report on him. (For those of you who don't get what Im saying, that's tounge in cheek humor)

Let me remind the uninformed comunist Hillary supporters, the 'flip flop voting record doesnt matter' Barack supporters, and the over zealous rich white former members of the service (not that we don't thank you for protecting America) supporters of Bush's third term, oh I mean, Senator McCain's people that all of these candidates have infinatly more money then you. These candidates have no idea what it means to be a working class citizen worrying about retirement, the environment that we are handing out children, and out children's children. These candidates do not have a solid plan to fix out economy. (Except McCain. His plan is to keep us in the war in the middle east because... that obviously creates more jobs and helps the economy. Proof of that can be seen in the past 5 years how well our economy has been doing) <- tounge in cheek again.

Regardless of Dr. Paul wins the election or not. His ideas, his politics, his dreams for the future will continue on in the form of his supporters. The people he actually won over by sticking to his guns and not waivering even with overwhelming pressure for the GOP to stand down and endorse a candidate completely 180 degrees away from what he stands for. He didn't buy his support like the other three candidates. He didn't 'pay for air time' like they did either. (Thanks for adding fuel to the fire Scott Martelle) When this goes into history books, Ron Paul might be overlooked. But years from now when Ron Paul Republicans have a strong vote in the Senate and Congress, the candidate that wins, be it Hillary, Obama, or McCain will be the same never ending joke that Bush already is. But the punchline of the joke (when that day comes) will be the media outlets, the writers and the people who believed them.

RonPaul2008.com
DailyPaul.com
RonPaulforPresident2008.com

[dave]

when ron paul talks about the comparison to 'a true believer,' he might mean someone who has not lost his love for life and human beings, but has freed himself or herself of popular delusions.
and this is not a personality cult, as some will still maintain, unable or unwilling to understand what ron paul keeps repeating: 'it's about the message.'
but many now, like ron paul himself, have transcended false, blind belief, to honestly and bravely look at things as they might be, and to do what they can to make them better. anyone who's understood the message, won't ever go back on that. this is why ron paul won;
and not the ubiquitously media-crooned mccain, who's
seemingly technically still handled as the allegedly-purported presumptive, immaturely, prematurely and provisionally media-crowned republican nominee (anything else is not possible because he is not electable, not only because of his flawed policies and character, but also because of his failure to qualify as a 'natural born citizen').
the picture of the little engine depicted steaming fast downhill, though neat, for its possible symbolic freight might more aptly be used as an analogy for the deceitful endeavors of obama, clinton and mccain - unless of course it was chosen to suggest the rEVOLution's landslide victory.

('constitutional requirements; citizenship definitions of both article II and amendment 14 apply in terms of mccain running for president:
1. the 14th amendment and matching policy limit citizenship to either natural born or naturalized, but not both.
2. john mccain was born in 1936 in the canal zone to citizen parents.
3. 8 usc 1403(a) declares naturalized citizenship in 1952 on persons born in the canal zone to citizen parents.
4. therefore, 8 usc 1403(a) applies to john mccain at age 16.
5. therefore, john mccain is a naturalized citizen.
6. by treaty, the canal zone was not part of the united states.
7. therefore, john mccain was not born in the united states.
8. therefore, john mccain is a citizen not born in the united states.
9. therefore, john mccain is not a natural born citizen.
10. article II of the constitution states to be president a person must be a natural born citizen.
11. therefore, john mccain is NOT eligible to be president of the united states under article II of the constitution; he's to be decertified and removed from all present and future presidential ballots; his past results to be disallowed, including unbinding all of his committed delegates.')

[Phil]

"But those arguments just didn't resonate with enough Republican voters to get him the nomination."

What the Hell is this crap? Most people I talk to at work, in the neighborhood, at the store, wherever, don't even know who he is, much less what his message and arguments are. They are attached to mainstream television like rats to drip-feed. They are chemically dependant on television and dumbed down by government-sponsored education. They lack the ability to think critically. No amount of paid TV advertisement would open their eyes to Ron Paul's Freedom message. Give me a break, Scott. Where's Andrew Malcolm?

[Tharms]

You say, "Paul could have bought what we gave away to the others for free, so shame on him." Just how stupid do you think we are?

[Darrin]

Anyone remember the UTUBE video where if a user posted a Ron Paul bulletin, their myspace account was immediately hacked. That means the powers of myspace.... aka Murdoch policed the internet freeing itself of Ron Paul support knowing good and god damn well Ron had a strong avenue of support was via internet. Look deeper journalists... be honest, when Ron Paul debates he makes sense, is accurate, and is not covered. If he is mentioned, it is marginal coverage or belittlement.

Earned a Journalism Degee and I still feel the media today is a gross misrepresentation of what is on going.. Too many buzz words and shotty practices. Read on any subject for five days in a row and watch the story ultimately change. We cover Hillary making a joke about her dumb ass lie and sniper fire. Spin doctor at its finest... and oh yeah each campaign manager for each of Obama, McCain, and Clinton all have ties to our lending crisis. Yeah this is gonna be interesting, and how many times must we hear fear mongers able to paint a very diff picture then what the facts support.

[Keith]

If you are born abroad to citizen parents you are a citizen of the US. End of story.

[valdis]

What does it cost to have one sane, principled and competent person on the stage at the republican primary debates?

$30 million

[John]

Ron Paul didn't catch with the American public because the vast majority does not understand his message of liberty and limited government. I think it would take a multi-billion dollar re-education program to make the masses understand that most of the time government is the problem, not the solution.

[Diane]

It doesn't matter how much money Ron Paul would have spent on advertisement. The mainstream media, in bed with the establishment, was absolutely threatened by Ron Paul. Ron Paul busts this corrupt entangled mess wide open and exposes it for the sham that it is.

Ron Paul is the only candidate that speaks the truth and understands how to fix America.

But, the sheep, led by the mainstream media, picked 3 stooges instead.

History is going to be very kind to Ron Paul. God Bless him. He truly is an American hero.

[Baba Padmanabhan]

The problem wasn't that the weren't spending the money that they raised to get his message out. The problem was - MSM like yourself - left him out completely when covering the election news. Just to give you a few examples, his unaired 20/20, unaired Larry King Live show day before IOWA caucus, left out of fox news debate weekend before NH primary, numourous news organisation including a lot of local papers that get their material from big new corporations, left him out when talking about candidates and their views.

The r3VOLution continues folks...

[D]

'KEITH' You are an uninformed moron. Read the laws. You know what, read DAVE's comment if you are too lazy to look it up yourself.

It is better to stay silent and be thought a fool, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

[DX10]

Actually it would have done no good whatever to do more advertising. In fact not one penny should have been spent on radio or tv, rather it should have all been spent on grass roots organization.

The Gillette method of one man tells another would have been the only way to bring the masses on board. Where there was strong organization and education Dr. Paul won!

Remember that most of us went to government schools and got our subsequent information from the tv. Re-education was/is our only hope to understand what the egalitarians have been doing to us.

As Jefferson said, ........time to inform their discretion.

[shawn]

Where will I be in the fall...? Voting for the Libertarian.

[Carol]

Though I had considered writing-in Ron Paul's name, I now realize that it will only be counted as a spoiled ballot, not a vote for Ron Paul. Just as we did in the caucuses, we are voting for the electors in the electoral college, not the president directly So I'll be voting for the Libertarian candidate.

If the Republicans are sincerely worried about a 3rd party spoiling their chances against Obama, and are seriously worried about a liberal Whitehouse, then they can all vote Libertarian too....

[Edward]

I'm not sure how you can make an arguement that Ron Paul has not been at a huge disadvantage with the MSM lack of coverage. Sure, $30 million buys him some air time, but that is utterly dwarfed by all the free, and positive, air time the other candidates got.

And I don't really appreciate the sarcastic tone this blog frequently takes with Ron Paul subjects. It's patronising and detracts from some of your valid points.

[Anon]

my meetup group of about 140 people will not be voting for McCain, a handful for Obama because he will at least bring the troops out of Iraq. We are now working on taking back the local GOPs one at a time!!

[Jive Dadson]

Each of the anointed candidates received over 20 times as much free air time on the TV as Ron Paul. In the crucial weeks before Super Duper Tuesday, the ratio could not be calculated. One simply could not find Ron Paul on the television or in the old media newspapers anywhere. They disappeared him. I had Google and Yahoo alerts set for "Ron Paul." During that time, the only alerts referenced sympathetic blogs. The big newspapers even left him off of their lists of candidates on the front pages.

It was sickening and saddening. What has become of us? If I were one of the 'journalists' who participated in the blackout, I could not live with the shame.

Alas, the "spam filter" has blocked me. How thematic.

[Jim Whitehead]

This article or any other does not matter . Hillary will win. It is already in the cards. What the MSM, The politicians, the government as a whole has to worry about is the consequenses of thier actions. I can tell you from my dreams that whht happens above will happen below. The truth and RIGHT has already happenned above. Now is retribution. It is coming and nothing anyone can do to stop it.

All I can say is to save GOLD AND GUNS> We as individuals will need it. The elitist in politics, media and life in general are going to be F%^$#@ked up.\\

It is here and retribution is here. Just keep putting your money in wall street. That is your sure death.

[badmedia]

The McCain-Feingold laws put even more importance on the media, and gave the media more control over the elections. By reducing the amount of money people can donate to a candidate, you are reducing free speech.

When you have reduced the amount of money a candidate can generate, you reduce the amount of advertising they can buy. 30 million isn't really that much money compared to the amount of money most corporations spend on advertising. Look at how much a 30 second news spot costs. And in 30 seconds, you aren't going to get much information out, just sound bites and image.

On the other hand, you have the media giving away free advertising. And you have biased reporters who treat the candidates differently. It's just plain out ridiculous.

Ron Paul did everything better than the other candidates. Never went into debt, and did it right. The only thing he didn't have is media and big corporation support. So, I think the fact of this race shows exactly who is in charge and has the influence.

The media picked the republican party nominee, not the people. John McCain didn't do anything the entire election, no support and suddenly he is the nominee. I don't buy it for a minute. The man who was one of the worst on immigration gets the nominee after the people shut the phones down? Come on, who do you think you are kidding?

It's all a scam and people know it.

[WheelsTUrn]

Scott, I've got news for you...McCain will be out of the race by July and Ron Paul will be the **only** Republican game in town. Where will I be in November? Why, voting for Ron Paul, of course!

[Sig]

Mr. Martelle,

I can't tell whether you are enjoying a game of baiting your readers or whether you haven't educated yourself to the issues. What do you understand of economics? Of the Clinton/Obama/McCain economic platforms vs. Ron Paul's? Please address your readers respectfully. What do you really think, having studied the platforms? For your sake I hope you are baiting us.

[Tom]

Thank you so much for at least touching the subject. There have been reports of a media black-out on Ron Paul's campaign, and after reading this article, I realize this is the same type of coverage he got during the whole campaign, and I think this is a blog! Mainstream Media and blogs shouldn't be on the same level (no disrespect to bloggers, but c'mon). I have seen just about every guideline and rule for fair reporting entirely ignored for the past 6-12 months and I think its classless neo-con groupthink that enables it.

Maybe he wasn't the most likable candidate, but he didn't feed the masses more slop. It was refreshing to hear a candidate actually address issues instead of relying on a team of people. Ron thinks for himself, and he's extremely smart. We know Ron isn't going to win, we're just trying to send a message. This movement is growing and sooner or later the republican party is going to have to have to embrace it, or wither

Theodore Roosevelt - "A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends on the character of the user"

[Franklin]

Either Scott Martelle and Andrew Malcolm are the same person or there is a 3rd person that edits their blog posts so heavily that they end up with the appearance of being written by the same person.

All of Scott Malcolm's posts are filled with logical fallacy.

Example: "The Paulistas like to argue that the reason Paul never caught fire is because the mainstream media (that would be us) froze him out. But with more than $30 million raised and a skeletal staff -- which means limited overhead -- Paul had plenty of cash to buy airtime in meaningful places to get his message out."

Andrew Martelle should be able to tell us how much money McCain, Obama, Huckabee, Romney and every other candidate (not including Gravel and Kucinich) paid the networks to get exponentially more airtime than Paul. Candidates that received less votes and raised less money than Paul received much more airtime. This is not an opinion, it's an objective fact (the Project for Excellence in Journalism did a study - Google it). Since Scott Malcolm should know that none of the cookie-cutter candidates paid a cent for their airtime, the point is moot and forces one to wonder, is this the level of Andrew Martelle's intelligence or he purposely making absurd statements.

And what is with Scott Malcolm constantly referring to this blog as the "mainstream media"?!? How delusional is that?!?! Yes, you have "LA Times" in your name but you aren't even popular as far as blogs go. You certainly don't qualify as MSM! It's sad. I feel the same thing I feel when Bush, McCain, Clinton or Obama speaks... "how do you not get embarrassed?"

[Leonardo]

Poor Scotty,

You just can’t and won’t get it, even if it hits you in the head. Naïve or Ignorant? Hmm…you decide.
But Scotty,

Look on the bright side, you can sign up to donate your organs especially your “brain”
And you ask, why?

Because, it’s “Never Been Use”

LAT is hiring, writers needed. “No Experience Necessary?”

What do you think? Should I apply? Scotty?

Cheers.

[Edward]

The mainstream media has forsaken this country and for that they can rot in the depths of hell. They are an integral part of the problem.

It will be a glorious day when they lose their grip on the conduits of information to the internet. It could not come sooner.

[Tomas Engle]

Where will I be in the fall? Writing in Ron Paul if he doesn't endorse Bob Barr who hopefully wins the Libertarian Party nomination. I think I speak for most Paul fans when I say my passion for Paul is for his *principles* not solely the man himself just because. Obama has a bonified CULT on the other hand, I am waiting any day now for his campaign to make that final trip to Georgetown, Guyana. The RP Revolution will outlast the smooth talking, vague young man from Illinois in political effect, guarantee it.

[Bob Bowen]

Why do the Obama, Hillary & McCains of this campaign get so much MSM coverage and NO coverage for Ron Paul ? That is easy to answer. Obama, Hillary & McCain are CFR stooges in an election owned & operated (and probably paid for) by the CFR.

The sheeple simply do as they are told ! Vote for one of the Three Stooges ! They don't really care which one of the Stooges becomes President as long as they get some one in office they can control !

Ron Paul has too much integrity, so the CFR is doing all they can to keep him out. I am writing Ron Paul in as my President if he doesn't appear on the ballot in November.

I want my Constitution back in its original place as intended by the Founding Fathers, and Ron Paul is the one who governs by the Constitution. Now if we could just figure out how to elect an honest Congress......

[blakmira]

Fair and balanced free media coverage?

Just one month after setting the world record for single day campaign contributions, out of the 2,188 mainstream media stories about presidential
candidates between January 14th and February 10th, only 4 were about Dr. Ron Paul.

Contrast that to:
756 stories about Hillary Clinton
760 stories about Barack Obama
674 stories about John McCain
424 stories about Mitt Romney
281 stories about Mike Huckebee

That's right. Just 4 little stories about Ron Paul! Blacklisting a viable presidential candidate is deliberate sabotage of a campaign and smacks of collusion between the mainstream media and the election officials.

And when you add that in along with some very suspicious vote count tampering in the primaries and deliberately omitting his name on the ballot in several states including New York, then you've got yourself some real criminal activity going on.

Did Ron Paul ever have a chance? Yet even with all the high-powered resistance and obstacles in his way, we're still not giving up.

Oh, yeah, I'll be voting for Ron Paul. You betcha. I'll take a magic marker and write it on the Diebold screen if I have to (not that it will count) because I refuse to vote for the other 3 corrupt, lying, pandering, war-funding politicians who will take us all equally to Hell in a handbasket.

Ron Paul or Bust 2008

[SlowHand]

This is not journalism, its repetition...like he really had to work hard gettin this kind of story...

real news is Dr. Paul predicting all this economic dung happenning in your country...and not many willing to debate him on it. Even makes Ben Bernake look like a fruitcake everytime...

Welcome to the Illusion of the MsM.

Now go back and talk about Obama's bowling dance or something, you're to stupid to understand real news...

[John Engel]

Ron Paul was purposely marginalized by MSM which is part of the corporate elites which smooze it up with 'our' elected officials and actually write the laws voted on by those useless officials.

Why do millions of Americans passionately support the 2nd amendment? Sooner or later, the masses, when they have become very hungry, will have to use those arms against our government agencies already armed and ready to enforce martial law. All I can say to any rational, semi-aware US citizens, is get your guns, plenty of ammo and be willing to fight like a MFr to stay free. Our currency is almost defunct. Illegal immigrants are protesting in our Nations capital...(this would be an excellent opportunity to arrest and deport a lot of illegals, but we know that won't happen)...NAU is already a reality in Texas. One must ask, "Is anybody awake in this country?". If Ron Paul is kooky then so am I...and sooner or later so will millions of others.

[Ray of hope]

I will work at the local republican party level as a precint delegate and promote Ron Paul conservatism and in the fall I will write in RON PAUL! I don't know howw long it will take you guys to understand it's not Ron Paul, its Liberty!

"The shallow consider liberty a release from all law, from every constraint. The wise see in it, on the contrary, the potent Law of Laws."
-- Walt Whitman

[Jp]

You know it's so easy to criticize Ron Paul when one lacks a good understanding of monetary and economic theory. The only solutions to any problem in the United States that the MSM would dare consider amount to nothing more than socialism. Can you name any socialist program that has actually fulfilled any of its stated goals? The Fed(centralized banking - Marxist Idea), social security(completely bankrupt), etc... This goes beyond stupid left/right partisanship. You are looking at the wrong axis. Understand that the "political axis" we should be more concerned with is Libertarian-----Statist. Apart from libertarians like Paul, modern political discourse is dominated in both parties by Neo-liberalism, which is VERY statist.

[Robert Fanning]

Ron Paul is the only candidate that has exposed the mortgage crisis has cost the American taxpayer a documented minimum of $200 billion in recent bail outs from the federal reserve. This excludes the debasement of our currency, the dollar.
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home
To put that into perspective, the Iraq war has cost the American taxpayer $507 billion thus far.
ADDITIONALLY, The total market capitalization of the stocks like Bear Stearns, CountryWide , Merrill Lynch, and CitiGroup was a massive decline in shareholder value..most of those shareholders are people just like you and I, .. holding those securities in their retirement accounts.
Executives managing those financial service mills enticed and pushed legions of unscrupulous young professionals to make very bad loans to very bad credit risks on very illiquid properties. Those money brokers were given fat commissions. Those executives pushed their stock prices and the leveraged stock options to highly inflated and false prices based on phony earnings. Those executives knew that they were creating a pyramid scheme and were acting in bad faith.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/charts/chartdl.aspx?Symbol=%2feurus&CP=0&PT=10
The federal reserve continued to print money, artificially hold interest rates low, very low and debase the currency since 2002 to create liquidity for their buddies in the banking and brokerage industry..
Now that the currency has been debased 40 to 60 % ,yours and my entire net worth and purchasing power has also been debased because it was all done with borrowed money. Remember , these banker / broker types did their dirty work while America was at war.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/finance/article/reasons-wall-street-dodges-regulation-gambles-future_541756_9.html
Now that egregious and irreparable harm has been done to the American economy by the Ponzi schemers on Wall Street and the banking industry, they are using the Chairman of the Federal Reserve to hold your attention with smoke and mirrors while they sneak out the back door with your net worth.
Illustration ; A $10 million dollar ranch in the eyes of those who follow the currency markets is now a $4 to 6 million dollar ranch in the eyes of those who understand the Jihad declared on and the 6 year debasement of Americas' currency.
Those responsible got off scott free and the Chairman of George Bush's Federal Reserve made good on their escape.
Ron Paul is the ONLY fiscal conservative running for President

[TJ]

I will tell you I will not vote for John McCain, Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama. Neither will the nearly 1 million Dr. Paul voters. So unless we get a candidate who understands what the real problems are in this country and has real solutions then I guess we'll see come November. Most likely Libertarian.

[SuperTruth]

This blog is evidence that the operators of the mainstream media mean well. They think that they are doing a good job. But, as a group, they are unknowingly destroying the country by choosing the wrong leaders. Anyone who HONESTLY studies the issue will conclude that free mainstream coverage (also called publicity) will lead to a type of recognition that advertising cannot duplicate. The Ron Paul campaign was a victim of the well-meaning MSM. The good part of this is that the RP revolution is now piosed for a major political move and it will backfire on the MSM.

[Web Smith]

It may not matter much to most today. Things may be a little or a lot more clear in the fall. Perhaps, by then, your advertisers will have run out of enough money to pay for ads and your employer may run out of money to pay you.

The thing that you have to realize is that at this time last year, Ron would not have attracted such large crowds. You should be asking why would so many people who realize that Ron is not going to win the Republican nomination bother. How many people are calling out the names of Giuliani, Thompson, Edwards, or what's his name from Utah, let alone driving four hours to hear them speak for a few minutes? Obviously something matters.

If you can think beyond today, which isn't all that good, you might start calling out Ron's name, too. Tomorrow matters.

[Lex]

"U.S. disengagement from world conflicts, and the U.S. government's disengagement from the economy, is the only way to avoid economic disaster."

Bingo.

There's no "Ron Paul personality cult" -- his detractors will be quick to point out that he's not high on the list of charismatic leaders.

Ron Paul supporters want two things:

1. Their freedom.
2. To save America.

[working poor]

I think many reporters know what is going on but they are not allowed to contradict the top candidates and expose what is really going on under threat of being fired or even worse. I am happy to see any coverage at all of Ron Paul in MSM.

There are some who know that in MSM black is white and white is black especially when it comes to reporting this election.

Revolution is still legal but MSM can't support it.

(Would contradict you but not allowed.)

[Delilah]

Or maybe the voting system in the US is rigged and completely corrupt and needs to be changed so we live in a democratic republic once again.

Why not state the obvious? Why write blogs or "news" if one is so dense as to not see the obvious?

[Michael Shanklin]

I'm sorry but I don't think most people have heard of Ron Paul and for a reason. I don't think it's a conspiracy, communism taught us there is nothing such as conspiracy....only truth we ignore! The truth is our country's leaders are getting rich off of government coercion. There is no way they want the people to get the rights and liberty and freedom back. This would allow the people to grow and would be best for the people but it would be horrible for people who have interests in oligopolies. McCain, and especially Obama and Hillary have had their names spewed all over the news(if that's what you want to call it.) I have heard Ron's name about 10 times over the last year on the news. Is this a fair and balanced assessment of our equal candidates? Is this fair journalism? I am not blaming you, but the truth is Ron stands for the people, the government will have nothing to do with him because he threatens their monopolies, oligopolies, and he defends the constitution which was made by smart men to hold down other government officials who would pop up in history. The blame also rests on the American people for believeing in a federal system and ignoring the constitution. This country is in a nosedive and there is no place for people to escape to now. Where will we immigrate when our liberties and freedoms are gone and we are bankrupt? Do you truly believe there is a difference between economic freedom and personal freedom? There is no difference except for the party lines that divide our great nation and send us into a civil war just like other countries. If we worked on protecting everyone's individual rights instead of worrying about the government's rights this nation would be alot better!

[Brian]

Follow the money!

[tim, minnesota]

One more update from Minnesota. Ron Paul delegates took 6 of the 9 possible national delegates in our CD conventions today. State is in May with 14 delegates up for grabe. McCain is far from being the winner. Ron Paul: you and Carol may be packing for Washington in December.

Ron has far more delegates than you mention in this article.

[JB]

Scott, are you suggesting Dr. Paul should have paid for a few superbowl slots....maybe spent 9 million. Think it would have helped? Sounds like pissing in the wind to me. That's not going to change hearts and minds. Despite the media marginilizing him, the money and revolution will continue and the snickering will eventually stop. And many will say, "Hey, maybe that guy was right". Why not start now?

[WB]

I just spent the afternoon discussing with my brother why liberals are liberals and conservatives are conservatives. Put simply, liberals tend to hand over the most important parts of their lives, their future and their freedom, to employers and to government. In doing this, they carry an expectation throughout life that someone else will take charge and assure them of both, a future and freedom. Most often, they are grossly disappointed, but rather than take the situation in hand and use their own energy to rectify the situation, they normally throw more of their future and freedom into this "black hole of dreams", expecting a better result. Was it Einstein who said something about this? Mr. Martelle seems to be standing at the vortex of this black hole, with his media cronies, waiting for different results. Ron Paul represents personal responsibility, and these guys really can't deal with it. Plain and simple.

[Robert MacCargar]

You blow off the comment about the main stream media freezing Ron Paul out, like it is no big deal. You say he could have just bought air time. You must think very little of your readers. Are we not smart enough to know that our world is controlled by television? Do we not understand that we (American Society) are controlled by the tube? They tell us what to eat, what to buy, and YES.....who to vote for. What you don't like, is that like the majority of your readers.....Ron Paul supporters, know the truth and even though, Ron Paul will not be allowed to receive the Republican nomination......The Revolution has begun. Maybe not this election, or the next........but, we will take back our Nation, from those that have chosen to taken away our great country from right under our noses.....while our eyes have been glued to the tube.

(Blew it off because can't do anything about it except cover what we think is important and fun here, which we've done. You worry about TV if you want. Or other websites ignoring Dr. Paul. Creates a great opening for us. It's called competition. )

[pajeff2]

If you notice Paul's Pa speeches are always at colleges where he can get a lot of youngsters to listen to him who are at that age generally looking for some "Cause" to support..Fortunately, these folks quickly mature and out grow that nonsense..Paul has proven himself to be a lousy campaigner and I expect to see him at 5% in the Pa. primary, maybe even less !

[Mike]

>>Posted by: Anon | April 04, 2008 at 04:26 PM
>>a handful for Obama because he will at least bring
>>the troops out of Iraq.

Obama, like McCain and Clinton, votes for the bills that fund Iraq, so Obama isn't the anti-iraq candidate that you think he is.

>>We are now working on taking back the local
>>GOPs one at a time!!

This is the way. Get involved, take positions in the local GOP, get elected, talk to your neighbors about issues that affect them (gas prices - inflation).

[Pliny]

Even $30,000,000 (and let's not forget that most of that money was raised too late for it to really turn the tide) is insufficient to counter MSM blackouts except for snide misinformation about how he is a 'longshot' that 'can't win' and continual questions about whether he is even a Republican. 90% of the people in both parties are band-wagon hoppers who don't seriously or intellectually reflect on what it means to have Constitutional governance or what the proper role of government ought to be. They just hear the sound bite of how Ron Paul doesn't want to protect us from the mean nasties that Bush has been railing against for the last 6 years and how his supporters are all hippy kooks.

[Tannim]

"If you notice Paul's Pa speeches are always at colleges where he can get a lot of youngsters to listen to him who are at that age generally looking for some "Cause" to support..Fortunately, these folks quickly mature and out grow that nonsense..Paul has proven himself to be a lousy campaigner and I expect to see him at 5% in the Pa. primary, maybe even less !"

"Grow out of that nonsense?" More like "brainswahsed into statist nonsense." And yes, that includes you.

So what if he gets 5% in the PA beauty contest of uninformed voters? The informed ones become delegates, and the delegates are going for Dr. Paul, and the delegates determine the nomination.

[MJ]

“Because of him a revolution started – he ignited a movement" - Determiined... This is why people support him. It is about believing IN something for a change instead of just being AGAINST everything. IF we believe in LIBERTY then all we need do is follow the CONSTITUTION.
In Texas a long time ago anglo, and hispanic settlers, swore allegiance to the Mexican Constitution. This Constitution was usurped and a militiary despot named Santa Anna came to power. The couple of hundred that faced thousands at the Alamo did it for this reason. It is to their glory that they held for 13 days against these overwhelming odds. We also had other massacres...Golidad....
But my point is this. WHEN IT COMES TIME TO STAND FOR LIBERTY. Who would ask Why stand with Travis, Crockett, Bowie, Dickinson and the others against such odds? Perhaps someone who did not care that the CONSTITUTION had been usurped or someone that did not care.

So why do people still flock to hear Paul? - To hear the CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES which are the foundation of a Republic!

[keith]

'KEITH' You are an uninformed moron. Read the laws. You know what, read DAVE's comment if you are too lazy to look it up yourself.

It is better to stay silent and be thought a fool, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

Posted by: D | April 04, 2008 at 02:26 PM

D - you have proved your own point quite nicely. Tell me, when do you think the court challenge to McCain's eligibilty based on citizenship will begin? Perhaps you should talk to your local attorney and start that in motion yourself.

The nice thing about the R3VOlution I guess is that it gives all the bloviating self important tinfoil hat wearers something to get together and talk about.

[Ronald Olson]

I am curently getting two house reps nominated for election in nov. Yea, just making speeches, writing, and raising money. I'm just an RP supporter who never gave a dime nor the the time of day to any politico in my life. My father would have slappled me.

[GatorVol]

Did you know that the Iraqi people were the terrorists who attacked us on 9-11? That is what my OWN FAMILY has been brainwashed into believing! Saddam’s imaginary WMD’s have been completely forgotten.
If you are not a puppet like Bush and McCain who actively support the “big plan”, or if you are not willing to stand in the shadows like Hillary and Obama, passively allowing legislation to slip by that supports "think tank" policies while smoothing it over like a preacher in the pulpit; then you are banished to BLOGS like this one that nobody can find except through a search engine.
Ron Paul supporters are not that stupid.

[D]

'KEITH' You are an uninformed moron. Read the laws. You know what, read DAVE's comment if you are too lazy to look it up yourself.

It is better to stay silent and be thought a fool, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

Posted by: D | April 04, 2008 at 02:26 PM

D - you have proved your own point quite nicely. Tell me, when do you think the court challenge to McCain's eligibilty based on citizenship will begin? Perhaps you should talk to your local attorney and start that in motion yourself.

The nice thing about the R3VOlution I guess is that it gives all the bloviating self important tinfoil hat wearers something to get together and talk about.

Posted by: keith | April 08, 2008 at 02:00 PM

Poor sad little man Keith. It must be so hard being you. I couldn't even imagine being so dumb deaf and blind. Let me give your miserable excuse for some kind of a point my valuable time and consideration. John McCain's argument of why his citizenship is not an issue is simply that when Barry Goldwater ran for President in 1964, He was born in Arizona when it was not yet a state. He overlooks the fact that when Mr. Goldwater did run his former territory of Arizona had been inogurated into the Union and was in fact ... a state. Im sorry, did I miss something? Did somewhere, in between the time that John McCain was born up until today, did Panama become the United States 51st state? If it did Keith please inform me and the rest of the inquiring minds of your oh so vast intellignce because if I do say say McCain and his supporters do have some discrepanceis they need to address. As for your snide remark about
'starting the motion myself.' Allow me to just put this thought out there: "It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds".
-Samuel Adams
(if that needs to be put in lay terms for you id me more then happy to oblige)

Oh and you know what else Keith. I have a question for you. What would you do if a candidate you support or even a candidate that you can see eye to eye with reaks the very law that he enacted? If you could expand your mind for the short amount of time it would take to read this: http://www.dailypaul.com/node/44227. You might just see the slimy disgusting individual you call a candidate. If the man cannot follow the very law he put in place he WILL disregard what the founding fathers and the other great minds of history held idealisticaly for America. Once again Keith I know in your pathetic little mind this all goes in one ear and out the other but lets put it this way, before you attempt to twist my words or any others on this or any other forum, be informed. Don't just come back with some irrelavent personal attack. It makes you look even less appealing to waste my time arguing with.
"A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends on the character of the user" - Theodore Roosevelt

[Buffalo Bruce]

If a write-in vote for Ron Paul will be discarded, my vote will probably go to the Libertarian candidate.

My most recent campaign contribution went to a a Ron Paul supporter who won a seat on the county board.

We are now inside the walls!

[Motley]

I love how all the RuPaul bots are still spamming this blog like they spam the polls. He didn't get covered as much as the others because RuPal was polling less than the margin of error! The margin of error is like 3.5 to 4 percent. If you're polling less than that, you're a loser. Don't blame the media. Blame RuPaul.

[Parke]

hahahaaa

Ive been offline lately and now Im catching up. Sorry for the delay, but I gotta comment.

First, who will I vote for in Nov? After the economy starts really tanking this summer, with a huge rise in fuel costs, again, a plummeting dollar and an endless war going on.. and Ron Paul still in the race for the nomination...

Well imagine when the convention folks and local GOPs start changing the rules and eliminating them from the party.. I bet Ron Paul might change his tune once he sees the abuse from the GOP to his supporters. Id like to think that he may announce an independent bid so he gives us all a breathe of fresh air and energizes his base.

Luckily we will have had enough time to have learned how to be more effective. Ill work 5 days a week for his campaign if he announces an indy bid. Im positive his base will bring more energy this go around than the primaries...

I do get a kick out of the tone of the story. The MSM is a joke. Mr. Malcolm can be fairly journalistic.. but overall.. I laugh when I watch TV now. Its a dog and pony show and the bias is obvious.

'Advertisements are the only truths to be relied upon in a newspaper.' Jefferson

I can tell you this. You NEVER see other supporters quoting our founders like you do with the RP folks.

Why are we staying in a quagmire?
Why do we let bankers dilute the value of our money?
Why does 40% of our money go to 'National Debt' i.e. profit for those bankers.
Why is the United States government taking God given rights away?
What is being done about illegal immigration?

You call it what you want. You call us what you want. Nothing is going to change with the three stooges frontrunning now.

At the end of the day I go to sleep with a clear conscience. I know that I support the America our founders envisioned for us. Its to bad that more people dont want to fight for America as much as they want to fight in Iraq.

[ART DEKKO]

MY FAMILY HAS LEARNED TO TOTALLY IGNORE THE MAIN-STREAM-MEDIA. WE KNOW THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE CANDIDATE. THAT IS RON PAUL.
IT IS THE LOONIES THAT
CRITICIZE US PAULITES/PAULETTES.
WRITE-IN RON PAUL IF NECESSARY.
THE THREE STOOGES ARE OWNED BY THE NEW YORK BOYS.
THEY WILL NEVER GET OUR VOTE, NOW OR EVER.
VOTE FOR A REAL PRESIDENT. RON PAUL.