Two days before the New Hampshire primary, Fox News staged a forum for the Republican presidential candidates and invited everyone who was at the ABC debate the day before, except for Ron Paul. They introduced the forum by saying that the GOP nominee would be one of the five candidates who were there, a statement clearly meant to suggest that Ron Paul doesn't have a chance to win.
That may have been the straw that broke the camel's back, if the camel was an American populace growing increasingly impatient and frustrated with Faux News propaganda.
Fox News wanted to have a forum where it talked with the five GOP candidates who basically agree with their way of thinking: who like the war in Iraq, who like the surge, who want to increase troops in the region, and who have no problem with an eventual war against Iran. What they didn't count on was the depth of support for Ron Paul.
It is hard to measure Paul's support. He is the most-searched-for candidate on the internet, by far, outpacing every Democrat and Republican. He probably raised the most money last quarter (probably, because he reports his donations live while others wait for the FEC deadline at the end of the month). In a graphic map of Meetup groups, other candidates have patches of red dots, while Paul's map is a solid red across the entire country. He has won almost every post-debate poll. Independent Paul supporters have helped him raise $10 million over two days, setting and breaking his own record. There is a blimp flying around the country that asks Who is Ron Paul? on one side and suggests you Google Ron Paul on the other.
Yet Paul came in fifth in both Iowa and New Hampshire. True, he beat Rudy Giuliani in the first, and nearly tied him in the second, despite the fact that Giuliani apparently spent more time campaigning in both states. But still, the other measures of Paul's support would suggest he should be winning these primaries, possibly by a landslide.
So is the mystery, why does Paul not do better in primaries? Or is the mystery, why does his support seem larger than it is?
It's almost an impossible question to answer. Almost because we now have, thanks to Fox News, proof in the stock market that the support is genuine, and the primary results so far are the aberrations.
The news that Fox News would be excluding Ron Paul from its N.H. debate came on Dec. 27. From that day on, the stock price of News Corp., its parent company, fell every day, losing a cumulative 10 percent, or about $6 billion, over the next seven days.
To be sure, other media companies fell as well. Time Warner and Viacom each fell about 6 percent over that period. The Paul supporters who spread the message of selling News Corp. stock, boycotting Fox News advertisers, and otherwise imposing their economic will cost the media giant billions.
The bleeding stopped Jan. 8, when Fox News relented to the economic pressure and invited Paul to the South Carolina debates. The stock price gained nearly 4 percent in just two days, right back in line with the other media companies.
Those debates were held last week. They were very similar to all the earlier debates, to which Paul had been invited. Other candidates get asked about policy issues while Paul gets asked about his electability. Other candidates snipe at each other and in particular Paul, while Paul ignores them and talks solely about the issues, the only candidate to answer every question that is asked.
But there was one major difference: Whereas in past debates, Paul received a vanishingly small portion of air time, in this one he received approximately equal time. I counted the number of words each candidate uttered. Paul surpassed the word output of John McCain, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, and Rudy Giuliani. Only Mike Huckabee said more words.
Maybe it's because Paul talks faster than the others, or because he needed to respond to accusations against him by the other candidates. Or maybe Fox News has realized that the people buttering its proverbial bread are conservatives like Paul and they are trying to recapture that key demographic.
That was, in essence, the only difference in this debate. Everyone else still wants to keep our troops overseas. Everyone else is itching to go to war in Iran at the slightest provocation. Everyone else thinks it is up to the government and the Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy. Only Paul wants to bring our troops home, abolish the IRS, abolish the Federal Reserve, and slash our debt, spending and warring.
On the poll run by Fox News, where viewers can only vote once per cell phone number, the winner of the debate was, as always, Ron Paul.
Comments from New Haven Advocate
Very, very well put.
Thank you...
Mr. Maymin, I don't know if you wrote this article because you hate Fox or support Dr. Paul. Either way, it's a great article and I appreciate you writing/posting it.
Thanks again for the nice article.
Daniel / project100cars.com
If you think you are alone in supporting Ron Paul donate $10.00 on January 21st and be counted with the rest of America that says enough is enough. Change our foreign policy, stabilize our failing economy and dollar, plus bring our troops home from Iraq and support the capture of Osama bin Laden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAWClI8zsH4
I truly hope Ron Paul shows these fat cats what a real President can be like.
Let's help him continue the fight on 1/21:
www.FreeAtLast2008.com
Thank you so much. This article is the best , and most precise article ever written regarding Ron Paul and the Republican thugs he is running against. I am glad to see that there are some media outlets that are actually telling it like it is, and no sugar coating. I like it because Ron Paul doesn't sugar coat anything either, and he also tells it like it is, whether it is good or bad. Ron Paul has integrity, and principles & simply put the others do not and will never be like Ron Paul. Once again, thank you, and God Bless.
Ron Paul has my vote and support here in California.
http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/results/votes/index.html#1
Where is Dr. Paul among the candidates? The strategy of these guys appears to be to smear Dr. Paul with accusations of racism, exclude him from media coverage, call his views "fringe" and call his supporters "crazy."
It seems that many in the media have a real fight to pick with Dr. Paul. Are they scared that their vested interests may be in danger by his rising popularity?
Hopefully dedicated Journalists will make every effort to inform the public of Fox's information blackout and the hijacking of our constitutional right to free elections. I suspect that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Thanks again.
and so will Ron Paul!
power is in the CFR who uses the Fed Reserve as a tool .
To control the gov
This is America. I choose freedom and truth.
Most sincere thanks.
Ron Paul supporters are now after Paypall and Ebay because of the money blocked that is for the recount!
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Mr. Maymin, your question is valid and Rojer (above) is correct! Ron Paul's "fair & balanced" media coverage has been tremendously small or completely non-existent.
Besides the NY Times, it's also MSNBC omitting Dr. Paul after New Hampshire, like here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vHuDAqkfJoo
There are so many more in the Mainstream Media (MSM) who are complict in this way.... and I'm sure we could compile a laundry list of the guilty. So, with "reporting" as bad as this, my question to you is: How would the masses even know about Ron Paul?
Perhaps the most un-biased article I've ever read about Dr. Paul.
He is my hero and definately has my vote come the Kentucky Primary!!
Ron Paul has my vote in Utah.
If Ron Paul broke Fox News, they had it coming. The media bias is so blatant it's amazing. Time Magazine had an article on the 'candidates' a few weeks ago, and guess who they left out? That's right, Ron Paul.
The fact that most of the media outlets are owned by a handful of mega-corporations that make millions off the war cannot be stressed enough. Most of the so-called 'news' outlets have conflicts of interest.
Let's win this one, people.
http://freedomjoyadventure.blogspot.com
Ron Paul broke their backs.
I will be voting for RP in West Virginia and am an active duty Naval officer who used to be stationed in Groton, CT - currently in Norfolk, VA.
I will be voting for RP in West V
God Bless RP...and God help our country!
Folks!
Since I am boycotting Fox I don know this firsthand, but I have heard others say Fox has been declaring Fred 4th place today.
Even though Paul was 4th place in Michigan Primary.
Some even said they watched Russia's news today because they were the only ones reported the truth.
So the lies and propaganda continue.
Don't give up people! The truth WILL be heard once we have good journalists such as Phil start joining us. This is just the beginning!
People should continue to hurt fox, & all the major media outlets for the lack of respect for the "longshot" candidates.
"You did it! You did it!
You said that you would do it, and indeed you did!
Congratulations, Ron Paul supporters!" - My Fair Lady
Ron Paul supporters said in advance on all forums that if Ron Paul is not in the debate - the stock is going down!
And indeed it did!
And those people will not and never will see what is coming because this is not all about Ron Paul. It is a bottom up campaign from people that care about themselves and know they can no longer put up, live or even exist with something that is promoted by the status quo, all the other candidates that will not work and is destroying the future for all of us.
Ron Paul '08
Going back to their old tricks again is not an improvement.
PS I guess there will be NO more american idol or simpsons on my tv; this year; BAN Faux!
Powerful article, keep it up.
thank you for this "fair & balanced" article about Dr Paul. He may not be a perfect human being but his willingness, no not willingness - insistence, to speak the truth and his 20+ year voting record make him the only candidate I can vote for.
The future of my two children and my niece are more important to me than anything. Dr Paul is the only one that has an actual plan based on reality that can save the future for them.
Thanks again!
Mike from Toledo, OH
Reading over these responses, I am greatly heartened to see sooo many people with so much savy and awareness, to recognize what is actually happening here, and the courage to say so. It shows me that realistic hope for our future is alive and well.
Thank you all for being there and for communicating.
Our front lawns, in Clearwater, Florida are thick with Ron Paul signs from one end of town to the other.
The following 1991 David Rockefeller quote to the Trilateral Commission illustrates further the bias in the media:
?We are grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years.
?But, the work is now much more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries.?
Why isn?t this attitude and goal screaming at you from our ?independent? press? Because it?s not ?independent?, of course.
The No.1 enemy right NOW is first the treasonous politician's we have running America and our freedoms into the ground and destroying BOTH but no.2 enemy of our nation and freedoms is the Main Stream Media and even what they call so called "left gate keeper's" too! They are ALL left and right owned by same people! See this graph: http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/NWO/Regulated_Resistance.htm See the graph! IF ANYONE is STILL under the DISILLUSION WE STILL LIVE IN A DEMOCRACY, WAKE THE HELL UP! The MSM's job IS to defend our democracy and if it is compromised, and OUR's surely is, who will defend democracy and tell the people the TRUTH as to what is truly going on!? That is WHY they want to regulate the internet so much! It is last baston of what little freedom of speech and real info we have left! PLEASE SPREAD THIS VIDEO WIDELY AND FAST AND TELL ALL TO DEMAND A PAPER BALLOT AND ALSO DEMAND IT BE HAND COUNTED TOO AND TELL ALL TO SUPPORT RON PAUL TOO! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8U-k_g56RA Don't let a treasonous CFR member win the Presidentacy! These treasonous CFR members should be running from an angry patriotic mob for being traitor's to America and our freedoms, NOT running for President!!! Please spread this info widely as we MUST BECOME the MEDIA! IF you love America and don't want your freedom's destroyed from within spread this info widely! AND YES, ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE,ARE TREASONOUS TRAITOR'S IT IS FACT AND ALOT MORE IN CONGRESS AND ELSEWHERE TOO! THOUSANDS OF TREASONOUS CFR MEMBERS IN MILITARY, MEDIA AND ELSEWHERE! ALL TRAITORS!
well written article. Hit em were it hurts them people...their pocket books.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAWClI8zsH4
http://www.freeatlast2008.com/
And it's not even about Ron Paul as much as it is about the issues for which Ron Paul stands--issues on the minds and hearts of most Americans: bringing home our boys, stopping this empire building (warring) and getting the monkeys off the backs of the working people of our country.
America, Ron Paul. The sad part is the American Primaries and
General election is a fraud. The machines and the system are
rigged to produce a President that our current administration,
government and big business has already decided on.
Don't you think it's strange that when Ron Paul does get a chance to speak on national TV, be it debates, Leno, Letterman or anyplace else the applause is extremely loud. The majority of the internet polls show Ron Paul always winning. People are reporting and showing pictures of whole
towns and neighborhoods covered with Ron Paul signs.
It has the appearance that most/majority of Americans want
Ron Paul as President but he always finishes 3rd or less in
TV/newspaper polls and all the completed primaries. I find
that very strange. Maybe we have criminal acts in national
media and national voting primaries happening right before
our eyes. Now I'm wondering who will OR can stop these
things from continuing. What ever person or group that does
try to stop it from happening will find themselves in prison
or dead. I never thought I would feel this way much less put it in writing but right now I actually am fearful of posting this but did it anyway ....... America the land of the free.
I will be on the radio this morning, Friday, 1/18 talking about Ron Paul between 10:10 and 10:40am on WYBC" target="_blank">http://www.wybc.com">WYBC on Lisa Wexler's excellent show Live" target="_blank">http://www.livewithlisaradio.com/">Live with Lisa.
Feel free to listen and call in to talk about Dr. Paul. The call-in number is 203-562-1340.
Thanks,
Phil
Thank you everybody for your comments!
I will be on the radio this morning, Friday, 1/18 talking about Ron Paul between 10:10 and 10:40am on WYBC on Lisa Wexler's excellent show "Live with Lisa."
Feel free to listen and call in to talk about Dr. Paul. The call-in number is 203-562-1340.
Thanks,
Phil
Here are the links:
http://www.wybc.com
http://www.livewithlisaradio.com
Also, to Scott and others who want to read more of my work, it is all available at http://www.maymin.com
WYBC is at http://www.wybc.com and Live with Lisa is at http://www.livewithlisaradio.com and also the radio station is 1340 AM.
Phil
As for the other media, if they were to give him just half as much coverage as they give the other candidates, Ron Paul would be winning hands down, #1 all the way to the White House.
Bill Moyers at PBS did the most respectful, indepth interview of Ron Paul back in October. If this had been aired on "regular" television, Ron Paul would be the most beloved and respected man in the country. As it is now, we just have to work that much harder campaigning for him to make up for the shuns and negative coverage.
So again, really grateful for your article and I hope more reporters with integrity follow your example.
Ron Paul is the only President I want for 2008
Thank you.
I listened to your radio interview, good job. I did a radio interview myself back in October out here in California to try to raise awareness. I may try to get on again before the 5th, specifically I want to address the racism charges.
I uploaded the interview if anyone's interested:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3732689186318370112&hl=en
Fock Snooze!
Paul's support comes from liberals who want the drug laws changed, independants that want an end to the Iraq war, libertarian who are want individual constitutional rights restored and so on. Those groups together form a much larger group than the Republicans could ever hope to achive! Go Ron Paul!!!
write or stamp " vote for Ron Paul "on every bill in your wallet
quickest way to get hius word across the Globe
I am one of the millions who say, "You step on Ron Paul...you step on me! And I won't forget it!
Best,
Ron Ely
California
I am one of the millions who say, "You step on Ron Paul...you step on me! And I won't forget it!
Best,
Ron Ely
California
Letters to the Editor of Fairfield County Weekly
These are the letters to the editor about this column that the FCW published the following week:
Ron Paul is My Homeboy
Although not a supporter of Ron Paul's, I share Phil Maymin's concern about the exclusion of candidates by the media from any forum, a trend that has been escalating at every level for years [Maymin, Jan. 17].
Dennis Kucinich, another opponent of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, was similarly axed from a debate. The reasons given are always arbitrary.
The increasing power of the media and co-sponsoring organizations to gang up against dissident voices in any election undercuts the premise that democracy depends on a contest of ideas.
What is the value of the First Amendment guarantee of free speech mean when non-governmental forces pre-select for us the voices they deem worthy of tv, press or debate time?
Isn't it an outrage that money is the ticket to credibility? The press makes it so by reporting who raised what, just like weekend movie grosses. Then they compound the problem by focusing on personalities more than programs. Politics becomes a well-scripted soap opera or "reality" type show. Who will be eliminated next? And do we care? ("Breaking news on Britney next.")
Even the pundits' shameful miscalculation of the outcome in New Hampshire barely caused any of them to admit they know nothing and are out of touch with the people.
As I recall, these same people agree that we've reportedly lost interest in Iraq and now only care about the economy.
Have they at last no shame?
It's clear that both Republicans and Democrats (I'm neither) feel that their parties have been hijacked: Republicans by the radical right and Democrats by big- money interests.
Some day the grass-roots outrage (or maybe a big scandal) will force congress to insist on total public funding of all campaigns, together with free media. (Rumor is the public owns the air waves.) Let everyone have equal time over a limited period of time.
For those of you who are worried that hundreds of crazies will show up and consume the discussion, I can only say that the increasing alienation of large groups of people who feel the system is fixed and protest by not voting at all is my concern.
Yes, this idea is totally visionary because Big Media makes hundreds of millions off elections and will no doubt engage in extreme fighting before letting this happen.
Until then, let's support the right of all new parties (I refuse to call them "minor") to have their candidates participate in the process and let their voices and ideas be heard.
To Big Media, I say, "You inform; we'll decide."
Patricia Kane, Esq.
Stamford
*
I'm sure you will be getting a flood of email thanks to your well-written article on Dr. Paul. As a supporter I want only endorsements for my candidate, but I know that is not going to happen. As a citizen I am pleased that you have taken the time to write a well thought article on what, at the very least, is a unique phenomenon this election cycle and a genuine grass-roots campaign. I hope that you will continue to cover the election with fairness and intelligent analysis.
Steve Gonzales
Campbell, CA
*
Possibly the most damning thing you said (though you didn't intend it to be so) is the remark about how many words Ron Paul uttered in the last debate. I think the volume he can speak is a wonderful thing if he is giving a dissertation. However when one has 30 to 90 seconds to make his case, dissertations are out of order.
I love Ron Paul, his ideas and his voting record. I am invested up to my eyeballs in his campaign. However, I've spent plenty of time speaking in public. I understand his challenges. I am not sure he or anyone around him does.
Obama is only candidate who understands what it takes to connect with potential voters when he gives a speech or participates in a debate. Every one of Paul's ideas has a constituency. He has to connect Ma and Pa to the story—he's just rattling facts and Ma and Pa aren't able to connect the dots.
Look at the exit polls from Iowa, New Hampshire and Michigan. The young people more readily identify with him. His ideas and his record are at least as protective of mature and senior Americans, he's not resonating there. I would never want to see him back up on his belief system. He just needs to speak short concise sentences not rambling paragraphs—speak to the important issues. He doesn't need to conduct a college-level class on libertarianism.
Additionally, the next time that idiot Carl Cameron asks him some stupid 911 truther question, Paul needs to politely pick him up and thrash the stage with him. He's far too nice. When Giuliani snickers he needs to call him out on it: "Rudy, maybe 5,000 dead Americans is a laughing matter to you; to me it is a heart breaking tragedy. I think it is sad you can stand there and laugh about such a serious situation." I can 't imagine how man such as you, prone to such foolishness, feels like he is qualified to be president—particularly if you will be chuckling about sending another 5,000 Americans to die in Iraq." It would just take once.
Again this election cycle, the issue: The Economy stupid. Who has been more of a prophet on fed created booms and busts, destroying the middle class with our trade policies and Swiss cheese borders? He needs a communications consultant a speech writer. Thanks for the very well written and thought provoking piece.
Skip Cook
Little Rock
Record setting article
Quote from this week's edition of the New Haven Advocate:
It's for this reason that the most commented-on article in the history of NewHavenAdvocate.com was the "Did Ron Paul break Fox News?" piece from last week.
This is exactly what needed
This is exactly what needed to be done. The news channels need to see that we recognize their bias and that we will not continue to allow it. We did exactly what was necessary and hit them in their pockets, until there was a little bit of fairness. I hope that the spirit Ron Paul encouraged continues.