What does Ron Paul have to do to get some respect?

[BlackFox]

This makes 2 debates in a row that Ron Paul has clearly won the polling following a Republican debate, yet he can't even get a mention by the national media. Man tells it like it is, and I think the people are responding, but the media ignores.

[ScarlettP]

Who's Ron Paul?

[BlackFox]

In fairness, because it was a Republican debate, I checked Foxnews' poll and Ron Paul was 2nd to Romney, but still far ahead of Gulianni, and light years ahead of McCain.

[BlackFox]

scarlettp said:

Who's Ron Paul?

That's the problem. The man clearly won the first debate, and either won or came in second in the second debate, but no one will take him seriously.
Google him. You'll like what you see.

[gridbug]

Who's Ron Paul?

That was my first thought too! (The second was maybe you meant Rue Paul, but I doubt she is a republican)

You definitely have a point there blackfox.

[BlackFox]

I'm not going to lie. I mainly like him because even though he's a Republican(really he's a Libertarian), he wants to end the Drug War. He's a strict constitutionalist.
Did I mention he wants to end the Drug War?

[Deleted]

Mein Gott! There's hope for the bloated elephant party?!?

[Homebrew Dave]

Ok I like that he's a strict constitutionalist and that he wants to end the war on drugs. But, obviously, he doesn't have name recognition. I'm still hoping for Fred Thompson to throw his hat into the ring.


Dave

[BlackFox]

In my opinion, he's the only guy out there from either party who has not been bought, and that says alot. I honestly think his message is beginning to resonate at the same time that people are discovering the total fakery of the other candidates.
He says what he believes, even if it's unpopular. You wont see ANY other candidate do that.

[stray]

Isn't he that guy with the slight speech impediment that delivers traffic reports on local radio?

[theacorn]

Of the ten Republicans, I like Duncan Hunter, myself.

www.gohunter08.com

[professor]

I like Ron Paul a lot! I will be voting for him. He's a libertarian in Republican clothing. The answer to a lot of your questions is that he doesn't have big $ behind him or party support. Sure he'll have a lot of libertarian support but not the heavy hitters like the others have. Also he doesn't have the name recognition.

www.youtube.com/profile?user=RonPaul2008dotcom

[traveler]

Did anyone actually see him in the debates last night? Ron Paul is going down in flames.

He actually blamed 9/11 on ten years of "bombing" Iraq. Giuliani chastised him for his comment and asked for a retraction to which Paul did nothing but stumble all over himself. He came across as a real nutcase.

Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, jumped in to object after Texas Representative Ron Paul, 71, suggested the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 were precipitated by American interventions in the Middle East.

``That's an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of Sept. 11, that we invited the attack,'' Giuliani, 62, said during the debate in Columbia, South Carolina. ``I don't think I've ever heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for Sept. 11.''

Giuliani's statement, which drew applause from the crowd, came after the Republican frontrunner defended himself from attacks from some of the second-tier candidates for his support of abortion rights.

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=ayk0Xg2XaAdk&refer=politics

[SunnyKC]

Anyone see the feud between Fred Thompson aned Michael Moore?

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,272558,00.html

[Dreamwebber]

Traveler...what did he say that was wrong? our interventions in the middle east and especially our support for Israel are some of the major reasons that terrorists do hate us. If your quote of him is accurate (I didn't see the debate)

he said, "the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 were precipitated by American interventions in the Middle East."


Was there actually a quote from him stating He actually blamed 9/11 on ten years of "bombing" Iraq?
If so, I would agree with you because I don't see any linkage between Sept 11th and Iraq.

I do agree with Paul's libertarian side he is known to say some quirky stuff from time to time but, who doesn't. Besides if he is getting that much ratings in the Republican polls after the debates....it just shows even more how out of touch the Repub party is with the American people...and especially the Repubs themselves.

[traveler]

Well, first of all, Paul is not getting any attention with Republican polling. This is only referencing the call in numbers. Paul is not even registering on any scientific polling being done.

Paul is not a bad guy but he came across really badly last night....and yes, he blamed the 9/11 attacks on US intervention policies and a ten year bombing run of Iraq. When given a chance to clarify, he really looked bad.

RON PAUL

"Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us? They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We've been in the Middle East _ I think Reagan was right. We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics. "

[BlackFox]

traveler said:

Well, first of all, Paul is not getting any attention with Republican polling. This is only referencing the call in numbers. Paul is not even registering on any scientific polling being done.

Paul is not a bad guy but he came across really badly last night....and yes, he blamed the 9/11 attacks on US intervention policies and a ten year bombing run of Iraq. When given a chance to clarify, he really looked bad.

RON PAUL


"Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us? They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We've been in the Middle East _ I think Reagan was right. We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics. "

Why do you think they bombed us on 9/11? Because we are free, as GWB says? Or because we're not Muslim? No, the reason they attacked us is exactly what he said. "Our interventionist policies in the M.E." He simply used the bombing of Iraq as an example. There are many, as you know.
By the way, the reason he is not getting any polling numbers is because most of the time, maybe all of the time, they don't include his name.

[BlackFox]

Example

www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/republican_presidential_nomination-192.html#polls

[traveler]

By the way, the reason he is not getting any polling numbers is because most of the time, maybe all of the time, they don't include his name.

Actually, his name is not included on the summary list but if you click on the polling links themselves you will find his name on most, if not all of them, but he registers at less than one percent.

But, the bottom line is perception. He in no way looked Presidential last night and the clip of him stumbling all over himself is what will be remembered.

He is done.

The explanation for the reasons of 9/11 attacks cannot be reduced to a soundbite. They are multi-faceted and cross centuries of time.

[gridbug]

The explanation for the reasons of 9/11 attacks cannot be reduced to a soundbite.

Of course it can - Saddam did it!

It may not be accurate, but it is a soundbite

[Justin Thyme]

The explanation for the reasons of 9/11 attacks cannot be reduced to a soundbite. They are multi-faceted and cross centuries of time.

And that may be good enough reason alone to vote for Mr. Paul.

I wish all politicians would refuse to speak in soundbites, maybe that would stretch the news media to actually do some in depth coverage of the issues and how the various politicians really stand on them.

BTW, there was a FairTax rally and march last night in Columbia that had between 8,000 and 9,000 participants. Have you heard anything about it?

Neither have I. Tax reform is an issue that is important to the voters but the politicians don't want to tackle it and the news media can't figure out how to explain it in a soundbite. Let's just stick to the issues that the politicians want to market to us.

[traveler]

Tax reform is an issue that is important to the voters

It is important to a very small number of voters, relative to other issues. Kinda like abortion in that regard.

It will likely not become much of an issue as long as the economy is growing and inflation and unemployment numbers remain relatively low and steady.

[gridbug]

It isn't a lack of interest that will kill the Fair Tax. It is more because those that make the tax laws are not about to legislate themselves out of a job.

[Justin Thyme]

It is important to a very small number of voters, relative to other issues. Kinda like abortion in that regard.

More than 8,000 people demonstrate outside of a presidential primary debate and this isn't an important issue? There were only a handful of war protesters at that debate.

[traveler]

Don't misunderstand. I am all for a consumption based taxation but the current system is not perceived to be broken enough for it to become a major issue, that is all.

Eight thousand people showing up to protest at a "national" debate does not seem like much of a showing in a country with almost three hundred million people.

[Justin Thyme]

You were talking about the importance of the tax reform issue relative to other issues. Last night you had a handful of war protesters v. >8,000 tax reform protesters at a "national" debate. Based on the turn out of protesters, relatively speaking, which issue would you think was of greater importance to the voters?

[daworm]

It isn't what is important to the voters that gets coverage. It is what is important to the media that gets coverage. Whether any particular outlet caters to the dems or the pubs, it is not in their best interests to cover anything even close to a libertarian topic.

[Justin Thyme]

Oh, I got this email from Ron Paul a while back in response to my asking him about his positon on the FairTax. I thought I'd include it in here for those of you with any interest in Ron Paul's stand on the issues.

Dear Mr. Thyme:

Thank you for contacting my office regarding the FAIR TAX. I agree with you that massive tax reform is needed in this country. More specifically, I agree with the provisions of the FAIR TAX which repeal income, payroll, and estate taxes.

As you may know, it’s not easy for me to advocate any new tax! However, I certainly think a sales tax is better than an income tax- PROVIDED the income tax is truly eliminated. I would hate to see America end up with both a national sales tax and an income tax, much like socialist European countries.

However, the real key to tax reform is dramatically reduced spending by the federal government. Until the government spends far less, taxes (in whatever form) will remain too high. While I certainly support eliminating the income tax, I do not want to see it replaced with a high national sales tax which attempts to collect the same amount of revenue. Spending is the real problem.

Please understand that we share wide areas of agreement on tax issues. I will continue to consider the Americans for Fair Taxation plan. Proponents of real tax reform (whether they support a national sales tax, flat tax, or other plan) must unite in their efforts to eliminate the present unworkable income tax structure.

Sincerely,

Ron Paul

So Ron Paul isn't an ardent supporter of the FairTax but he sure likes it better than our current system

[traveler]

You were talking about the importance of the tax reform issue relative to other issues. Last night you had a handful of war protesters v. >8,000 tax reform protesters at a "national" debate. Based on the turn out of protesters, relatively speaking, which issue would you think was of greater importance to the voters?

The war issue is already at the top of the list. One cannot judge the relative importance of an issue by the numbers showing up at one event.

Tax reform does not show up on the radar in most polling....that is where the relative importance can be measured.

[Justin Thyme]

Do you think that at least a mention of that many protesters showing up at a national debate should be worthy of mention in, at least, the local paper? I would think there would be some mention of it on CNN or HNN. I haven't found it.

Issues become issues because they are brought out and talked about. I contend that both major parties make an effort to talk up the issues they want to address so that they control what will be the major issues. If tax reform is ignored by the politicians that has the effect of dampening the enthusiasm the news media has for bringing up the subject. They can get much better soundbites so much easier by staying on the issues that the politicians are forcing on us.