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Ron Paul Slighted by "Conservative" Media Once Again
by Jack Cook, unknown
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October 22, 2007
Jack Cook
www.austinelwood.com
Last night the Republican Party and Fox News sponsored a debate of top GOP candidates in Orlando, Florida. As usual, most of the questions and airtime were devoted to the favorites, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Senator John McCain (R-AZ).
Surprisingly however, Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX) was given a bit more attention than in previous debates. Immediately after the debate, Fox News editorialists Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes hosted a commentary special from the self-titled "Spin Room" at the Shingle Creek Resort. As in previous debates, Fox News held a text message based poll asking who won the debate. When Colmes began to read the first preliminary results showing Paul in a huge lead, Hannity immediately interjected stating that Ron Paul supporters had, "stacked the deck." If this is the case, why is Congressman Paul the only candidate with people willing to vote repeatedly and skew the results? Perhaps this is because the other candidates fail to inspire such motivation.
This isn't the first time such comments have been made. At the first debate hosted by Fox News on September 5th, Hannity was taken aback when the results went the same way. His so-called counterpart, Alan Colmes, made no mention of this or its possible meaning to the Republican Party, and Fox News viewers in general.
Hannity and Colmes spoke with several of the candidates, including Ron Paul, after the debate. Paul defended his standings in the poll and responded by saying Hannity was questioning the accuracy of his own networks poll. When Hannity asked Paul why he scores so low in other national polls, he stated that this was because most polls don't even include his name.
Conservatism and the Republican Party used to stand for the ideals of small government and personal liberties. Paul, a self-described "Constitutionalist" embraces this by opposing the Federal Reserve, the War on Drugs and the War in Iraq. The media consistently disregards him as a joke while pushing for more government spending and further aggression in the Middle East.
Paul was questioned about the current crisis regarding social security. The other candidates offered little more than party line rhetoric and failed to give precise answers. While Ron Paul responded by stating that with the with value of the United States Dollar falling everyday, the social security system cannot be repaired, whether privatized or not, and that is the real issue that should be addressed. When Dr. Paul was asked a question regarding the need for military involvement in Iran, he answered by stating that the United States has much bigger problems to worry about here at home. This was greeted with jeers from the audience.
Though Paul was winning well into the first half hour of polling, he ended up in second place with 25%, only 4 points behind the winner, Mitt Romney with 29%. Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore and Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson tied for last place with 0%.
Jack Cook is part of the management team for a large financial institution in Austin, TX. In his spare time, Jack owns and operates AustinElwood.com.
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