Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
When It Comes To Ron Paul News, Spin Is King The Associated Press manages to latch onto the most negative possible angles in every Ron Paul story... If 40,000 had shown up in Austin, would AP have still spun the event as a "failure?" Fortunately, facts are hard to hide!by creator
(Libertarian)
Monday, February 25, 2008
On Saturday Ron Paul appeared on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, where Grammy-winning blues guitarist Jimmy Vaughn resoundingly endorsed him. Dr. Paul then addressed an enthusiastic crowd of 4,000 supporters, while a grassroots-funded aircraft flew overhead towing a large Ron Paul banner.
News reporters and "average Joes" alike wrote reports. Perhaps more interesting than the event itself, and the substantial crowd that it drew, were the radically different stories published about it. While there was only one event, one set of facts, the reports illustrate wildly different "spins." Compare, for example, these two stories:
April Castro, reporting for the Associated Press titled her article "Paul says he won't try to run as an independent." The negative title is not news, but rather a fact widely reported and well known for many months. Her lead-in to the article begins:
"Acknowledging his imminent failure, maverick Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Saturday that he won't get back into the race for the White House as an independent candidate once a GOP nominee is solidified."
Could she have packed her first paragraph with more negative observations and allusions? Castro did manage to include some other positive facts and distinctives about Dr. Paul later in her story, but pushed them down towards the end, far past the point where many news browsers have already stopped reading.
In contrast, Patrick George, staff writer for the Austin American-Statesman was considerably more balanced in his report. The title of his piece is "Paul says he'll stay in race, not run as an independent," positively emphasizing Ron Paul's commitment. The lead-in reads:
"As long as the supporters keep increasing and the cash keeps rolling in, Ron Paul won't give up his run for president."
Thank you, Mr. George, for handling this story better than the "average pundit!" I hope you've considered submitting your work to AP? They clearly need your help! Patrick George went on to say of Dr. Paul:
"He's been particularly popular in Austin, about 200 miles from his home in Lake Jackson. "Ron Paul" signs, bumper stickers, T-shirts and billboards have sprouted in abundance in the past year."
George also reported the supporter-funded plane flying overhead, towing a large "Ron Paul Revolution" banner.
Despite the differences, neither of these articles mention that Jimmy Vaughn, noted singer and award-winning blues guitarist, was at the rally where he explicitly endorsed Dr. Paul. Both articles include information about Ron Paul trailing McCain and Huckabee, but the language used to describe those facts is also "spun" differently.
Finally, here's another, positively presented article from Lew Rockwell in which Rick Fisk reports his experience at the rally. The title is "Ron Paul the Rock Star." Rick is a supporter of Ron Paul, and his short but enthusiastic report does mention Vaughn's endorsement.
The facts of the case are clear: Ron Paul has garnered vastly impressive and arguably amazing support for his national presidential campaign, especially considering the generally shoddy media reporting or, more often, lack of reporting. He has raised tens of millions of dollars from hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic supporters. His support continues to grow despite setbacks and the sometimes discouraging outlook for the present campaign.
Where ever he appears, Ron Paul continues to draw large crowds, approaching the size of highly-publicized Hillary Clinton and significant fractions of the size of "Oprah-charged" Barack Obama. Paul's crowds are far larger than Mike Huckabee's, who seems to draw in the 500-700 range at times, and putative "front-runner" John McCain's, who often seems to have more sycophants on stage than in the crowd itself.
How can Ron Paul, who drew a Texas crowd of 4,000 people in spite of media disrespect, be so easily dismissed? The bottom line, perhaps, is that Ron Paul is running the only campaign of substance, a campaign that offers real solutions to America's pressing problems, not the hyped and spun empty promises of "change."
I point these things out for your sober consideration. When it comes to media "reporting" on Ron Paul, "spin" is everything. But what is the real news? Ron Paul has not left the race. He is going to be at the Republican national convention, God willing. Just remember this: Ron Paul is the man the media said would be long gone, long ago. Yet after eight other "front runners" have dropped out of the race, Ron Paul persists. Will Ron Paul become the ultimate "comeback kid?" Don't write Ron Paul off yet!
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2008 creator, all rights reserved.
Published: Monday, February 25, 2008
Last modified: Monday, February 25, 2008
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April Castro is one of those dumbed down yuppies who enjoys having their dollar's value cut in half in 5 years, and relishes in the fact that none of the mainline CFR candidates will even address this issue, or indeed any other real issue. This election is going to be about gay rights, abortion, stem cells, and not drilling in alaska. The only interesting part about it is how they're going to keep this economy floating long enough for any non-CFR 3rd party candidate to not have a chance to organize.
Posted By: Joseph Muhvic
Date: 2008-02-25 16:55:47
It's the same people with sports game mentalities that are ruining this country. We have got to stop basing our decisions on who can win just because we want to feel good and show everyone that we can pick a winner. This is not a game folks, this is a serious decision with dire consequences if we keep getting it wrong as we have been with this two party monopoly. When voting, we need to simply remove the party labels and go into it by listening to the message, that my friends is what Ron Paul supporters are doing, just listening.
Isn’t it obvious how the establishment elite are fragmenting our ability to unite in our efforts by making this presidential election about race, gender, religion and party? We need to look past our differences and simply focus on the candidate’s message. We need to be united in our efforts to beat these criminal thugs.
Moreover, I wish there was a way to send everybody in this country the 4 part video about his book called “The Late Great USA” by Dr. Jerome Corsi. If you would like, you can watch the video on YouTube by simply searching for “The Late Great USA”. Maybe after viewing this video, people will realize why we need Ron Paul for President. WAKE UP AMERICA!
Ron Paul knows what's going on. He sees his already massive amount of supporters growing instead of shrinking. He realizes "anything can happen" between now and the election and that his supporters believe in miracles.
I believe in miracles because I believe in Ron Paul -- who is a miracle in and of himself.
I'm no quitter and neither is Ron Paul. Onward March and Pray for Miracles!
Posted By: patrick henry
Date: 2008-02-26 09:34:52
The time to exercise the 2nd Amendment may be upon us sooner than later, change now peaceably with the right vote or it might not work out so well the next time around.
LIBERTY or DEATH
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2008 creator, all rights reserved.