Ron Paul - The Existence of Ron Paul

Summary

During the 2008 and 2012 election cycles, the major news outlets and the Democratic and Republican parties put forth a concerted effort to ensure that Congressman Paul's name was not mentioned in the news in any manner. This page covers a number of examples demonstrating that fact. If you have new suggestions, please leave them in the comments along with a link to the items.

CBS Poll 1

On November 12, 2011 CBS hosted what it called the "Commander in Chief debate" focusing on foreign policy and held in South Carolina. During that debate, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas was allowed to speak for only 89 seconds and Congresswoman Bachmann of Minnesota spoke for only a few minutes. Other candidates, such as Herman Cain, Govenor Mitt Romney, and Governor Ron Perry spoke for much longer.

Prior to the debate, CBS News's political director John Dickerson accidentally copied Congresswoman Bachmann's Communications Director on an email stating that he would rather have someone else in the post debate interview as Congresswoman Bachmann was not going to receive many questions in the debate.

An independent blogger also monitored a pre-debate and post debate poll and found that CBS removed the poll when it was clear that Congressman Paul was the winner and then reported the other candidates as the winners. After the debate, the poll was restores with Congressman Paul as the winner. A separate CBS television reporter referenced the poll and left Congressman Paul out, claiming that Herman Cain was leading with 18% (Congressman Paul was at 28%).

CBS Poll 2

On January 9, 2012 CBS discussed a number of polls to predict the outcome of the New Hampshire primary which was to take place the following day. In showing the poll, CBS showed the top 4 candidates with the exception of Ron Paul who was predicted to win roughly 22%. Instead, the poll showed Romney at 43% followed by Gingrich, Huntsman, and Santorum, who all were polling in single digits. In the final results for the actual New Hampshire primary, Romney got 39% and Paul got 24%.

Summary

On November 12, 2011 CBS hosted what it called the "Commander in Chief debate" focusing on foreign policy and held in South Carolina. During that debate, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas was allowed to speak for only 89 seconds and Congresswoman Bachmann of Minnesota spoke for only a few minutes. Other candidates, such as Herman Cain, Govenor Mitt Romney, and Governor Ron Perry spoke for much longer. 

Prior to the debate, CBS News's political director John Dickerson accidentally copied Congresswoman Bachmann's Communications Director on an email stating that he would rather have someone else in the post debate interview as Congresswoman Bachmann was not going to receive many questions in the debate.

An independent blogger also monitored a pre-debate and post debate poll and found that CBS removed the poll when it was clear that Congressman Paul was the winner and then reported the other candidates as the winners. After the debate, the poll was restores with Congressman Paul as the winner. A separate CBS television reporter referenced the poll and left Congressman Paul out, claiming that Herman Cain was leading with 18% (Congressman Paul was at 28%).

Letter for Bachmann Staff

The night before the debate, CBS News’s political director John Dickerson sent an email to other CBS news personnel stating that he would prefer to have someone else in the post debate interview. The email stated that Congresswoman Bachmann was “not going to get many questions” in the debate and that “she’s nearly off the charts” — an apparent reference to her low standing in many polls.

When Mr Dickerson sent the email, he accidentially hit "Reply to All" and copied Congresswoman Bachmann's Communications Director on the email. Keith Nahigian, Congresswoman Bachmann’s campaign manager wrote in an e-mail to supporters stating the following:

Last night, as Michele prepared her plans to debate on CBS, we received concrete evidence confirming what every conservative already knows — the liberal mainstream media elites are manipulating the Republican debates by purposely suppressing our conservative message

CBS Debate

The debate held by CBS was scheduled to focus on foreign policy only. It was held in South Carolina and hosted all eight of the major Republican candidates. The full debate can be seen here. During the debate, Congressman Paul spoke only 89 seconds.

CBS Online Poll

An independent person with the youtube id of DanielCherrier1 voted in a CBS online poll prior to the debate and noticed that it disappeared after Congressman Paul was the clear front runner. He took screenshots of the poll at 6:25pm and 8:16pm and the poll showed Congressman Paul at roughly 29% and 28%. Not long after that, the poll went offline and he took another screen capture. After the debate, the same poll reappeared and showed the same percentages but with the question of who won the debate.

Alex Jones's Infowars.com ran a story on the poll and some of the screenshots below are taken from that story.

6:25pm Screenshot

8:16pm Screenshot

Cancelled Poll Screenshot

Post-Debate Screenshot

CBS News Broadcast

The Alex Jones show covered the scandal and showed video of a CBS news broadcast prior to the debate showing the anchor person referencing the poll and claiming that Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich were leading the poll.

A CBS News Poll released just before the debate showed that Cain was leading the pack with 18%. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were tied for second with 15%. (2:29 in video)

Summary

On January 9, 2012 CBS discussed a number of polls to predict the outcome of the New Hampshire primary which was to take place the following day. In showing the poll, CBS showed the top 4 candidates with the exception of Ron Paul who was predicted to win roughly 22%. Instead, the poll showed Romney at 43% followed by Gingrich, Huntsman, and Santorum, who all were polling in single digits. In the final results for the actual New Hampshire primary, Romney got 39% and Paul got 24%.