Hey, Mainstream Media! Is Ron Paul Getting a Fair Shake?

First, let’s start by saying that LME endorses no GOP candidate. We feel, simply put, that any of the current GOP candidates would be a better option than Barack Obama. This article is neither an endorsement of nor a recommendation for Ron Paul. It is merely a look at the candidate and how the media is handling him.

With that, let’s cover some basic facts. Ron Paul is educated. He is a medical doctor and has practiced privately and for the military as a flight surgeon. Ron Paul is a family man. He has been married to his wife Carolyn for 54 years. He has five children, and he is routinely accompanied by his grandchildren. Ron Paul is a man of God. He has been a Christian his entire life. 


Now that the non-political personal stuff is out of the way, let’s get down to Ron Paul as a presidential candidate. Love him or hate him, there is one indisputable fact that any friend or foe of Ron Paul can’t ignore: Ron Paul sticks by the Constitution. Period. This shouldn’t be news to anyone, and this obviously puts him at odds with those on the left that believe the Constitution is a “living,” ever-changing document. But make no mistake; Ron Paul uses the Constitution as the foundation of his political beliefs. Paul is such a believer in constitutional precedent that even though he is staunchly pro-life, he routinely cites the Ninth and Tenth Amendment in stating that maternal and fetal health is a states’ rights issue. His disdain for Roe v. Wade is not a pro-life vs. pro-choice matter; in Paul’s view, it’s about preserving the Constitution and its protection of states’ rights. His respect for Constitutional and legal precedent hasn’t always put him in a favorable light with republicans, either. He did not support the Patriot act and has been the voice of congressional authority of wartime conflicts. He has opposed U.S. involvement in armed conflicts in the Middle East and has repeated claimed that the proper way to wage a war is to have Congress declare it as stated in the Constitution. 


Economically, Ron Paul is a true student of the Adam Smith School of Economics. He firmly believes that the size of the federal government should be decreased drastically. He regularly votes against virtually any proposal he feels would be an unauthorized use of taxpayer money, and he believes that the federal government should be restricted to only congressionally authorized functions. Ron Paul vehemently opposes the Federal Reserve and, not surprisingly, states that the Constitution does not authorize it. 


I can go on about Ron Paul’s positions but I won’t. His positions shouldn’t be news to his freedom-loving supporters. I am simply stating some of his positions to make my original point crystal clear: Ron Paul sticks by the Constitution. Period. Any American should find Ron Paul’s adherence to the Constitution admirable regardless their political ideology. I feel that his use and interpretation of the Constitution is exactly what our forefathers envisioned. They sought to establish a basic rule of law from which all government acts would be derived, and Ron Paul has adhered to that perhaps better than any elected official in the past 100 years. 


So, why does it seem that Ron Paul doesn’t get a fair shake in the media? Let’s see if I understand this. 

Again, I must say: this blog does not formally endorse or discount any GOP candidate. But let’s see if I have this correct (I’m sure Paulites will correct my discrepancies):

•  Ron Paul is a defender of the Constitution. He applies a Constitutionality check to everything he does in politics. Love him or hate him, how can someone dislike a politician that defends the Constitution as Ron Paul has? This should be any public official’s main premise. Ron Paul does it to a “T.”
• Ron Paul has a strong following:
• Youthful voters tend to love Ron Paul:
•  He currently has 600k + Facebook followers. That’s more than Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain combined.
• His Twitter page is followed almost as closely as Mitt Romney’s
• Scandals, what scandals? Can someone name any?
• He defends FREEDOM. He wants the government’s power minimized and personal freedoms maximized. How does this not strike a chord with any American?
• He wants the government’s hand out of our wallets.
• He is ridiculously smart.
• Flip-flops? See: “Scandal, what scandals?” Ron Paul’s voting record speaks for itself.
• He dislikes war.
• Though he is Christian, he strongly opposes the government imposing religion on its citizens.
• He routinely does well in local (mainly straw) polls.

So... what gives? Why no air time? Why no headlines? Why is it that during the GOP debates Ron Paul is way off to the left or right near Rick Santorum (no offense to Rick Santorum fans, but according to nearly every recent poll, he virtually has no support) even though recent Iowa polls show him near the top of the field? When was the last time you saw Paul’s name on CNN.com or FoxNews.com. Yahoo? ABC? Anybody? Can someone even provide one link to an article about Ron Paul?

The generic media apathy for Ron Paul is disgusting. When Barack Obama began running for president, he was barely known. He barely had positions. He was in public office for hardly a year and the media grabbed him and made him an instant celebrity. Argh.

What is the media afraid of? Here is a Constitution defending, small government, low taxes, anti-war, squeaky clean, scandal free, well educated, highly experienced presidential candidate with a strong, freedom-loving following and he is getting virtually NO press time? In LME’s Welcome post, we state that one of the reasons our blog exists is to give people an opportunity to see “the liberal media and its ostentatious bias exposed.” This article is a prime example if that. I would LOVE to see the media’s response to this.

With all this, we post the question: Is this right? Fair? What can people do about it? LME has said that taking to the blogosphere (of course this is a plug for our blog :-) ) is one of the best ways to get around the mainstream media. If there is a traffic jam in front of you, you take an alternate route. LME is an example of that alternate route. What do you think?