http://www.usadaily.com/article.cfm?articleID=155392 Fox News and Iowa GOP accused of censoring Ron Paul Marty Eels Published 11/08/2007 - 9:38 a.m. EDT The same day that Ron Paul made presidential fund raising history, the Iowa GOP announced that its December 4th Republican Debate in Des Moines Iowa to be aired by Fox News, would only include candidates polling at least 5% in presidential polls. The move by the Iowa GOP and Fox News to exclude candidates based on polls at this early stage of the presidential race has outraged Ron Paul supporters and may provoke a large demonstration at the site of the debate. Paul supporters feel the move is a deliberate attempt to censor Ron Paul from the debate. Messages of outrage have been posted on websites and are spreading by email about the debate. At the current pace of fund raising it is possible that Ron Paul may end up with more cash on hand at the end of the quarter than any of the other candidates running in the Republican primary. The accuracy and legitimacy of presidential polls has become increasingly scrutinized, especially after Ron Paulâs recent display of fund raising strength raising a record 4.2 million from 36,000 donors in a day. Ron Paul also consistently draws large crowds at his events yet does not register high in polls. Ironically, according to Google Trends, Ron Paulâs name is actually searched more than Fox News is now. There is a growing concern among Paul supporters that corporate media outlets are attempting to manipulate the presidential election. CNN noted that from August 2006 to August 2007 Ron Paulâs name was mentioned on Cable and TV news shows only 4,695 times while John McCain was referenced 95,005 times. Paulâs enormous success despite such scant coverage is startling. Despite a lot of free media coverage, McCainâs campaign has very little money to be competitive at this time, yet polls show him with more support than his fund raising efforts would indicate. John McCain said he looked forward to smaller debates to Larry King back in August. FCC laws exclude broadcast networks from equal time requirements for breaking news and debates. Many felt that the changes in the laws were designed to keep Buchanan and Nader out of the general election debates in the 2000 election. The 5% rule would also exclude Hunter, and Tancredo
I expect this from MSNBC and CNN but Fox News? What an outrage and betrayal. Frankly, the only three who have done anything for me are Paul, Hunter and of course Tancredo. At least now the "major" candidates won't be bothered by arguments on that pesky immigration issue or ponder the fact that the Iraq war may not have been the greatest idea. What we see here is the Republican Party establishment closing ranks. Expect to hear more of the Hannity-type arguments that we are disloyal if we don't support anyone, no matter how liberal, running against Hillary. I don't think that argument wins anymore, not after the Bush fiasco. Why should we ditch our principles so a few republican lobbyists can continue to make tons of money?
Update on Iowa Fox News Debate Marty Eels Published 11/08/2007 - 4:04 p.m. EDT USA Daily has learned that Ron Paul has met the Iowa GOP Debate polling threshold for the debate scheduled for November 4th to be televised on Fox News. Supporters of Paul contacted USA Daily complaining about the polling threshold earlier today saying it was an attempt to censor Ron Paul. One of the criteria for the debate was that a candidate must have 5% either nationally or within Iowa. It has since been discovered that Paul has met the polling threshold with in the state of Iowa at this time. While the original story was correct in that there were complaints that Paul was being censored by Fox News and the Iowa GOP, we pulled the story since those complaints of censorship were not accurate.