NEW YORK (PNN) - August 15, 2011 - Ron Paul finished just 152 votes behind Michele Bachmann in the Ames Straw Poll, but from the headlines and TV news coverage, it’s hard to tell he even showed up.
With the exception of The New York Times and The Des Moines Register, most major newspaper headlines didn’t even mention his name in their reports of Saturday’s contest. Nor was he anywhere to be found on the Sunday morning talk shows.
By Monday’s second-day stories, Paul had disappeared from the prevailing narrative of the Republican primary race altogether, as consensus coalesced around the dynamics between Bachmann, newcomer Rick Perry, and media-declared front-runner Mitt Romney.
“We are certainly disappointed, and we think that people are missing a very big story here,” said Jesse Benton, Paul’s campaign manager. “You look at ’07, and Mike Huckabee was able to turn what was a very weak second place - Mitt Romney had 4,516 votes and Huckabee had 2,587 - into a huge national story.”
The Texas congressman’s campaign and supporters blame the curious lack of coverage on mainstream media’s bias. Though some charge this bias is of the typical liberal variety, most complain it is more of a bias against anyone the media consider an unelectable candidate.
Thousands of highly motivated, very wired Paul supporters have been letting media know their displeasure in no uncertain terms - sending emails to reporters, filling comments sections below columns, and even leaving messages on the voicemails of “experts” quoted in stories they don’t like.
From the perspective of the campaign - which emphasizes it has nothing to do with the independent online activities of Paul’s supporters - the greatest disappointment lies with television media.
“We were turned down by all the Sunday talk shows, including Fox News Sunday, which promised us an interview,” said Benton. “We were turned down by all the shows today.”
