The end of the line is near for the fringe candidates:
Fox, meanwhile, has invited five GOP candidates to a forum with Chris Wallace scheduled for its mobile studio in New Hampshire on Sunday. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee received invites, leaving Paul of Texas and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California on the sidelines.
Some livid Paul supporters are distributing e-mails calling for a boycott of Fox advertisers.
The mouse that roared…
Update:
Most candidates never get near a single major media debate.
Others Blogging:
Digger’s Realm
I’d like to take this moment to thank the media for restricting the American people’s choices as to who they select to be president. Isn’t there a law about “equal time” and haven’t these media businesses just said they’re going to ignore that law because “they don’t have room on their bus”? Well if they don’t have room for all the candidates, don’t host the debate at all. Let some other reputable media source (oxymoron I know) host the debates instead.
Politico
Already, blogs are alive with cries of “censorship” from Paul’s vocal and prolific followers.
Outside the Beltway
While I don’t think he can win, it’s hard to justify keeping him out of the debates at this early stage of the campaign. At some point, though, the networks are justified in narrowing the field to only the most viable candidates. Whatever value protest candidates might have in bringing light to fringe issues and viewpoints, the point of these “debates” is to help voters chose among the available choices.
Lew Rockwell
The unitary media, which–as Butler Shaffer notes–is part of the ruling regime, regrets ever having Ron Paul in their debates, and they’d like to eliminate him now. However, the results in Iowa will not allow them to do it.
The Carpetbagger Report
After having watched every major debate for both parties’ presidential candidates, I can certainly understand the temptation on the part of organizers to limit participants. The more candidates on the stage, the greater the need for shorter answers and fewer questions. Having said that, this just isn’t kosher.
Tennessee Guerilla Women
Bill O’Reilly, Shepard Smith, Neil Cavuto and Brit Hume are beginning to feel the cyber wrath of the Paulites.
Below the Beltway
The Paul campaign will no doubt stir up some noise over the coming weeks, but it simply isn’t realistic to expect that he will win the Republican nomination for President — anymore than it was realistic to think that when he started this campaign.
Top of The Ticket
The mainstream media — or msm — are a particular target of Paul’s vociferous followers, an eclectic mix of libertarians and disaffected Republicans, Democrats and, until now, non-voters. Outspoken to say the least, they disregard stories like this one and this one and this one and this one and this one and this one. They believe that major newspapers and broadcast networks have conspired to pay insufficient attention to Dr. Paul, a 72-year-old ob-gyn and 10-term House member, citing his low numbers in polls, which Paulites believe are self-fulfilling frauds designed to cause voters to invest their votes in more traditional candidates with a seemingly more realistic chance of winning.
Hutch Report
Maybe this latest snub by Fox News and potentially ABC television will finally jar Ron Paul loose from the GOP and jump start his Independent candidacy for President where he will at least have a fair chance at success.
Mike the Actuary’s Musings
Early on in the process, it does make sense to have all the contenders on stage, because with that many candidates, anything can happen. However, at some point you probably do need to start pruning the invite list in order to permit longer-format discussion. So, I have to admit, I’m not necessarily bothered with the apparent fact that FOX wants to trim the debate roster. However, I do think the Ron Paul camp has reason to be bothered by the apparent snub.
PoliGazette
Fox has no excuse, no good reason to ban Paul. Lord knows I criticize the Congressman and his supporters often enough, but he shouldn’t be silenced simply because some people (in powerful positions) don’t like his message (which seems to be the real reason why he wasn’t invited).
Right Click for URL
January 1st, 2008 at 7:14 pm
“The mouse that roared…”
Yes, that mouse would be Americans right to hear from all candidates.
I am not a Ron Paul supporter, but media making decisions on who should and should not be heard from by American voters in a presidential race smacks of absurdity to me. On the Dem side Kucinich, Biden and Dodd were cut out. It’s lunacy and elitism I say. We as Americans should be outraged.
January 1st, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Paul, Hunter Excluded By Media From The Presidential Debates…
Well isn’t it nice that the media should determine who we hear from when it comes to the debates for the next president of this free country? Claiming that “we don’t have room” and creating some arbitrary scheme that “only……
January 1st, 2008 at 7:47 pm
The media is always making these decisions and always has. There are numerous fringe candidates who never make even a single debate. We’re hitting the stretch where, as far as debates are concerned, where being a true contender matters but I will admit that it seems a bit early (by a few weeks) to start this process.
I’d would love to see Duncan Hunter included but I can’t honestly say that he’s a contender. I just see nothing to get worked up over.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:57 am
Fox News Cuts Ron Paul From Debate…
Bookmarked your post over at Blog Bookmarker.com!…
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:44 am
I understand the idea that Paul is considered a fringe candidate. He is about two steps away from falling off the grid into Alex Jones la-la land. But, he has mustered enough support to at least be invited to the debate. Do I think it is a vast right wing conspiracy to keep his message underwraps? No. I personally do not care about him being there one way or the other. But, the other side of the coin is that he does have enough support, in my opinion, to at least be heard. At most, it is snobbery which is keeping him out.