Ron Paul Wins Fox Debate
by Big Dog on Jan 11, 2008 at 07:27 Political
At least this is what the people who voted by text messaging said. Last night Fox News had a Republican debate that featured all contenders except Duncan Hunter. The debate was pretty feisty at points with candidates attacking each other. Fred Thompson finally showed a bit of spark and he was, in my opinion, the clear winner of the debate and the focus group also believed Fred had won. Mitt Romney had a good night, McCain was solid and Huckabee was strong on domestic issues but weak on Foreign policy as was Ron Paul.
Ron Paul had some supporters in the crowd and he, in my opinion, performed OK for most of the night. There were a few times though, where he looked like an angry, out of control old man. I don’t think the message is that far off but the messenger needs to find a better delivery. He ranted for 90 seconds about rushing to fight with Iran before being told that the others had praised the restraint shown by the military. I think it was a very subtle moment where Brit Hume was able to take him down a notch. It made Ron Paul seem out of touch or as if he was not paying attention. Paul said he could not hear the moderator but I was reminded of Admiral James Stockdale, Ross Perot’s running mate, when I saw that exchange.
At the end of the debate Fox had text messaging voting set up so that people could dial in to vote for the winner. The results that were posted about 45 minutes post debate were Ron Paul ahead with 35%, Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee tied at around 17 or 18%. I laughed when I saw those results because there is no way that Ron Paul won the debate and there is no way he is polling that high without the Ronulans voting over and over again.
The post debate text voting was exactly the same as the way Fox allows voting on American Idol which returns very soon. Perhaps Fox was tuning America back up so they could prepare to vote in that show. Whatever the case, Ron Paul was in the lead for one reason and one reason only, multiple text message votes by those who support Ron Paul and his revolution.
But believe me when I say, Ron Paul did not win the debate.
What was Fox thinking?
UPDATE: Several commenters have pointed out that one could only vote once. Another commenter pointed out that Paul supporters were more likely to be young and tech savvy. They are also the same people who will not show up on election day (not in the numbers that the less tech savvy will). Also, there were a number of posts in the Ronosphere telling everyone to be sure to vote. The fact that Ron Paul had more people willing to use a cell phone to vote does not mean he won the debate.
Tags: debate winner, fox news, ron paul, text message
Actually, you can’t vote “over and over again” as you suggested – the poll was tracking cell numbers and sending replies thanking people for voting.
Also, Ron Paul did win the debate. At least that is what everyone I was watching with and have talked to says.
I watched most of the debate last night and even though FT finally looked like he wanted to be in this race, his policies were not concise. All of the candidates spoke in generalities and told the crowd and Fox what they wanted to hear. There was only one, whose fiscal policies made sense. That was Ron Paul. He isn’t polished like Romney or Thompson or even McCain, but his policies make sense. We have to cut spending now, otherwise we are giving this country away to foreign dollars.
Just my opinion. Hopefully people see what I saw and not the Fox News and main stream media bias.
Its probably more due to the fact that Ron Paul supporters are younger and know how to send a text message – whereas the people that actually vote on elections (and watch Fox News) tend to be older and less technical 🙂
WRONG , WRONG ,WRONG…YOU ARE SO AFRAID OF THE TRUTH… no one in the world at this time is tellling us like it is except Dr. Ron Paul and the truth shall overcome…you should be so worried about your United States of America…please open your mind, read more history, check your economics knowledge…before you insult a distiguished …10 term Congressman…you should be ashamed of your total lack of respect for a government servant…who has been watching out for his fellow Americans since he has been 18 years old….You are so disrespectful….if I was your Mom…you would never hear the end of this. You owe Congressman Paul an apology.
I agree with everyone above besides #3. I do not know much about Ron Paul, but as pay more attention it is does seem that there are many people out there who are afraid of the support is message is gaining. No one is being cheated but Ron Paul. People want to believe our country can change and Ron Paul seems to be the only ‘real’ choice. The other options seem engineered and ambitious. When he answered questions he spoke about his ideas he did not give an autobiography. If America wants another power and glory hungry celebrity forget about Ron Paul, but if they want someone who can serve and question for the people they better do some research.
Yah, you can’t vote multiple times. I voted last night, 1st for Ron Paul R4, it sent me a text back saying thanks for voting… I wanted to check and see if it would take multiple votes, so the 2nd time I picked R2, whoever that was. It texted me back saying your vote has already been counted thanks for voting.
Nuff said. Ron Paul has real answers and makes Real sense, and obviously people reaspond to that.
Ha ha! Oh, so the Congressman won the debate because the same small amount of knucklehead youngsters kept text messaging numerous votes? Oh, that explains everything! I guess none of the other presidential hopefuls had their followers sending numerous texts in, just to spite Ron Paul? This is the same exact asinine explanation people spew every single time Ron Paul wins a debate. Don’t you think some of the other candidates followers would’ve tried to combat this by now?
“Its probably more due to the fact that Ron Paul supporters are younger and know how to send a text message – whereas the people that actually vote on elections (and watch Fox News) tend to be older and less technical :)”<— I really hope that was a joke, Jodm…seriously.
It’s time to admit, folks, that Ron Paul is touching a lot of people. His message is the strongest message of all the candidates out there. He is truly for peace and the people, that’s why people love him. Hum an liberty, rights, justice. The government out of our back pocket. It baffles me that neo conservatism has become so popular amongst Republicans, and libertarianism has become an after thought. It’s actually pretty sickening.
All you blind people are fox news love…. Why don you watch this video about a man with no class that thinks he’s smarter than you! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFL-LubDF9c You see Ron Paul is the only man that could keep this country together…. Fu*cking sheep! Fox News and Frank Luntz Caught Red Handed Focus Group Fraud!
Oh…. So you guys think most of the Ron Paul Supporters are young people and you think young people watch debates on friday night… you got to be kidding me… Im young too only 18 will go for Ron Paul and my family is also voting for Ron Paul… so my estimate is i can get around 100 peoples to vote for Ron Paul by just about telling his issues.
That’s right. The truth is winning. Ron Paul has already won.
For those of us who don’t yet understand the message of PERSONAL freedom for all, they soon will, and we welcome it.
The message of truth, PERSONAL property and FREEDOM is back. 1776 anyone?
You my friend, are an idiot. Dr. Paul won that debate fair and square. Unfortunalty “FAIR AND SQUARE” is not how the world of politics works. You can take comfort in the fact that he has no chance of being elected at all. ‘THEY’ won’t let that happen.
He is the most honest straight forward shooter of them all. He is who we really need. But we will not get him….all i am trying to say is that you are [redacted]. He won.