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Guest Voice: The Ron Paul Internet Dilemma

May 16th, 2007
By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

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NOTE: The Moderate Voice runs Guest Voice posts from time to time by readers who don’t have their own websites, or people who have websites but would like to post something for TMV’s diverse and thoughtful readership. This post is more timely than ever, given the clash in last night’s Republican debate between Rep. Ron Paul and Senator John McCain and media interest in Paul. It’s written by Alex Hammer whose blog is Politics 2.0 and who ran as an independent candidate for governor of Maine. Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Moderate Voice or its writers.

The Ron Paul Internet Dilemma
By Alex Hammer

I am not a Ron Paul fan, but I am a fan of the Internet and the powerful roles that it is playing already in the Presidential campaigns.

Ron Paul has been excelling amongst the top sites on the web: Google, YouTube, Technorati, etc.

Here’s the details:

http://hammer2006.blogspot.com/2007/05/exclusive-ron-paul-website-traffic.html

You might be surprised to learn that Ron Paul’s website, according to industry leader Alexa.com (part of Amazon.com) is currently getting more traffic than the web sites of Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain or John Edwards.

It’s true. But the mainstream media has not been reporting it. Even thought there is considerable Ron Paul chatter online.

Ron Paul’s traffic even passed Obama’s but then Obama’s site passed Paul’s back.

Ron Paul is the number one search term - in any area - on Technorati.

He excels on YouTube, and on Google.

He’s done well in online polling, although there is an issue with ABC who felt that his supporters were gaming the system (see link above).

This isn’t an article on Ron Paul’s policies. I certainly don’t agree with some of his views, and I might not have enough time to fully write about that were I to try.

But I don’t want to see the main shut out.

If there is a controversy with ABC etc. that should be explored to see what is fact and what is fiction.

When I ran for Governor of Maine, I was largely hampered by a serious auto accident shortly after announcing my candidacy that landed me in the hospital for 29 days and for ten months had me on crutches or one crutch. I’d have some experience with the media before this, but running for Governor was my greatest dose by far. I came to appreciate them, on the whole, for the way that they conduct their jobs. But I also witnessed (and this isn’t a state thing I’m sure, but a media thing in general) that there is a bit of a herd mentality in journalism in my view, that seems pretty strong. People don’t want to break out of the pack and report on things others aren’t reporting on. Once something goes mainstream, then everyone jumps in.

And there are biases. In every business, I believe, whether it be a lawyer, a police officer, a dentist, a doctor, or even a teacher, some have greater emphases on service, while others have a greater emphasis on power. Of course it is a continuum, rather than an either/or.

I believe that most people are honorable, I really do. I think that the media is a great and noble and critically important profession. It stands at the center of a free society. It would be difficult, if not impossible for us to be free, I imagine, without a free press.

But sometimes things get overlooked. I really am not sure all of the reasons in their totality.

So what is occurring online with Ron Paul? To quote the classic (but great) TV commercial:

“The world may never know”.



This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 7:00 am and is filed under Media, Ron Paul, Republicans, Internet News Media, 2008 Elections, Media Criticism, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

 
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