The Santorum appeal
Submitted by wiseguyjim on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 12:26OK, like most here, when I saw Santorum winning Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri, I thought "impossible"! How could people vote for such an awful candidate in droves??
I thought I might try to get a feel for people's thoughts about this at work today. Now most of my co-workers cannot stand Obama and are pretty much Fox News watchers for all of their info on the world. Which means I pegged them for Romney or Newt lovers. I tread carefully around them when talking politics. I caught one of my bosses alone and asked him what he thought of the primary results last night. He hadn't heard who won them yet. When I told him Santorum won all three his eyes lit up! He was excited to hear this! I asked him why he liked Santorum so much. He said Romney reminds him of Obama and Newt disgusts him with his past. So he said he liked hearing both of them lost. I asked him what he thought of Ron Paul. He said he would vote for Paul before Romney and Newt.
Now this may be an isolated case but the reasoning for so many voting for Santorum kind of makes sense with that kind of reasoning. And Paul also got a really good showing in Minnesota last night so maybe more people feel this way then I ever thought possible. But my point is now Romney is going to destroy Santorum on the airwaves of every state. And once Santorum leaves a bad taste in people's mouths (no pun intended!), that only leaves Dr. Paul. I really think that this Santorum sweep is going to reap alot of votes for Dr. Paul in the coming weeks.....starting with Maine!
By the way, I am in Michigan. This too, is supposed to be Romney country, but the way things are going, Dr. Paul may be able to sneak up the ranks if Santorum and Romney are at each other's throats the next two weeks! I pray I am right!
Santorum's appeal...
...and, for that matter, that of Gingrich and Romney, is due to Fox News.
Bottom line: Fox News is the Republican TV channel. It is where the Republican voting (particularly those aged 50+, which makes up the overwhelming majority of voters) public gets their info. It is where these people are told what to think.
To the extent that Ron Paul is choosing not to go on Fox News, in prime time (where the viewership really exists), it is a HUGE mistake. I don't know that this is the case. Perhaps he is simply not getting the invites (though both O'Reilly and Hannity have claimed on air that Paul has declined their invites).
If Paul has been declining the invites, it's an awful decision. He needed (and needs) to put the disgusting nature of the hosts aside and speak directly to the audience. That's where the votes are.
You have ZERO chance in a Republican primary without reaching Fox News' audience.
The ONLY way boycotting Fox News makes ANY sense is if you've been intending to run 3rd party all along. In that scenario, in the general election, a Fox News boycott could reap dividends.
Have you ever seen the FOX ratings?
At their best prime time FOX gets around 3 Million and that is for O'Reilly, all the rest get lower ratings....BUT those 3 million are the same who also watch the rest of the "anchors" like Shep Smith, Hannity, etc. Now, the population of the US is a little higher than 300 Million. When you dissect the numbers, FOX is not as influential as people give them credit for.
And, how many watch FOX that really don't like them or their obvious atttempt to influence the way people think? Doug Mead and the rest of the Ron Paul advisors are pretty savvy when it comes to media appearances. And it may be a good thing that Ron Paul is not on FOX...it must make the regular FOX viewers wonder why and this conjures up some ill feelings toward FOX.
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Fox News has the HIGHEST ratings on cable...
...BY FAR, and it is comprised largely of the primary contests' target audience - Republicans.
That nightly 3 million is not the same 3 million every night. And 3 million is a VERY significant chunk of those that vote in the republican primary contests; a FRACTION of the U.S. population. And that 3 million have family and friends they talk to.
Lastly, Santorum, Gingrich and Romney are on that channel nearly EVERY night. Even when not making an appearance, they are talked about EVERY night. It's nearly impossible to compete with that. It's amazing Ron Paul's doing as well as he is without Fox News presence.
Fox News is the kingmaker in a Republican primary, like it or not.
Yes, but Fox News does not
Yes, but Fox News does not give him a fair hearing when he is on there. They blindside him with false accusations and leading questions. An appearance by Paul on Fox News might just do more harm than good because of the way they set him up.
Fox News is evil, and the sooner people stop watching that channel the better. I truly believe it is demonic at its core, and it has caused great harm to the Christian church in America.
Did you see the recent Greta interview?
Greta tried all that, and Ron was fantastic. That interview was a major net win for Ron. Most interviews are.
Ron Paul is not given a fair hearing in most ANY media. That doesn't mean he shouldn't try to reach the predominantly Republican audience of Fox News.
Yes, but
A. Those 3 million are probably the same majority of GOP primary voters (hence our low numbers), and B. Fox's audience consists of more than just prime time, but the prime time pundits also sell books and host daily radio programs that reach more than that. And they're spewing the same rhetoric against Paul, only amplified, on the radio.