My Interpretation of the ABC Interview

[Erazmus]

I know there are other threads about the interview; I wanted to make this post to talk about the last minute of the show specifically, and give my take on it.

You know what pisses me off. It’s the fact that during the entire ABC interview of Ron Paul, it was very professional, right up until the snide assertion. It was Q&A the entire time, right up until the end. If you watch the end, it’s almost like Stephanopolous didn’t like Ron’s answers. Watch at six minutes and eighteen seconds when Stephanopolous asks, “Do you think the Republican Party has stayed true to its small government principles?” At six minutes and twenty-two seconds, the camera looks at Stephanopolous and his demeanor changes. And that’s when he asks, “What’s success for you in this campaign?”

When Ron Paul says, “To win,” that’s when Stephanopolous interjects and force feeds public opinion, saying, “That’s not going to happen.” WTF????!!!! That is incredibly uncalled for. He said it so smugly too. Clearly Ron wasn’t expecting this to happen either. I can’t recall, ever, someone doing this to a presidential candidate in a supposed professional Q&A interview session. That part, to me, was a hatchet job. It was like he tried to invalidate and discredit Paul at the end because Ron Paul’s message was incredibly strong. Instantly he tried to tell people, don’t vote for this guy because he doesn’t have a chance.

I am incensed with this interview at this point. This was a hatchet job.

 

[kylejack]

So you're basically ignoring what was a fantastic interview over a few seconds at the end? 2.66 MILLION VIEWERS. This guy worked for Clinton, so you had to expect some skepticism from him going in.

This was an AWESOME opportunity. We should thank This Week for having him on, and ask the other Sunday shows to have him on.

 

[BuddyRey]

I completely agree. It wasn't what he said as much as the WAY he said it. You could feel the vitriol coming off of him in waves! But I loved how Ron replied with such confidence, even though he was clearly taken aback by George's inexcusable breech of journalistic protocol. I don't want to do any sabre-rattling on the issue, because it was gracious of George to invite Ron on his show, but that last exchange was completely uncalled for.

 

[RonPaulGetsIt]

I think it was a great piece. They showed clips of Ron Paul from years ago discussing his positions. I thought he came off unwavering in his opinions despite being a lone voice. If the Hannity types out there try to poke fun over the last 30 seconds all it will do is get yet more people to tune in to see it.

 

[RPatTheBeach]

The comment was clearly something the producers wanted in the show, and GS saw that as an on the spot way to include it. Please note that he made the same comment (in different words) to MG in the following interview.

 

[Erazmus]

So you're basically ignoring what was a fantastic interview over a few seconds at the end? 2.66 MILLION VIEWERS. This guy worked for Clinton, so you had to expect some skepticism from him going in.

This was an AWESOME opportunity. We should thank This Week for having him on, and ask the other Sunday shows to have him on.

Everything went great, which I think was the point of the interview, but then to reinforce the typical stance of, "Not wasting your vote," to the American people. That's the part I believe was a hatchet piece. He was trying to completely invalidate everything Ron said, by saying, you're not going to win. This is a powerful message that goes out to the American people. I HOPE that people see passed this. I can still be very upset with what, seems to me, to be extremely poor journalistic integrity

 

[kylejack]

Everything went great, which I think was the point of the interview, but then to reinforce the typical stance of, "Not wasting your vote," to the American people. That's the part I believe was a hatchet piece. He was trying to completely invalidate everything Ron said, by saying, you're not going to win. This is a powerful message that goes out to the American people. I HOPE that people see passed this. I can still be very upset with what, seems to me, to be extremely poor journalistic integrity

Okay, look at it this way: the average person who learns about Ron Paul goes on to support him, so anything that educates people about Ron Paul in a legitimate and straightforward manner is a Good Thing (TM), even if there's a bit of bad stuff in it. Right now, name recognition is our biggest barrier.

And quite frankly, a lot of people agree with GS on his point. I, for example, think the deck is severely stacked against Ron Paul and I question whether he can conquer the incredible odds. That doesn't mean I won't work as hard as I can, but I certainly recognize that this is going to be extremely hard to pull off.

 

[LibertyEagle]

Erazmus,

The ending irritated me too. GS was a snide little so and so. My initial instinct was to sit down and write him a scathing letter. I then counted to 100 and it didn't work, so I counted to 1000. I know it's the wrong thing to do to fire off an email. The majority of the interview was good and it resulted in Dr. Paul being seen by a lot of people that have never heard of him. That's what we want.

I very likely will have to count to 1000 many times over the next several days to keep from writing a derogatory email to GS, but count I will. I sincerely think we should leave this one alone.

What I do think is Dr. Paul needs to be ready with a comeback for these kind of remarks. He needs to show his strength and resolve. This won't be the 1st time he hears this remark and he needs to be ready next time.

 

[smtwngrl]

I thought Dr. Paul answered it well, once he recovered. And the last part of what he said was that they had surprised a lot of people and would surprise more. And the very next day, he won the N.H. Straw Poll.

George Stephanopolis obviously believes what he was saying. Perhaps he *was* supposed to make that statement. I didn't really perceive vitriol on his part. And whether Ron Paul wins or not, time is going to validate his reply.

 

[RPatTheBeach]

Erazmus,
What I do think is Dr. Paul needs to be ready with a comeback for these kind of remarks. He needs to show his strength and resolve. This won't be the 1st time he hears this remark and he needs to be ready next time.

AMEN!

 

[Duckman]

Just imagine how much crow GS will have to swallow when RP DOES win!!?

I read the negative comments about this interview before I saw it, but after seeing it, I think it was a great interview that will do alot to boost RP support. If they like him, what does it matter that GS said he won't win? Especially if the frontrunners all suck?

 

[Erazmus]

Okay, look at it this way: the average person who learns about Ron Paul goes on to support him, so anything that educates people about Ron Paul in a legitimate and straightforward manner is a Good Thing (TM), even if there's a bit of bad stuff in it. Right now, name recognition is our biggest barrier.

And quite frankly, a lot of people agree with GS on his point. I, for example, think the deck is severely stacked against Ron Paul and I question whether he can conquer the incredible odds. That doesn't mean I won't work as hard as I can, but I certainly recognize that this is going to be extremely hard to pull off.

I don't disagree with what you're saying. I was extremely pleased with the interview, and I know name recognition is so important. But I have to tell you, when GS said that, my heart sunk. It was almost like that entire piece went down the crapper (hopefully that isn't the case, but that's the way I felt). I felt like I was in the twilight zone. That it has come to this. It was so contrived, this attack. I didn't see it coming, nor did Paul, from my impression. It was really bad, and it does reinforce the mentality in people that Ron can't win, which I think is the establishment's only recourse at this point.

I just hope people saw that last part for what it was.

 

[Erazmus]

Erazmus,

The ending irritated me too. GS was a snide little so and so. My initial instinct was to sit down and write him a scathing letter. I then counted to 100 and it didn't work, so I counted to 1000. I know it's the wrong thing to do to fire off an email. The majority of the interview was good and it resulted in Dr. Paul being seen by a lot of people that have never heard of him. That's what we want.

I very likely will have to count to 1000 many times over the next several days to keep from writing a derogatory email to GS, but count I will. I sincerely think we should leave this one alone.

What I do think is Dr. Paul needs to be ready with a comeback for these kind of remarks. He needs to show his strength and resolve. This won't be the 1st time he hears this remark and he needs to be ready next time.

Yeah, I am refraining from sending any e-mail. There was a lot of good from the interview.

 

[damijin]

IMHO, the "That's not going to happen" remark could help us if we look at it from the proper perspective.

All of us are so quick to jump on anyone who paints Ron Paul in a negative light, but you know what, people watching the Sunday morning circuit are NOT STUPID. They realize that the remark was totally uncalled for and furthermore, inconsistent with the rest of the interview.

People watching Sunday morning shows aren't going to go "GEORGE SNUFFALUPAGUS SAID IT, IT MUST BE TRUE.", they're smart people. This interview was a very positive thing, including that end remark. I think the way Paul handled it was fine and it gave us more than enough positive press.

We need to focus on the polls. We need to focus on AMES. When we win Ames, and we start working our way towards victory in the Iowa and NH caucuses, imagine what would happen as that sound byte of George Stephanopolas circulates saying "I'd bet everything I have that you won't win."

It'll be like GOLD at that point.


tl;dr - Focus on winning, fuck the media.

 

[kylejack]

I also think it would be wise to think about what viewers of This Week are thinking. They are fans of the This Week show, they hear about this Ron Paul guy, and they get kind of interested. They Google him on the internet and try to find some Ron Paul forums, probably finding these. Then they come here and there's threads bashing George Stephanapolous, someone they probably watch on a weekly basis.

The forum software indicates that we have about 90 unregistered guests reading the forum right this minute. Just think this through.

Edit: Megaprops for the tl;dr dami. Goon?

 

[damijin]

aye, we need more positive information on these forums and less focus on negative media bias.

the media doesn't like us, we get it. our on-foot campaigning and getting the word out has been excellent. lets focus on that, lets get our act together in iowa, and lets win this thing.

 

[Highmesa]

Keep in mind that Step-on-top-of-us is a shill for the Dumbocratic Party. As a good soldier, he took leave of the party to pose as an unbiased journalist, but the long term objective is the same.

His discounting of Paul is an indicator that the DNC is becoming afraid of the good doctor and what he would do to their grand scheme. They want for face off against Rudy McRomneyson, because they know that they'd win. Paul getting the nod would throw a huge monkey wrench into the gameplan.

 

[Erazmus]

I also think it would be wise to think about what viewers of This Week are thinking. They are fans of the This Week show, they hear about this Ron Paul guy, and they get kind of interested. They Google him on the internet and try to find some Ron Paul forums, probably finding these. Then they come here and there's threads bashing George Stephanapolous, someone they probably watch on a weekly basis.

The forum software indicates that we have about 90 unregistered guests reading the forum right this minute. Just think this through.

Well, I'm not going to censor my opinion because some viewers "might" come here. Not only that, I didn't attack him. I attacked his journalistic integrity. Besides, what I said about GS in no way compares to what he did to Paul.

That being said, I still think good will come of the interview. I still think when any interviewer force feeds public opinion; we should call them out on it. Bottom line, at the very least, this interview does get Ron's name out there, which is huge. I am extremely happy with that.

 

[Lady Liberty]

I agree that is very good exposure. However, I've seen more than a few journalists ask Dr. Paul, and other candidates "How they respond to the sentiment that some people feel they have no chance of winning". I find this to be an acceptable question as it is on the minds of some viewers, and gives Dr. Paul a chance to speak to that affect. What George did, was quite different, and startlingly unprofessional in my opinion. He asked them what they considered success, and then heckled both Dr. Paul and Gravel with a "Not going to happen!" when they spoke of their intent to win a race they are both running. I was so pleased to see a show with both Paul and Gravel on the MSM that I got up early this morning to watch it, rather than tape or youtube it. I can guarantee that won't happen again.

I am proud of Dr. Paul that he held his composure and grace. I always know I can count on him to have good debating skills because his principles are laid out clearly before us in the constitution. He never has to make up answers on the fly, he knows where he stands on any given issue. Now I know that he also has a remarkable sense of humour, and the ability to keep cool. I will try to do the same.

PS Wouldn't it be great if we did have Paul vs. Gravel in the final race? What a remarkable thing it would be to have 2 principled men as real choices for president.

 

[Avalon]

PS Wouldn't it be great if we did have Paul vs. Gravel in the final race? What a remarkable thing it would be to have 2 principled men as real choices for president.

Not gunna happen. I'll bet every cent in my pocket!

Although I'm very displeased with GS and what counts for journalism in this country these days, I'd much rather have to counter "Oh, but he doesn't have a chance, does he?" than "Ron who?" on the campaign trail. I also think that Ron Paul should stay humble at this point. Assuming we supporters can keep up the good work he should reach a point where he can stand his ground and easily prove to the audience he can win.