OFFICIAL : Meet The Press thread : Sunday Morning!!

[RobotJaxxon]

True or False, guys (I didn't see it):
"Supporters of the US Congressman from Texas may believe he had a good appearance and most of the time any mainstream airtime for a dark horse candidate like Paul would be welcomed, but this was a disaster. Those that have Meet the Press on in the background on the television as they are getting the family ready for Church would have been appalled at the way his positions were described by Russert.

And Ron didn't help matters at all. He was on the defensive from the start of the interview and never rebounded. As I feared, Paul was unprepared and looked foolish as Russert peppered him with old quotes and positions. The interview was fair and this is just what I expected from the NBC giant. It was actually rather sad to see him manhandled this way but you can easily score this one Russert 1 Paul 0. "

Sadly, my assessment kinda matches this one, and I don't see where all the rosey assessments are coming from. (Although admittedly, I'm not a regular viewer of this show).

First half, Russert was trying to pick apart RP's desire to end the income tax. Ron got away with one though when he said we could save 100s of billions by changing our foreign policy, then using that money to pay for Social Security. If Russert was on his game, he would have asked "So, if you use the money saved for Social Security, how do you eliminate the income tax?". Maybe Russert pulled a punch there.

The second half Russert tried to attack Ron Paul the man. Not a big deal to me, because I don't expect to have perfection in my president (nor a perfect Republican), but the focus on him instead of the message was probably negative for people who don't know him. There are probably plenty of quotes from his Libertarian run that might not sound good out of context.

I think there were multiple instances of RP getting twisted around by Russert, and RP's responses were bad to the point that I could see them eventually come back to haunt him.

Ugh. I feel like I've been punched hard in the gut.

 

[kojirodensetsu]

I watched the interview via youtube

Do you have a link? I did a quick search and didn't see anything.

Edit: Nevermind I got it.

 

[activeaero]

The problem I think many of you have is that this is the first time you've ever watched Meet the Press. Remember that what YOU think, being a Ron Paul supporter already, is irrelevant. What does matter is what all of the REGULAR viewers of Meet the Press thought. The reason this is key is because the normal viewers know EXACTLY what this show is about.....which is GRILLING the candidates. The goal of Meet the Press isn't to "win". The goal is to simply walk away with less of a beating than other candidates you're against will take.

In that regard Ron Paul did incredibly well. Any regular Meet the Press viewer that watched Rudy's interview would tell you that Ron Paul came out looking like freaking Jesus Christ himself by comparison.

Were there some scary moments in this interview compared to what Paul has had to deal with so far? Answer: Heck yes.

Were they anywhere near as bad as what Rudy faced nearly the entire show? Answer: Heck no.

Paul might have stumbled (if you want to even call it that...I call it more like being cut off) on a few answers regarding his POLICIES. Rudy stumbled the whole freaking show on moral and corruption issues.

 

[Rahl]

http://ronpaulgraphs.com/yesterday_vs_today_donors_line.html

 

[tsopranos]

Reason's liveblogging of this...

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/124070.html

 

[BucksforPaul]

Being a long time MTP viewer, I repeat:

Two weeks ago Russert handed Rudy his ASS on corruption and cheating on wives and cover-ups and he has been plummeting in the polls ever since. Rudy was back peddling the whole way and looked like and idiot.

Last week, Romney was taken to task on flip-flopping bigtime. I thought Romeny did OK under the Russert assault, but the message of Romney as a flip-flopper resonated after the interrogation.

Ron Paul DID AS WELL AS YOU CAN with Russert. For regular MTP viewers, they probably came away impressed with how Ron Paul held his own.

Also, Russert had NO DIRT on Ron Paul personally (surprised he did not play the Don Black thing - kudos to Russert).

Rudy and Mitt were picked apart on character and integrity. Huck will be killed by Russert next week on those issues. RP came out clean as a whistle with the attacks only being on political positions and policy - and RP did a good job of turning the answer into stating platform positions in many cases.

I think a whole large audience of people who never would consider RP will now be looking into him. Yeah, a lot of Russert's audience are Democrats, but I think many of the Republican and Independent viewers (and maybe some Dems) will be looking into RP.

This was a win because RP more than held his own compared to other candidates and it gave him huge exposure to a large, politically savvy audience.

I agree with this comment and this is exactly how I felt after watching this interview. I admit that I could not help pumping my fist at many of Dr. Paul's responses.

 

[Ron2Win]

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272617853.shtml

The attack has started.

 

[Eponym_mi]

Ron Paul didn't cry.

 

[TruckinMike]

Why all the nay saying? After reading this thread i thought Ron Paul Bombed! He knocked this interview out of the park! At least for a thinking viewer. If you only listened to Russerts accusations it would sound bad... But RP answered the questions very well. And very confidently.

The interview was a success and garnered NEW supporters!

TruckinMike

 

[Shellshock1918]

youtube?

edit: nvrm got it.

 

[FreeTraveler]

I agree 100%. It sounds horrible. Honestly, so does ending the Department of Homeland Security. I agree with both positions, but if he's not going to have several minutes to explain why he wants to do this, it translates to:

I don't care about education, or keeping our nation secure.

My mom (who I managed to convert) reacted very negatively to this.

Point out to your mom that Ron just wants to get the Federal government out of the school system. Then ask her to watch this little video, and pause on the two charts at the beginning that show how the US is doing in Match & Science, and Physics, compared to the rest of the world. Point out to her that in 1953, when FedGov got involved in education, the US was first on both those charts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXAxROb626o

 

[ShowMeLiberty]

The problem I think many of you have is that this is the first time you've ever watched Meet the Press. Remember that what YOU think, being a Ron Paul supporter already, is irrelevant. What does matter is what all of the REGULAR viewers of Meet the Press thought. The reason this is key is because the normal viewers know EXACTLY what this show is about.....which is GRILLING the candidates. The goal of Meet the Press isn't to "win". The goal is to simply walk away with less of a beating than other candidates you're against will take.

In that regard Ron Paul did incredibly well. Any regular Meet the Press viewer that watched Rudy's interview would tell you that Ron Paul came out looking like freaking Jesus Christ himself by comparison.

Were there some scary moments in this interview compared to what Paul has had to deal with so far? Answer: Heck yes.

Were they anywhere near as bad as what Rudy faced nearly the entire show? Answer: Heck no.

Paul might have stumbled (if you want to even call it that...I call it more like being cut off) on a few answers regarding his POLICIES. Rudy stumbled the whole freaking show on moral and corruption issues.

Agree 100%!

You know, a lot of the questions Russert asked were things that I also wanted to know about before I could wholeheartedly support Dr. Paul. I did my research online but a lot of people don't go to the trouble of doing that for themselves. For those people, today's interview may have sealed the deal.

Donations & new donors have spiked since the show ended. Just sayin'....

 

[Ozwest]

Finished watching the U-tube.

In the line of fire, Ron Paul answered the questions in a direct and honest manner, and succeeded in driving home key points of his platform.

This interview will entice many Democrats and Independents towards Ron Paul. Look for a bump in the polls in the open primary states!

 

[Mithridates]

The great thing about RP is that he makes us question the assumptions we've been weaned on. Take the the Civil War remark from today's interview. When Dr. Paul made the statement that every other country manged to do away with slavery without waging war and killing 600,000 of its citizens, you could hear the country's collective jaw hitting the floor. Statements like that make you stop and think. And in those brief moments people are disarmed just enough to realize Dr. Paul's "radical" positions aren't that radical after all.

I was thinking the same thing. I heard Ron Paul talk about the subject on another interview before and it was really interesting since up to now I've only heard of the civil war being spoken of in the most glowing terms. On second thought, it looks like it wasn't necessary.

 

[zeegrim]

I thought RP did great and there isn't much (I can't think of 1 thing actually) that would come back to haunt him. For the time he got to answer each question, it wouldn't be possible to fully explain which departments wouldn't be funded in order to make up for the phasing of the income tax.

I especially liked what he had to say about how we freed the slaves in the US compared to how other countries did it; took me by surprise, in a good way. Some great answers for the short time he got on each question.

To those worried, wait and see how the media will view the interview (if they'll even pay attention to it) and look at the graph for today and watch how many new donations come in.

 

[RonPaulMania]

Wonderful!!! More donors!!! I think he did excellent although he didn't allow Paul to respond to the fact that when one is taxed they are allowed to be represented.

 

[TooConservative]

(Although admittedly, I'm not a regular viewer of this show).

Then you just don't know what a troll and establishment toady Russert really can be.

 

[lurker]

The introduction was pretty good before the interview, telling the people he is out-raising all the other Republican candidates. If they've never heard of Ron Paul before, this will generate some respect for him and definitely get him noticed.

 

[FreeTraveler]

looks like donations could have gotten a bump:

http://ronpaulgraphs.com/yesterday_vs_today_line.html

WOW! That's probably the best judge of how he did in the interview. Is there a moneybomb going on now?

 

[Patriot]

Im watching MTP right now and Ron is not on. What gives?