Poll: How well did Ron do on Meet The Press

[Mike S.]

Personally, he could have done better. But, I think, he made it VERY clear that he stands alone as the one candidate with a shot at winning that would actually get us out of Iraq - in that sense he hits a home run.

The last congressional election, despite the denial of the republican leadership, was about getting us out of Iraq. The American people now realize that those democrats they elected will not get us out of Iraq either.

 

[mconder]

I plan on researching. However, not everyone is like me. That segment did not come off well. He could have explained his position a hell of a lot better. God forbid I suggest that he didn't answer a SINGLE QUESTION in the interview perfectly.

Personally, I have been living in a Constitutional paradigm for quit some time now, so I know exactly why Paul answered the questions the way he did. I can see why this interview would be a problem for the newly initiated. I sure the civil rights and civil war part of the interview probably infuriated a few people. Paul did not have enough time to answer those questions. He'd have to have 30 minutes just to talk about the nuances of the civil war. If he had the time, he could make a believer out of almost anyone.

 

[mconder]

but I'm pretty sure it didn't come off well for casual observers, whose votes we are trying to gain.

This is the real problem with this interview. For someone who has been a freedom activist for the last 20 years, it's not to difficult to fill in the blanks. I agree, for the casual observer, this did nothing but alienate them. For the large majority of people, it takes an idea being repeated over and over again before they are convinced. Ron Paul does not get near the air time to completely change the paradigm of the average voter.

 

[DZE]

As a supporter I think he did as well as he could in such a thoroughly prepared attack.
I don’t think we won any undecided voters though.

 

[deltabourne]

The earmark part wasn't the best, but Russert never let Paul answer! He kept interrupting him! He would have crushed that part if it weren't for that.

 

[StateofTrance]

Listen folks, y'all need to watch the videos of previous shows : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21654394/

BEFORE even voting on Dr. Paul's performance.

 

[ConstitutionReinstitution]

I'm no fan of Russert, but he is very, very good at what he does.
If you want to see how good, watch these. He only cracks up once, but has his head down so you can barely see it, and he catches himself in a split second.
The whole thing is hilarious. I apologize if starting to get off thread subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIs2z2JNvNE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JbBFNCRp1A&feature=related

 

[Troyhand]

He did great as always. Russert cut him off constantly from answering fully, so Dr. Paul wasn't allowed to fully shine. Paul definitely won this though.

Dr. Paul = Truth
Tim Russert = Mop
Meet The Press = The Floor

 

[chowdy]

Damn, he really corned Dr. Paul at every chance. I checked out some other Meet The Press interviews, and it looks like that's just how they work.

I think he did OK. Not exactly a home run or anything. I'm just happy his name is getting out there.

 

[hawks4ronpaul]

The average American might be alienated by some answers but the average MTP viewer is different and surely knows that no one escapes an interview unscathed.

http://hawks4ronpaul.blogspot.com/

 

[iloveronpaul]

9/10. Paul got a bit flustered but aside from that it was perfect.

 

[Antonius Stone]

I quote Alex Merced to Refute the accusations of "earmark hypocrisy"

 

[conner_condor]

Very good interview. No other candidate can come close to him. Pure honesty that can be seen here in RP.

 

[Aldanga]

I said 9/10. He was insistent and very strong on his positions. I was half-expecting a waltz through the daisies, but I should have known better.

Knowing Russert as an interviewer, Dr. Paul did fantastic. He was insightful (the snake pit comment) as well as funny (with Iran attacking Mars). I think this was a plus.

I can't wait till next week. Huckabee's gonna get owned.

 

[EricH]

Funny how Russert had to look down so many times. The script must have felt a little dirty in those moments.

 

[WilliamC]

I gave him a 7. He was consistent as always and given the apparent attention deficit disorder that Tim Russert displayed in jumping from one question to another without allowing him enough time to answer Ron Paul gave good answers. But he wasn't as clear in some of his explanations as I would have liked and he seemed to not have been as well prepped as he could have been. That said the entire interview was about issues and positions, nothing about scandal or problems in Ron Paul's personal life since he is as well behaved there as he is in public

 

[daviddee]

..

 

[all J's in IL for RP]

Stepping back for a second from my Paul support, there were several flubs, awkward moments and missed opportunities. Russert came on hard like expected, a little more than usual (he often throws in one softball or joking question to lighten the mood), but par for the course.

But he got in a lot of good points, some excellent one liner comebacks and avoided most of the pitfalls that were set for him. Some were commenting that this could make or break the campaign. This format weights towards the later, as Gulianni can attest. It's not broke.

7

 

[rpfreedom08]

He did great! I don't think for one moment he got screwed by the earmark comments. I've heard that issue before and wasn't sure howe he woudl handle it and he did just fine. I look at things from other people's points of view very well and can see how ron paul really made tim look like an ass.

 

[Laja]

I, for one, was happy to hear that Ron Paul was unhappy with Reagan's presidency. Reagan campaigned on a certain stance and when he was elected and didn't follow through with that stance. In fact, he did some real damage to the country. And I loved that he called Poppy Bush a bum. Hahahaha! I didn't think I could love Ron Paul any more, but after hearing his opinions on those two guys, I just tripled my respect for RP.

Yes, RP got excited in answering some of the questions and he does have some challenges answering them in a split second, but once he gets his thoughts together, he does quite well. I can't imagine how anyone with as much experience as he has in government and with the Constitution could ever answer questions in a nice sound bite. There are much to many aspects to take into consideration to give an educated answer.

Sure I'd love RP to stay calm and relaxed during his interviews, but show me just how calm and relaxed most of us would be when the stakes are that high and millions of people are depending on you and watching you. Hah! There'd be very few. Perhaps just the actors could do it. And that's what most of those robot candidates are anyway....actors.

Bravo, dear Ron Paul. You are loved!