CNN Scandal

Ron Paul really has no chance of becoming President of the United States. But what should we do if he says something wild or crazy in a presidential debate? Ignore him.

What if he gets applause?

Wait it out. As soon as the clapping dies down, turn the focus to the other candidates. And then keep asking them questions. Ignore Ron Paul. Better yet, cut him off. Make it sound official, like, “Excuse me, Senator Paul, so sorry for interrupting your response, but we have a question for another candidate. We’ll get back to you in two minutes.”

And then let’s hope he forgets what he was talking about. Hopefully he won’t complain like he did when Fox News cut him out completely. Give him just enough to keep him happy.

What about after the debate? Ron Paul usually gets favorable responses from people watching these sort of debates.

Not this time. We won’t even mention his name. It’s all about McCain and Romney. Maybe we’ll say that third guy, Huckabee, had a good debate. We can even have regular people tell us who they think won the debate.

What if they say Ron Paul won the debate?

Good point. Let’s make it a small room of regular people. And edit the video. Cut out everything they say about Ron Paul. No sense in wasting time covering a guy with zero influence.

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The above is an imaginary discussion between Anderson Cooper and CNN executives. Yet I think it’s fairly accurate. They conducted a January 30th debate in the Reagan Museum, and all of the above actually came true. I’m not a big supporter of any candidate, Republican or Democrat, but it seemed tonight Ron Paul was getting unfair treatment.

The opposite happened for Democratic candidate John Edwards. Hilary and Obama were bickering at each other, and Edwards came out on top, saying something like, “I feel like the only grownup here.” Huge applause. After the debate, he got major coverage.

Similar situation: McCain and Romney were bickering about some nonsensical issue. After what felt like ten minutes, Ron Paul put their bickering into perspective. He received huge applause. After the debate, no coverage. Too bad. I expected more from Anderson Cooper and CNN in general. Well, at least they don’t misleadingly tout themselves as being “Fair and Balanced.” It still hurts, though.