National Ledger - Expectations, The Media and Ron Paul

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By Jeff Freeland Feb 8, 2008

There are three Republican presidential nomination contests this weekend and really none of them matter anymore. The GOP is left with three active candidates, presumptive nominee John McCain and long shots Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee and Huck may be better suited to run as McCain's veep or take a position in the cabinet if McCain actually wins the White House in November.

Expectations, The Media and Ron Paul

This race has been one of the strangest in recent memory. Many people had high expectations for Ron Paul, his supporters were loud and angry, while others basically were shoveling dirt on the McCain campaign. Paul was as anti-war as one could get, with many accusing him of being an isolationist. McCain was very much in support of the Bush policies and especially the surge.

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With support really waning for the war last summer that made Paul stand out and as the race made its way into the fall many of his supporters believed he could parlay American voter's anger at George Bush and their high dissatisfaction over Iraq into a strong showing for Paul. Some actually believed that he could even win. It won't happen and never had a chance as those expectations were over the top.

But it is easy to see how they got caught up in the hype. His Internet power was unmatched by any other Republican and his supporters staged gimmicks that pulled in piles of cash. But that just wasn't enough to get him to the to of the heap. As a designated long shot, the media basically shut him out (Fox news even banned him from a debate) and he just couldn't punch through his base of support to ever reach any mainstream living rooms.

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Paul is still in the race, but this thing is over. McCain has been accepted by the Republican voters and he will battle either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Or did the media decide it? All three are media darings.

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