I have written about the Faux News NH GOP debate in a previous post. It was an obvious attempt to marginalize the only true republican Republican in the race, undoubtedly orchestrated at the highest levels in NewsCorp. Okay, even if it wasn’t, the idiots at Fox should have been able to see the storm coming.
They didn’t. Not only did their hamfisted handling of the episode result in the NH GOP pulling out of the debate, it also gave many, many of us “Paultards” a focal point for venting the angst over the increasing sense disenfranchisement under which we have, pretty much to a man, been laboring. Not to mention, it gave all the other networks and news outlets fodder for their 24-hour info wars, exposed Murdoch’s machine as the Bush-neocon shill that it is, and, in the process, destroyed pretty much all the credibility that Fox has inherited as the chosen venue of the neocon elite worked so hard to gain.
Apparently, they got the message.
What? I said “apparently.”
From the Myrtle Beach Sun News:
Following the New Hampshire primary, six Republican candidates will attend Thursday night’s debate in Myrtle Beach, state party officials said today.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee have all accepted their invitations, said Rob Godfrey, spokesman for the state Republican Party. [Emphasis mine]
That’s right — six of the seven GOP candidates will be attending [Tough luck, Duncan] the event, in order that only the most likely electees be given the most amount of time to voice their positions on the issues. Keep the riff-raff out, you see. No fringe candidates. How do they cull the herd? Easy:
To be invited, candidates must have placed in the top 5 positions in the New Hampshire poll [primary?] – McCain, Romney, Huckabee, Giuliani and Paul – or be polling at least 5 percent nationally, such as Thompson. [Emphasis mine]
See? Just shove off the guys who are barely a blip on the radar. Guy.
Sure, Hunter came in third in Wyoming, but Wyoming doesn’t really count. They only have 14 delegates to the convention; you need at least 12, like in New Hampshire, to really count as a state in the national calculus….
Waitaminnit….
The problem here is, though Hunter supports the invade-the-world neocon foreign policy, he is a very strong opponent of the invite-the-world neocon domestic policy. Thompson supports both prongs of the neocon anti-America policy. He has to be included; you’ll recall, just six months ago he was gonna enter the race and knock ‘em all down. [And isn't he set to drop out soon?]
And Paul? His supporters just won’t shut up!
