ABC host tells Paul and Gravel they have no chance

Abookamongstthemany

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/ABC_Stephanopoulos_interviews_Paul_Gravel_on_0709.html
(there's a video on this link also)

ABC host tells Paul, Gravel they have no chance to win David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Monday July 9, 2007


On Sunday's edition of This Week, ABC's chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos reported on "the long-shot candidates who are lighting up this presidential race:" former Democratic Sen. Mike Gravel and Republican Rep. Ron Paul. While providing both underdogs with prime network coverage, the one-time communications director for President Clinton also told the candidates straight to their faces that he didn't believe either could win.

Stephanopoulous pressed Paul on his calls for immediate withdrawal of the troops from Iraq, saying, "Don't we have a responsibility to those we leave behind?"

"It's a tragedy of what's happening, what we're going to leave behind," replied Paul. "But we don't know it's going to be as bad as those who are predicting bad things -- just remember, the people who are predicting these very, very dire things to happen are the same ones who predicted it would be a cakewalk. ... Think of Vietnam. It worked out much better than anybody predicted."

"The main motivating factor of the hostility to this country ... is our presence in the Middle East," continued Paul. "The sooner we get out of there, the better. ... We have done a great service to Osama bin Laden, inadvertently, because it's a recruiting tool for him. ... We have become isolated from the world. .. We have more enemies today, more enemies and less friends than we have ever had in our country."

Stephanopoulos then asked Paul, "What's success for you in this campaign?" but cut off the start of Paul's response, "Well, to win ..." with an interjected "That's not going to happen!"

"Do you know absolutely?" Paul came back. Do you want to bet every cent in your pocket for that? ... The odds are great ... but I would say that what has happened so far has been 100 times greater than I anticipated."

Stephanopoulos next turned to Mike Gravel, whom he described as "something of a sentation" on the Net, due to his debate performance and surreal videos.

"It's a metaphor," said Gravel of his "Rock" video. "You get a fixation of a thought you want to have, something you want to do, and you go do it. ... the ripples, the ripples -- it's a metaphor, George. The ripples show the effect, and then you march off into the horizon."

"What are the ripples you want to send out in this campaign?" asked Stephanopoulos.

"We've got to pull away from politics as usual," answered Gravel, expanding on his statement at the Democratic debate that most of his fellow-candidates lack moral judgment. "They've got the power to end this war, and they're not doing anything about it. And that, in my mind, is immoral."

Gravel insisted that the votes against Bush "are there now" and that you just have to get them. He recalled his own extended filibuster of the draft during the Vietnam War, saying, "Five months, and there's no draft in the United States today, and I'm proud that George Bush does not have the boots on the ground to invade Iran."

When Stephanopoulos pointed out that many Democrats fear their party's opposition to the Vietnam War has cost them political support in the decades since, Gravel retorted, "What's more important? Getting office? Or doing the moral thing and stop people from dying? I'll tell you, if that's the sacrifice we've got to pay to stop these people from dying and killing these Iraqis, I'll pay that sacrifice every day of the week."

Stephanopoulos concluded by saying to Gravel, as he had to Paul, "You're not going to be president." Gravel's response was, "One of the great beauties of this great country of ours is that anything is possible in politics. You just have a tough time accepting it."

jlew24asu

I hate the media and their role in this process.

norm

stephie's a tool....i'm not surprised...:rolleyes:

godpt3

jlew24asu wrote:

I hate the media and their role in this process.

You know, it's a pretty sure bet that the vast majority of those who criticize the media have never worked in it.

godpt3

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

"It's a metaphor," said Gravel of his "Rock" video. "You get a fixation of a thought you want to have, something you want to do, and you go do it. ... the ripples, the ripples -- it's a metaphor, George. The ripples show the effect, and then you march off into the horizon."

and quotes like that are the reason he'll NEVER get elected. It reads like a Ronald Reagan outtake. I'm just wondering when the Alzheimer's announcement comes.

jlew24asu

godpt3 wrote:

You know, it's a pretty sure bet that the vast majority of those who criticize the media have never worked in it.

and? so now we have to work in the media to be able to properly criticize them? people say some ridiculous things on this board but...wow.

I wont argue that the media is an necessary evil, but "during this process" the media has too much power in manipulating the mob when it comes to getting people to vote for the candidate they deem the best. or the candidate the will give them the best ratings.

godpt3

jlew24asu wrote:

and? so now we have to work in the media to be able to properly criticize them? people say some ridiculous things on this board but...wow.

I wont argue that the media is an necessary evil, but "during this process" the media has too much power in manipulating the mob when it comes to getting people to vote for the candidate they deem the best. or the candidate the will give them the best ratings.

I'm just saying that it'd help you appreciate things if you had an understanding of how the media really works. You really want to change the world, get a degree in journalism. After all, "whoever controls what you see, controls what you think." What better way to affect change than from the inside-out.

kenny olav

Video of Ron Paul from the Stephanopoulos show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yay4H-yUze0

Gravel here:
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerindex?id=3356377

jlew24asu

godpt3 wrote:

I'm just saying that it'd help you appreciate things if you had an understanding of how the media really works.

I dont need to work for the media to understand how it works

godpt3 wrote:

You really want to change the world, get a degree in journalism. After all, "whoever controls what you see, controls what you think."

do you not see this as true? certainly people arent trained like robots but its definitely true to some extent.

CorporateWhore

Stepho's snotty little "that's not gonna happen" is such bullshit. That guy is a fucking idiot party hack. You can tell he couldn't understand a damn thing that RP said because he had a stupid gloss on his face the entire time.

bootlegger10

First you want the media to tell the truth, then way they do, you get mad. I don't understand!

Paul, Kucinich, and Gravel do not have a chance to win the election. I'm not even basing this on their positions. You think the average person knows who these people are, or knows enough about them to vote for them? Of course they don't. I think it is a reasonable question to ask why they are running when they are a one billion shot to win. I am not saying they shouldn't run, because they definitely provide more ideas, but the reason they can say half of the things they say, is because they do not have a shot to win.

Abookamongstthemany

bootlegger10 wrote:

First you want the media to tell the truth, then way they do, you get mad. I don't understand!

Paul, Kucinich, and Gravel do not have a chance to win the election. I'm not even basing this on their positions. You think the average person knows who these people are, or knows enough about them to vote for them? Of course they don't. I think it is a reasonable question to ask why they are running when they are a one billion shot to win. I am not saying they shouldn't run, because they definitely provide more ideas, but the reason they can say half of the things they say, is because they do not have a shot to win.

The reason no one knows about them is because the media doesn't cover them.

bootlegger10

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

The reason no one knows about them is because the media doesn't cover them.

Yeah. I'd love to see Ron Paul win, just to get rid of the IRS. I am a tax preparer and would love to be forced to try something new.

godpt3

jlew24asu wrote:

do you not see this as true? certainly people arent trained like robots but its definitely true to some extent.

If I didn't believe every single word of it, I wouldn't have a degree in journalism, nor would I work for that "mainstream media" which everybody bitches about.


*my autobiography will be called "I Always Dreamed I'd Make Headlines, but Not Like This"

godpt3

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

The reason no one knows about them is because the media doesn't cover them.

And the reason the media doesn't cover them is that nobody CARES who they are. Paris Fuckin' Hilton has more of a chance than these bozos. And they both deserve the same amount of ink: None.

Abookamongstthemany

godpt3 wrote:

And the reason the media doesn't cover them is that nobody CARES who they are. Paris Fuckin' Hilton has more of a chance than these bozos. And they both deserve the same amount of ink: None.

Why do you think no one cares?

People are starting to care because they are becoming more and more aware of how our leaders effect our lives. But I'll agree the number of apathetic people out there is waaay too large. I see that changing, though. Kucinich, Paul and Gravel are getting a lot of attention these days than they would never have gotten 4 or 8 years ago. The internet is helping most of that along.

norm

godpt3 wrote:

And the reason the media doesn't cover them is that nobody CARES who they are. Paris Fuckin' Hilton has more of a chance than these bozos. And they both deserve the same amount of ink: None.

nice attitude...no wonder you work in the "media"....:rolleyes:

godpt3

cutback wrote:

no wonder you work in the "media"....:rolleyes:

newspaper design editor, pleased to meet you. I do, in fact, control what people see.

godpt3

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

I see that changing, though. Kucinich, Paul and Gravel are getting a lot of attention these days than they would never have gotten 4 or 8 years ago. The internet is helping most of that along.

In a recent poll, Ron Paul attracted a whopping ZERO percent of Republican voters. I think you're vastly overestimating the power of his Internet fanboys.

Abookamongstthemany

godpt3 wrote:

In a recent poll, Ron Paul attracted a whopping ZERO percent of Republican voters. I think you're vastly overestimating the power of his Internet fanboys.

So why do you think no one cares? And do you think they should care? Also why do you think they don't deserve the 'ink' as you call it?

godpt3

Abookamongstthemany wrote:

Also why do you think they don't deserve the 'ink' as you call it?

There's a reason they're called "fringe" candidates. By and large, they do not share the values and beliefs of a majority of the people.