I asked why the media was ignoring Ron Paul. I asked it out of frustration. A simple question, but one that would lead to some interesting results.
Even though the majority of comments have, up until the time of this post, been positive, I'm aware of the overwhelming support Ron Paul has amongst the online community, so I'll accept the claim that such a forum is unrepresentative of public opinion. Nonetheless, nobody asked "Who is Ron Paul?"despite the lack of coverage of this great man both in Australia and the US (notably on News.com.au and Fox News).
The responses to my question and the resultant discussion got me thinking. It's unusual for a bloke on roughly 6% in the polls of another nation's party preselection to be so well known within an outside community when he is not a figure of hatred or a previous world leader.
1. Are Internet users more aware of current affairs than most people, given the volume of data in existence on the World Wide Web? Possibly, but there's a lot of junk out there.
2. Are readers of News.com.au more intelligent than other online communities? Undoubtedly not.
3. Are we in Australia "over-Americanised"? Probably, if other nations are anything to go by.
4. Are the polls for the US primaries wrong? Possibly; they've been wrong before, and it is a more complex result to determine than a simple show of hands.
5. Could greater media coverage of Ron Paul increase his chances of success? Of course, otherwise one wouldn't need millions to successfully campaign for President of the USA.
6. Is the mean intelligence of Ron Paul supporters higher than that of those not in support of him? Possibly.
7. Am I biased? You betcha.
8. Are ordinary members of the public who actually hear Ron Paul's views impressed? I think so. I hope so.
Answering my own questions takes my mind to our Dear Leader, Premier Lu Kewen, on this day of an interest rate rise. He reckons this one will really hurt. Remember those words, people.
