Iowa Forum Snubs Ron Paul; Accuses Supporters of Hacking into Website

In a June 20 discussion with WHO News Radio 1040 talk show host Jan Mickelson, Ed Failor, Executive Vice President of the Iowans for Tax Relief, discussed the reasons why Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul was not invited to the June 30 Presidential Candidates Forum to be held in Des Moines on June 30.

According to Failor, Paul is not a "credible" presidential candidate. For planning purposes, Failor said that his group, along with the Iowa Christian Alliance, "made a determination" of who to invite to the forum. Failor said that the groups could not invite "every person who claims to be a candidate," and that in order to "serve our membership," the forum would only include the "most credible candidates."

When talk show host Jan Mickelson called Failor's excuse "lame," Failor responded that "we don't have to offer the forum to everyone." Failor went on to say that "a bunch of people from out-of-state are calling my home at all hours" to protest the decision to not include Paul in the forum. He also claimed that Paul supporters were trying to "hack" into the Iowans for Tax Relief server in an attempt to shut down his website. Failor said that his group made the right decision to not include Paul in the forum "if that's the kind of people who support him."

Failor also criticized Paul's campaign staff, saying Paul's website contained "lies" about the reasons given to the staff regarding Paul not being invited to the forum. Paul's website said that no reason for not being invited to the forum was given to the Paul campaign staff. Failor said that he told the campaign staff that Paul was not a "credible" candidate and that campaign manager Lew Moore "yelled" at him when told that answer. Failor concluded by saying that the Paul campaign has provided their supporters with "inaccurate" information and "lacks scruples," calling Paul a "fringe" candidate.