Ron Paul Staying Alive in New Hampshire

In a recent poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports (rasmussenreports.com), GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul tallied 11% among New Hampshire voters, which was good for third among the Republican hopefuls. This is by far the best showing he has had yet. The spike in support for Dr. Paul may be partly due to his modestly strong finish in the Iowa caucuses last week, where he ended up with 6% of votes cast. It may also be due in part to his (arguably) effective performance in Saturday night's debate in New Hampshire.

Paul's campaign has generated an enormous amount of buzz, especially among young people. His name is constantly among the most searched items on Yahoo, Google, and even here on Associated Content. His name and likeness are all over YouTube and MySpace and Facebook. He has had two wildly successful fundraising days, and is not significantly behind the GOP heavyweights in overall funds.

And yet, you never hear about him on TV or on the radio. He has been virtually ignored by the press. He is considered by the media to be a fringe candidate with no chance of winning the nomination. He has been excluded from some debates and often, especially early in the campaign season, did not show up in polls. His huge money intakes got only token coverage despite their historical significance.

His recent surge in New Hampshire might finally force the media to pay attention to him. His army of supporters has been shouting about him at the top of their lungs for months now, and they may finally get their voices heard. If Dr. Paul can finish in the top 3 among Republicans in this Tuesday's primary, he will almost certainly get some badly needed attention.