Last week I noted that NBC’s Anthony Terrell, the network’s hard-working Ron Paul campaign embed, had been reassigned. The Paul community (a.k.a., “the Internet”) was displeased – yet another damn example of the MSM ignoring their guy.
But what is the hated MSM ignoring? In the last week the Paul campaign has held two public events – a town hall in Columbia, Missouri, and a town hall in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Both are college towns, which makes a good deal of sense for Paul. But that’s it. The next Paul appearance on the calendar is a Tuesday night Late Show interview. The last statement from the campaign, a comment on the CBO, was released Friday. Contrast that with Rick Santorum’s campaign, which will cross off four public events today alone in Illinois.
The outsider’s impression of the Paul campaign: A slow fade, a new focus on behind-the-scenes work that may not even pay off. Campaign chairman Jesse Benton has told me that the campaign is raising the funds it needs to hustle through California in June. Indeed, his first event on Tuesday is a fundraiser. But there’s really no public Paul campaign to cover right now. Phone calls to one Paul spokesman go to a busy signal; phone calls to another sometimes go to a full voicemail box. The candidate’s diehards had better be busy winning delegates at state conventions, because they’re the last hope he has.
