Bradley in DC
08-10-2007, 01:59 PM
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12668657&ft=1&f=1001
BORN TO RON: A lot of response to last week's feature on Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Many, like Rick Theile of San Ramon, Calif., were just happy to see some coverage of Paul by NPR. Rick writes, "I now consider NPR responsible again. I have never heard a presidential candidate or any politician speak the truth until Ron Paul."
Not everyone was so happy, but part of it was my fault. Matt Gaffney of Washington, D.C., took issue with my "Neither Paul nor [Dennis] Kucinich has a shot at making the ticket." Matt was "really mystified as to why you would phrase it this way. On Intrade [the prediction market], Paul has a 3% chance, which is not great, but it's not 'no shot,' and it's a lot higher than it was three months ago when he entered the race. I don't think political writers should be attempting to shape public opinion with language like this." Others had the same reaction, some with the kind of language that sadly has become commonplace on the Web.
For the record, my "they-have-no-shot" statement was in answer to a question about whether Paul or Kucinich might find themselves as someone's running mate. I was not making a judgment about whether either might win his respective party's nomination; I was talking about the VP spot.
BORN TO RON: A lot of response to last week's feature on Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Many, like Rick Theile of San Ramon, Calif., were just happy to see some coverage of Paul by NPR. Rick writes, "I now consider NPR responsible again. I have never heard a presidential candidate or any politician speak the truth until Ron Paul."
Not everyone was so happy, but part of it was my fault. Matt Gaffney of Washington, D.C., took issue with my "Neither Paul nor [Dennis] Kucinich has a shot at making the ticket." Matt was "really mystified as to why you would phrase it this way. On Intrade [the prediction market], Paul has a 3% chance, which is not great, but it's not 'no shot,' and it's a lot higher than it was three months ago when he entered the race. I don't think political writers should be attempting to shape public opinion with language like this." Others had the same reaction, some with the kind of language that sadly has become commonplace on the Web.
For the record, my "they-have-no-shot" statement was in answer to a question about whether Paul or Kucinich might find themselves as someone's running mate. I was not making a judgment about whether either might win his respective party's nomination; I was talking about the VP spot.