Ready for Russert? Here's the script...

[jorlowitz]

Can Ron Paul answer these questions? Today on MEET THE PRESS...

HOT NEWS

Do you think Mike Huckabee is a fascist?
Were you surprised that you didn't receive Tom Tancredo's endorsement?


RACISM AND FRINGE SUPPORT

Why did you accept donations from avowed white supremacists?
Why did you take photographs with them (shows photograph)?
Why did your newsletter contain these racist comments?
Did you write them? If not, why did you not know about them?
If you knew, why didn't you denounce them immediately?
Why do you receive so much support from violent, racist, right-wing groups?
Do you really think we can have a politically colorblind society only 4 decades after the CiviL Rights movement?
Do you think 9/11 was an inside job?
Do you think that JFK assassination was done with government knowledge/complicity?
Why do you receive so much support from those who do?
Why do you entice these people by going on shows such as Alex Jones

LIMITED GOVERNMENT

We don't need an FDA? An EPA? A CIA? An FBI?
A department of education? How about firefighters and policemen?
How are we supposed to keep our food, our environment, our streets, our country safe without these?
We should cut medicare?
You don't think every person deserves health care? Even children?
What about social security?
What about people who are dependent on it?
Don't we want a safety net in our society?
You'd legalize prostitution? Gambling? Marijuana? What about cocaine? Bestiality? Polygamy?
Would you draw the line anywhere?

FOREIGN POLICY – NATIONAL SECURITY AND INTERVENTION

We should just leave Iraq?
What about the people who will die in the chaos?
What about destabilizing the region?
What about the troops who risked or lost their lives for the country?
How can we protect ourselves against Iran? What about it's nuclear program?
What about protecting Israel?
We should stop all foreign aid and intervention?
What about Darfur?
Would you have gone in for World War II (the Holocaust?)?
If the U.S. does not stop genocide who will?
What about AIDS?


FISCAL AND DOMESTIC POLICY

You really want to abolish the IRS? How can we do that?
You don't think the government should fund aids research? Cancer research?
You want to go back to the gold standard?
What should we do about immigration?
Do you think we should build a fence?
What should we do with the millions of immigrants already here illegally?
Do you believe in man-made global warming?
We don't need an EPA?
Who will protect the environment if corporations can do whatever they want?
Don't we need government to protect us from corporate tyranny?


ELECTABILITY AND PARTY AFFILIATION
Do you think you can win your party's nomination?
Would you support the republican nominee no matter what?
Would you consider running as an independent/third-party/spoiler? Why are you so low in
the polls?


note: This is NOT the official script. It's just a list of likely and difficult questions

[Richandler]

This looks like the standard interview he's been getting except the whole racism thing is going way overboard.

[xao]

Let this thread be burried. We don't need them seeing it and using the questions.

[jorlowitz]

Let this thread be burried. We don't need them seeing it and using the questions.

In all of the next weeks and months, assuming Paul's popularity continues to grow, you don't think they're going to think to ask him these questions?? He has to have solid, thoughtful answers to all of them. Assuming he does, Paul should hope for nothing less than a TOUGH interview. He'll have enough time to elaborate on what it means to be a libertarian and why the government is becoming more and more bloated and corrupt. But before that he needs to address what many view as the bottleneck issues relating to his viability as a candidate.

[Federalist]

Darfur is a wonderful example of Dr. Paul's philosophy working.

For 4 years the American gov. and UN could do nothing to stop this, as the Chinese made sure their business partner always avoided sanctions.

Then along came a grassroots movement that went after the Olympics in China and threatened to turn it into the genocide Olympics. Faced with the grassroots individual effort China cracked and put pressure on Uganda to stop the atrocities. Recent setbacks are only because this grassroots effort has started putting pressure on the ineffective American government and UN to do more, rather than to continue trying to enact change by themselves.

Darfur shows that the American government isn't needed to stop genocide, the work of individual Americans taking moral responsibility for themselves is much more effective.

I really hope the ask him about Darfur and he gives a good response because it could really sway a great number of people.

Federalist

[tfelice]

Regarding the poll, I think if Russert wants to go for the jugular, he will have Paul spent a lot of time on drugs & prostituion. IMO, Paul's positions are correct on this, but he does a real bad job at articulating it coming off as a social liberal more than a constitutionalist. The way I have always explained these positions is simple: while I personally view drugs & prostituion as deplorable the Federal gov't has no business regulating them, they have failed miserably in trying to do so and it should be turned over to the states.

[Lucid American]

Let this thread be burried. We don't need them seeing it and using the questions.

You don't think Russert's done his research?

[kaleidoscope eyes]

well, from what little I've seen of the Russert interviews, he seems to like to trip people up with past statements, the only thing I can see as a problem in this vein is that newsletter thing. ummm, but who knows?

[Micahyah]

If Paul survives Russert, there will be no stopping him.

Russert will bring up Alex Jones too, believe that.

[V-rod]

Paul already answered all the tough questions on other interviews, I'm sure he'll be fine as long as he speaks a little slower paced.

[QuesoPantera]

Two points to knock the racism out of the park.

1. Rosalyn Carter is famously seen in a photograph with John Wayne Gacy who later went on to murder 33 people. Rosalyn must be a serial killer, right?

2. in 1980 Ronald Regan Got hit with something just like this. His response? "I didn't accept their money because I support them, I accepted their money because they support me"

[RonPaulFTFW]

It's a non issue.

front runners have to put up with dirt and how they deal with it is important to voters.

This is good for us.

[jenninlouisiana]

Did you make those questions up? Cause they sound ameturish. Do you have a link to them?

[jorlowitz]

Yes, and thanks for the compliment. They're just some things I'd imagine a hard-pressing news anchor/pundit would ask about. They're not the most thoughtful or probing questions (Stossel style) and they're not detailed with past quotations. So I think they're topically on target but definitely not Russert's Real Script..

[QuesoPantera]

Yes, and thanks for the compliment. They're just some things I'd imagine a hard-pressing news anchor/pundit would ask about. They're not the most thoughtful or probing questions (Stossel style) and they're not detailed with past quotations. So I think they're topically on target but definitely not Russert's Real Script..

Don't represent this as the official script. You mislead me, and you're probably freaking people out.

[mortepa]

I think the toughest issues for Ron Paul to get across to folks will be:

Dept. of Education
FBI
FDA
Dept. of Energy


I think these things are viewed by the common citizen as a "good" thing. If Ron is not careful in how he articulates his response, it could sound like he is anti-education, anti-renewable energy, and anti drug safety.

[IRO-bot]

What pictures is there on Ron Paul and White Nazis?

[1913_to_2008]

Drugs, prostitution. I'm guessing this because it will be a Sunday morning show where most of the people watching are against these things. The people that are for them will be resting up from their gangbangs and dope parties. LOL

[Deborah K]

well, from what little I've seen of the Russert interviews, he seems to like to trip people up with past statements, the only thing I can see as a problem in this vein is that newsletter thing. ummm, but who knows?

Here's how he answers that:

"In 2001, Paul took "moral responsibility" for the comments printed in his newsletter under his name, telling Texas Monthly magazine that the comments were written by a ghostwriter and did not represent his views. He said newsletter remarks referring to U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan (calling her a "fraud" and a "half-educated victimologist") were "the saddest thing, because Barbara and I served together and actually she was a delightful lady."[55] The magazine defended Paul's decision to protect the writer's confidence in 1996, concluding, "In four terms as a U.S. congressman and one presidential race, Paul had never uttered anything remotely like this."[30] In 2007, with the quotes resurfacing, the New York Times Magazine concurred that Paul denied the allegations "quite believably, since the style diverges widely from his own."[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul

[jorlowitz]

Don't represent this as the official script. You mislead me, and you're probably freaking people out.

I just meant this was a list of questions that might be expected. If it freaked you out, that pretty much was the point. Russert is a tough interviewer and Ron Paul needs to be able to address all of these issues with clear answers.

also, i'll add a note in the OP that it's not "real"

[aspiringconstitutionalist]

Except for the ridiculously long "racism" bit (hopefully it will at least put this issue to rest), this interview looks like it's going to be good. Most of these questions are so simple and can be answered by the 10th Amendment alone. Piece of cake. As long as Ron gets his rest and is able to speak clearly on the interview, he's going to dominate.

[Ksuperneau]

Bad thread title thought is was official.

[Jean]

The number one question will be "Will you run third party when you don't win the nomination!" EVERYONE else has ask it!!!!

[TwiLeXia]

Great job thinking of all those questions. I certainly believe Ron Paul is well-prepared for it!

[Bruehound]

I would love it if Russert asks Ron Paul why he did not participate in the NRA's candidate questionaire process. That would give him a audience in the millions to boldly proclaim and expose the NRA as being worthless appeasers of our second amendment rights.

[nathanmn]

The one he will get hit hardest on is the taxes/IRS thing, because he has had somewhat conflicting/bad statements on it. This will be the toughest on him, I imagine. We already had a discussion on the meet the press and talked about this.

I wouldn't doubt the Don Black, old newsletter, prostitution, anti-drug war, etc will all be brought up, but Ron Paul is pretty damned good with those questions. The tax one is the one that will come out making him look the worst. I hope he answers right off the bat that getting rid of the individual income tax/IRS is what he would like to do, but the best he could probably accomplish is cutting taxes and perhaps reforming them because he will have to work with congress. I hope old statements on taxes don't come back to bite him in the ass. Seriously, I think this issue is the one that makes him look unrealistic. He has to handle this one well or he will be a laughingstock.

[sandman223]

I think he's gonna go after Paul on global warming and ask him if he would abolish the EPA, etc.

[StateofTrance]

I'm not over-optimistic or over-confident, but Ron Paul will put MTP studio on fire with his authentic, straightforward answers.

Next thing you'll see is Ron Paul will take over Russert's part as the host of the show.