It's Not TV, It's Ron Paul

David Weigel | March 30, 2007

Just talked to Ron Paul's campaign chairman and he reminded me that the 2008 candidate will be on Bill Maher's HBO show tonight - he'll be one of the special satellite interviews, not a panelist. Maher is a self-described libertarian, so I'm sort of expecting a gushing chat and a lot of applause from the surprised audience, who usually have a Pavlovian anti-Republican streak. ("And we have Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republ-" "BOO!")

Also, Paul's YouTube service just passed John McCain's in popularity: he's got 485 to McCain's 471. Kucinich is pwning them both, though.

Comments

phocion|3.30.07 @ 2:04PM|#

Also: Ron Paul, having achieved 1% support in the latest Gallup poll, is now back in the Pajamas Media poll and back to kicking ass.

|3.30.07 @ 2:36PM|#

TIMMY!

Leonard|3.30.07 @ 3:28PM|#

Kicking ass? 11 votes is kicking ass?

|3.30.07 @ 3:50PM|#

"Maher is a self-described libertarian, "

Maher went on radio talk show host Larry Elder's who a few years ago. Larry lite him up on his supposedly libertarian views.
After that Maher describes himself as liberal.

Paul|3.30.07 @ 4:02PM|#

Maher is a self-described libertarian, so I'm sort of expecting a gushing chat and a lot of applause from the surprised audience, who usually have a Pavlovian anti-Republican streak.

I've said before that the media at large has always had a kind of puzzled curiosity about any Republican that doesn't toe the party line. But when they get a real whiff of what libertarianism means in toto, he's dead meat. See Terry's (difficult to parse) comment above.

|3.30.07 @ 4:06PM|#

Leonard,

Ron Paul has over a thousand votes, far more than any other candidate from either party.

(1068 vote - 40.6% of listed GOP field)

http://pajamasmedia.com/strawpoll2008/results.php?precinctid=d7b93ad39dd2b3ab00924ee074aabdd3a

One Foot In The Grave|3.30.07 @ 4:13PM|#

Maher is about as libertarian as my old black dog.

Thanks Terry, everybody who doesn't want to be a member of a mainstream party describes themselves as a libertarian (or a Greenie). But when the rubber meets the road it sort of works out as you describe Larry Elder's show.

Not saying the publicity ain't nice, nobody ever says WTF is a libertarian any more, but still, I hate it when people assume I am in agreement with guys like Mahr because he claims to be libertarian.

phocion|3.30.07 @ 4:16PM|#

The poll is broken down by "precincts", though the analogy doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. The Pajamas Media site itself is just one precinct (a precinct that Ron Paul is winning hands down). When all precincts are combined, Paul is in 2nd place behind Thompson with 1333 votes.

Paul only has 11 votes at Instapundit's precinct. Congrtulations Leonard, you've been outed as a Glenn Reynolds fan!

|3.30.07 @ 4:48PM|#

What does "pwning" mean ("...Kucinich is pwning them both...")?

|3.30.07 @ 4:51PM|#

Pat just pwned himself!

|3.30.07 @ 4:52PM|#

phocion,

Good news! Paul's vote total at the Instapundit "precinct" has increased nearly 20%!

Leonard|3.30.07 @ 5:59PM|#

Fan of Reynolds? Not hugely, but he's a good linker to find out what's happening in center-wingnuttery. He is the only pj media site I read routinely.

I am revealed, however, as an ignoramus for not knowing that the vote totals have "precincts". I don't feel too bad about that, though, because it's pretty stupid.

|3.30.07 @ 6:10PM|#

Maher sure doesn't sound like a libertarian when he does his show. He's always talking about greedy corporations and new laws we need and the like.

Paul|3.30.07 @ 7:08PM|#

What does "pwning" mean ("...Kucinich is pwning them both...")?

ZOMG!!1!! DUD3, pwnage on you!

And to think I thought you were totally foine! Now you're teh suck!

|3.30.07 @ 7:44PM|#

Bill Maher is a libertarian??

This is the same guy who screamed at Bush for outlawing stem cell research when in fact Bush only cut funding then in the next program calls modern medicine a sham and it is in fact the pollution of modern life that has lowered our life expectancy from the great highs noted in the bible and found in Buddhist mythology...

What a crock of shit.

|3.30.07 @ 8:07PM|#

joshua:

I recall that incident- that was just a case of him being an idiot. Those exist across the political spectrum. And Maher can be rather two-faced and occasionally tries for sarcasm at inappropriate moments. Unlike a wisecracking political talking head (Limbaugh) or a completely insincere comic (Letterman), Maher tries to be both at the same time, which is a recipe for being really misunderstood.

That aside though, I still wouldn't call Maher a libertarian. I'd say he's a wishy-washy centrist liberal who has sympathies for libertarianism. He's generally quite friendly to anyone who comes on his show who claims to be a libertarian; regardless of what his actual position is, so I'll give him a pass.

Dennis|3.30.07 @ 8:20PM|#

Maher calls himself a libertarian (or used to, at least) because he wants to get high and have sex with hookers.

Err...not that those are bad reasons. Just seems like there should be a few more of them...

The Wine Commonsewer|3.30.07 @ 10:25PM|#

On PJ Media, Mrs TWC likes Reynolds for the links as well. I always enjoyed Martini Boy (Vodka Pundit) but he's not posting much anymore. Moxie is another PJ media blogger worth a look now and again. Oh, she'll piss off libertarians, but she's witty as hell.

|3.31.07 @ 12:17AM|#

Pat,

j00 4r3 n008 & teh 5uXX0r, 1 4r3 u83r 1337.

Kaligula|3.31.07 @ 12:52AM|#

Maher treated Paul as a nut job, focusing on his views of the civil war. DL hughely joked he would still be a slave serving tea.

Meanwhile Maher sucked up to that 300 year old bald eagle face Albright, who is supporting Hillary. let's see, Hillary voted for the War, Hillary is a drug warrior...

Cutkomp|3.31.07 @ 1:18AM|#

Is Bill Maher Intellectually Deprived or Intellectually Depraved? "Bill Maher, a man who has made millions of dollars by joking about the blunders of big government, really made himself look bad tonight when interviewing Ron Paul. When it comes time to crack a joke about people dying or the government being inherently corrupt, Bill Maher is all over it. When it comes time to be honest and confront the harsh reality that big government doesn't work, what does he do? Nothing." cutkomp.blogspot.com

|3.31.07 @ 2:21AM|#

This is the same guy who screamed at Bush for outlawing stem cell research when in fact Bush only cut funding then in the next program calls modern medicine a sham and it is in fact the pollution of modern life that has lowered our life expectancy from the great highs noted in the bible and found in Buddhist mythology...

What the fuck?!?!? Really?

I knew he went off the deep end a while back, but this is too much.

He's about as intelectually dense as they come. Religion makes no sense, but nature fetishism is our savior.

And the guy has sex with play boy models which just goes to show that you can be short, old, ugly, dumb and corny but chicks will dig you if you believe strongly enough in your own shit.

|3.31.07 @ 12:42PM|#

Just seems like there should be a few more of them...

What, libertarians or hookers?

Ben Regenspan|3.31.07 @ 6:47PM|#

Also, Paul's YouTube service just passed John McCain's in popularity: he's got 485 to McCain's 471. Kucinich is pwning them both, though.

For some reason I got inspired by this post (and some overly strong coffee) to make a script for tracking all this Web 2.0-ish candidate trivia. It makes a table comparison of YouTube and Myspace subscriber numbers, and also futures and betting odds info. Updated daily or more (hopefully), and I'll add stuff/improve things if there turns out to be any interest in it.

John|3.31.07 @ 10:14PM|#

Check out Ron Paul on HBO Real Time w/Maher http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo6KIusCBoU