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Paul served honorably and, IMHO, we shouldn’t question his service, it is not like he is J F’n Kerry.. plus, this distracts from the debate on issue differences.

Actually, it's true of Paul, Tanc, Duncan that their answers and policy don't fit well to 30-second or sixty-second soundbites. We see in the frontrunners signs of extensive debate and soundbite prep where they are drilled to issue their statements in quotable soundbite formats. So it does work better for lesser-known candidates or those with minority views in the party to have more time to explain their position accurately. RP did get a few chances to do that in this appearance on O'Reilly's show. And O'Reilly got in his hits and was a little fired-up but not on some hateful jihad against Ron Paul personally like he can get with some of his guests.

RP and his supporters don't mind a fair fight and a fair debate. This interview was fair enough but might have worked better if RP had a set of quick answers that better expressed his policy ideas. TV news simply favors a prepared candidate whose remarks fit into their soundbite format. That's not a conspiracy against Ron Paul or any other candidate. It's just how TV is. And that is a format every Republican has a right to expect their candidate to master. Ron Paul is no exception to that, whatever his policy positions. So we do have to score candidates on how well they can do with hostile interviewers, short debate format, soundbite gotchas with the press, etc. It's all fair and legitimate when we score any of our candidates because one of our primary enemies is libmedia and our nominee must master the necessary technique to overcome them, deflect them and still get out his own positive message.

In that sense, RP is no different than any other GOP candidate and must prove he has basic competence to swim in that pool of sharks. I don't care who you support, your GOP candidate must show he can do this if he expects the nomination. What's more, they owe it their supporters to do well at handling the media and the opportunities they have to speak on a national platform, not only for themselves and their supporters but to the extent they represent the party as well.