Sure they were.
That the denial is rather Byzantine in character doesn't make it any less dishonest, nor any less efficacious.
Gingrich was on Fox news every second day for more than a year, he certainly had ample opportunity to make his case.
Michele Bachmann had access to the Tea Party and all the support that implies.
Herman Cain had the support of the Republican rank and file for a time, raised ample money, and could not hold the support.
Rick Perry had the support of the Republican rank and file for a while and access to all the money he needed, and fell short all by himself with no help from the establishment.
Rick Santorum proved that if one perseveres and runs a truly courageous campaign he will be given a fair hearing but he simply could not convince enough Republicans that he was presidential timber.
On the other hand, darlings of the establishment had problems gathering traction.
Virtually no one was consistently denied access to the debates, each had an equal right to raise money, all had reasonable access to the media.
Was there perfect equality in all things at all times, of course not this is, after all, politics. But the process was substantially fair. Do not confuse anger at the result with unfairness of process.
All early primaries are in Nortern states and/or open to democrats and republicans. So a NH democrat has more say in the nomination process than a Texas republican.