Some sloppy reporting, instant web indignation, and holiday vacations produced a surge of hysteria that might have been avoided.

http://www.nolanchart.com/article797.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — The New Hampshire Republican Party is sponsoring a forum for Republican presidential candidates on Jan. 6, two days before the state’s first-in-the-nation primary.

The forum, where the candidates will be questioned by Fox New Channel’s Chris Wallace, will be held a day after ABC holds back to back Democratic and Republican presidential debates.

“Never underestimate New Hampshire voters’ appetite for politics,” said Fergus Cullen, the chairman of the state Republican Party.

Participating in the forum will be Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.

Unlike a debate, the candidates will face questions from Wallace around a table in a studio on the campus of St. Anselm College in Goffstown, N.H.. The 90-minute encounter will air live beginning at 8 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel and on Fox News Radio.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iNxTApa2sQRu0Xx99P3jt2bEXw7gD8TQ2N282

I’m working off a report from the Boston Globe and I have a post up about it. If any of you have more recent clarification on the story, please let me know.

http://thepoliticalpost.wordpress.com/2007/12/29/ron-paul-excluded-from-fox-news-debate-in-new-hampshire/

hahaha….you know, we’re still unraveling things at 7:50 pm Saturday the 29th.

At this point, the NH Forum sponsored by the NH Republican Party didn’t invite Paul. It is being broadcast on Fox, but the NH GOP issued the invitations.

We have report of a statement from [Paul spokesman] Jesse Benton that the NH GOP is saying it’s Fox’s fault.

Sounds like the NH GOP is taking some heat on it.

Their press spokesman told me to they weren’t going to answer any questions on this topic.

If it is as you say, I agree that this is not right.

HOWEVER, when asked if Ron Paul had been excluded, his campaign says “We don’t know”. Doesn’t that seem odd?

In fact, we were in the middle of writing a story saying we didn’t think it was right, when the question was asked, “How do we know this is true?”

After 2 hours of calls, emails and checking, we still don’t know that Paul’s exclusion is fact.

Do you a source for your information? We can not find any sources that say that.
That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened, we’d just like to know how do you know?
Thanks for commenting and let me know, please. Thanks a million!

The other five candidates were formally invited to attend the debates (and they have already accepted the invitiations), and thus are officially included. Dr. Ron Paul was totally shutout from the whole process, and never even given an invitation to the debates. That means he cannot enter or participate in the debates.

There is still time to bombard the NH State GOP and FOX News Corp and demand that they send out an invitation to Dr. Paul. Everyone should be doing that now. This is an attempt to obstruct our whole Democratic election process when some outside organization is granted to the sole power to determine who can be put on TV and who is disqualified. Ron Paul is the leading candidate in 4th-quarter fundraising. His support has been rising, while the support for other candidates has been sinking. There is no basis whatsoever for his disqualification.

Take action and storm the gates of the NH State GOP and Fox News Corp. until they back down, and finally grant to Ron Paul his deserved invitation.

A 30-second phone call to the RP HQ is exactly what we did. You should do it too, ‘R’.

It wouldn’t take you long to dispel it either. Why wait for Fox? Cut out the middle man here.

Plan on being at the debate Jan 6th regardless of Fox’s final decision.

His campaign says he has not been invited…