Actually, Alan, SFBG is independently owned and operated -- has been for 41 years. And as a fabulous club kid, I'm offended that anyone would think that the term "crash the party" is offensive -- especially by people from a "movement" that brands itself as "revolution" (but openly admits it pays full price for admission! How very revolutionary).

So if by crashed you mean bought tickets like supporters of other candidates then great headline.

Maybe I could offer a re-write of your headline to read "GOP establishment scared of reality" or maybe "Paul supporters treated unfairly" or even "Democracy under attack!"

This dirty deed is now being picked up by the news media.

Here's some coverage from Iowa: http://www.kcrg.com/explorepolitics/?feed=bim&id=12183556

Saul Anuzis, Ed Failor, Rick Beltram, and now Gail Neira. When will they learn?

One of those videos is a real hum-dinger

It's ridiculous and misleading to say "Ron Paul supporters crashed the party" when Ron Paul is a Republican and those supporters belong to the same party. This is just a misleading way to sugarcoat a gross example of electoral fraud.

Everyone should be contacting the SanFran GOP to voice their disgust: contact@sfgop.org

Marke,

Don't worry about Alan or Kathy. They do not represent the average Ron Paul supporter and I apologize for their inflammatory statements. We, the people, do our best to let the press know we appreciate any coverage.

Thank you for covering the event,
Matt

Why would you suggest the Ron Paul supporters "crashed" the party if they were paying their $5.00 or $33.00. Was this an invitation-only event for one candidate?

Thank you for reporting this. While canceling the straw poll was the wrong thing to do, I don't think that the organizer had any anti-Paul intent, just maybe pro-Fred.

I know that it is hard to contain personal enthusiasm for Dr. Paul, but I think that we as a movement have a significant opportunity to make a huge impact and move the GOP back to its libertarian roots.

It is always hardest to find volunteers. If all the GOP volunteers are Paulunteers then we'll have assured victory.

As Ron Paul's coverage begins to enter the mainstream media more and more, it will be imperative that his supporters remain civil.

Thank you for covering this. The facts speak for themselves.

"Crashed" the Party? This was an event open to all Republican Party members ---- why such an offensive and biased choice of language? It seems the Corporate-Controlled Media will go to no end to denigrate Ron Paul and his supporters, but in the end it is only the CCM that paints itself as ignorant and failing in its mission to inform public debate.

That is a disingenuous title.

But it doesn't matter, the people will win, and Ron Paul will be president.

That is a disingenuous title.

But it doesn't matter, the people will win, and Ron Paul will be president.

Marke,

How disingenuous; of course "crashed the party" in this context is offensive, and I am surprised and amused that you would suggest that it is not! By using such language, you are implying that the Ron Paul suppporters did not belong in or at the Straw Poll, when that is patently untrue. Your choice of language in the headline appears biased and agenda-driven. I'm just surprised you managed to leave out "kook", "fringe", "loony" and "no chance to win", the usual media words of dismissal; for that I thank you.

As for your newspaper being independent, I applaud you for holding out against the mega-corporate media mergers. It is just sad to see the same apparent establishment bias in your headline for this article.

Forgive me if I seem a little touchy, but when one's candidate of choice (and clearly the only sane man in the race) is routinely insulted, denigrated and marginalized, when not igonored altogther, it naturally makes one a little defensive.

What a disgusting show of hyporacy. Republicans everywhere should be up in arms over this!

I believe this is how Chavez and Putin handle things when the natives get restless?

Truthseeker, Akak, Alan, Kathy, et all: Thanks for the laughs! Let me get this straight, you belong to - or are supporting a man who belongs to - the party of Karl Rove, Lee Atwater, push polls about John McCain's "black baby," and the "Southern Strategy" and you get your panties in a twist when said party engages in some less than democratic behavior? You're kidding right? What really made me laugh though was accusing the Guardian of mainstream, corporate media bias.

You mean the GOP is full of people who lie, cheat, and steal when things don't go their way? I'm shocked to hear this! Just shocked!

Next thing you know, someone will say that a GOP President and a GOP Congress blew out the deficit, expanded the size of government, burned the bill of rights, and started an expensive and poorly run war in the middle east!

Ron Paul supporters need to wake up. you're trying to fight a battle in a party so evil and corrupt, all your goody two shoes stuff means nothing to the people running the show. OF COURSE they'll attack you and make you feel sad. Duh.

I saw it on YouTube yesterday. What a flipping joke. It shows that we all have to watch the real polling stations, because stuff like what happened in SF will likely happen at polling stations.

Bring your cameras if you have to in order to expose any fraudulent activities at your local polling stations.

-Diana

Get a grip, Ron Paul supporters, because you're often your own worst enemies. We're all glad that you love your guy so much. And I'm happy to see someone reasonable and forward thinking on the GOP side of the equation for a change. But to blast me and my paper with inaccurate invective when we were helping to publicize your cause really is just plain "loony."
For the record, this event was clearly intended as a Thompson coronation, as was clear on the video and in the things Paul supporters have written and what I wrote myself. That's what I meant by "crash the party," get it? It doesn't make you bad people or freeloaders or anything negative (in fact, as Marke wrote, party crashing is a high art form in SF, one I proudly engage in myself). But it's equally silly to equate this stupid straw poll by a splinter group with an actual, formal vote or democratic right that you've been denied. Again, breathe.
The most interesting part of this episode seems to me to be the numbers of people in your movement and how scared the traditional Republicans are of what you represent. That's good for your campaign, but many of you seem intend to overshadow that point by acting like a bunch of paranoid "kooks." But I supposed that's your right as well.

No sir the term party crasher is a term used as to imply that you were not invited and is not a positive term.

This is exactly what the woman who's name i will not speak tried to impy to the media that Ron Paul supporters were not invited or on her list.

Let's get the record straight here :

1: The reason most Ron Paul supporters are fristrated is because almost every positive thing they do is turned into a negative article or twisted to be negative.

2: The Official web site for this event contradicts what the president said as to people were not invited or on the list which is why she cancelled the straw poll as to imply they weren't invited.

The web site is clear and can be viewd fully here http://cra0115.tripod.com/SFCRA.html

quote from the web site : The San Francisco Republican Assembly, which hosts the Common Sense Supper Club (C.S.S.C.) will host State Senator Quentin Kopp. He will speak about the dynamics of the upcoming election. The senator is among the most influential and respected of State Senators and a lion of local politics.

The Common Sense Supper Club is opened to all persons of good will wishing to be intellectually stimulated while enjoying fine food and meeting new friends. In other words, our Club is for you!

So it appears that this president is a liar and i hence the word liar with great conviction. for 2 reasons :

Youtube video link to what she said : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKWTj0KNEhc

1: She claims these people were not invited and it was a private event although the web site clearly states it is open to ALL.

2: She clearly stated on video that she cancelled the straw poll because she wasn't expecting all the Ron Paul supporters and went on to say that this really isn;t fair to the other people that are here? WHAT? Not fair in what way because it was clear Ron Paul would win the straw poll by a landlside? The fact is the fair part would have been to hold an actual vote that was advertised and count the votes to see who had the most support.

Many of us are tired of the lies we are told on a daily basis now and we would appreciate some fair but firm media on Ron Paul and every other candidate.

Dear Steven Jones,

Let me see if I understand you correctly: In order to not be considered "kooks", we Ron Paul Supporters should just:

1) Meekly walk away from blatantly corrupt Republican Party tactics to marginalize and sideline our candidate and those who support him;

2) Not attempt to engage in Republican Party political activities at all, when they are obviously (and unethically) predetermined in favor of another candidate;

3) Gladly and hunbly accept media denigration (which is almost universal, by the way) of our candidate; how DARE we challenge rampant media bias?

P.S. I don't know what alternate universe you live in, but anywhere I have lived, "party crashing" carries nothing but negative connotations --- you are not invited, and should not be there.

No, Alan, you're not understanding me correctly. Fight for your guy. Be upset that this group didn't hold the vote they promised. You can even disagree with my headline. But you just sound stupid when you say my blog item, which was sympathetic to your perspective on what happened, is part of a corporate media conspiracy to denigrate Ron Paul, or when you confuse this Republican club (which, according to the link Steve posted, is an anti-immigrant, KSFO-listening, narrow-minded bunch of Christian conservatives, the very wing of the party that Paul bashes) with an official party committee. It's a club, one whose core members disagree with you, and that's the party you were crashing, whether or not you paid to be there and/or accepted their invitation. I'd be like me bringing all my hippie friends to one of your Libertarian club meetings where you were voting on a platform, and demanding that socialized medicine and increased taxes be planks. Sure, we played by the rules and you should follow through on the vote, but I also wouldn't be surprised if you told us to fuck off because it's your club -- not an official voting booth -- and I don't have any right to tell you how to run your club.

Mr. Jones: In California political party platform issues are decided at the state level where membership in the state central committee is required to even get in the door. That stuff is never decided at a local level, let alone a "club". Therefore you analogy is unresearched and very poor, and BTW the bad language is immature and unnecessary.

And if you were sympathetic to the Paulunteers' situation, then why the negatively-connotated headline? Why not something like "Paul supporters shut out" or along those lines?

As for the corporate accusations, I don't know and I don't care, because it is completely beside the point one way or another.

BTW at the Democrat straw poll Dr. Paul came in second behind Obama...

So showing up to vote means crashing the party? Strange. It just shows the neo-colonialist fear of an actual traditional conservative and actual Republican.

Read about the real Ron Paul:

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=e2f15397-a3c7-4720-ac15-4532a7da84ca