According to a press release from Iowans for Tax Relief, they invited all “credible Democrat and Republican Presidential candidates” to speak at the candidate forum on June 30, 2007. However, the Free Liberal confirms that Ron Paul was not invited.
Iowans for Tax Relief will not allow Dr. Paul to participate in a debate they are co-organizing with the Iowa Christian Alliance. This seems strange, given that Paul placed second in a straw poll conducted at the NTU conference this weekend. Anti-taxers are generally pro-Paul.
Strange indeed. Tom Woods from LewRockwell.com called Edward Failor, an officer of Iowans for Tax Relief, to confirm the story.
I said I was calling about the exclusion of Ron Paul from his candidates’ forum, particularly in light of Paul’s extraordinary record on taxes.
“Is there a question in there you want me to answer?” came the annoyed reply.
“Well, yes. Are you excluding Ron Paul, and if so, why?”
Failor explained that the event had been scheduled months ago, and that at that time they had made a decision about who the most “credible” candidates would be.
I didn’t quite understand his answer, though it was apparently more than he’d bothered to provide the Paul campaign. “You thought Tommy Thompson was a more credible candidate than Ron Paul?” I asked. (Can you imagine people gleefully sharing YouTube clips of Thompson with their friends, or holding up “Tommy Thompson Revolution” signs?)
Failor refused to answer that or any other question I posed to him, and closed with, “That is the only statement I am willing to make.”
Yesterday, Jan Mickelson of WHO News Radio 1040 in Des Moines interviewed Ken Snyder from the Ron Paul campaign about the exclusion. Later in the program, Ed Failor called in and tried to explain himself. The host was unconvinced, calling Failor’s explanation “pretty lame.” Listen to the mp3 of the interview (a little more than 1 hour in) to hear Failor sputter.
