this might not hurt, but close your eyes anyways

Daily Caller: Paul campaign volunteers in NH forced to sign nondisclosure agreements

Ron Paul’s presidential campaign makes some of its volunteers, or “interns,” sign nondisclosure forms and instructs them not talk to the press, The Daily Caller has learned.

On Friday, TheDC went looking for some of the hundreds of Paul supporters who turned out to hear the Texas Congressman speak at an airplane hanger, only to find that an overwhelming majority approached by TheDC were from out of state. Many were unwilling to talk. Some said they refused because the campaign asked them not to engage in conversations with members of the media.

Ron Paul is, to use an understatement, having a tough time with the media.

First, the media was ignoring his candidacy. Now, it’s out to get him. His handlers and supporters seem shocked that reporters are asking questions that resemble actual, legitimate acts of reporting.

Evading the press was easier back when Ron Paul himself was in the media business, publishing immensely profitable newsletters that scattered blatant racism and homophobia amid conspiracy theories and questionable investment advice. Today, the institutional press isn’t perfect in its role as a watchdog. But it’s certainly good enough to cover Ron Paul as the thing that he is: a man with dangerous ideas that significantly deviate from the mainstream.

His media tactics influence his status as a candidate because voters, more than anything else, want to vote for someone they can trust. In attempting to orchestrate a media blackout of fair, newsworthy questions, Paul comes off as untrustworthy to all but a tiny sliver of the electorate. In his public remarks, Paul demonstrates a strong ability to seem authentic, likable, and principled: ideal qualities for a candidate. It’s his media strategy that has absolutely bludgeoned to death his candidacy. The whole “personal accountability” schtick doesn’t work when you refuse to honestly answer difficult but fair questions.

It’s no coincidence that the most media-savvy candidate won in 2008, and that the most media-savvy candidate will win again in 2012. We should all be happy that Paul’s media team is apparently composed of people who don’t know what they’re doing.