The role of mass media in elections is huge. They decide which candidates to cover, and that means they control the candidates Americans hear about. For some reason, the media does not want anyone to hear about Ron Paul.

The Paul media blackout has been going on for over a month now. In fact, it’s only acceptable to use his name when the media states how much they’d rather be talking about Sarah Palin or Rick Perry.

It’s very early in the presidential race, but they go out of their way to not mention his name when the newest Gallup Poll or straw poll results come out. For example, NBC covered the results of the latest USA Today Gallup Poll a few weeks ago.

They stated that Rick Perry finished second to Mitt Romney with 17 percent of the votes. The next thing they say is that by finishing second, Perry knocked Michelle Bachman down to fourth in the poll. The coverage stops there. Who finished third, NBC?

When covering the Iowa straw poll, which Paul finished second in, CNN ran through the results. They mention Romney and describe him as the front-runner. Then they mention Perry, who didn’t participate, and Bachman, who won the poll.

The next sentence was this: “Let’s not count out Jon Huntsman, though.” Huntsman came in ninth place with 69 votes. Paul placed in second, with less than one percent votes less than Bachman. He had 4,602 more votes than Huntsman. Even when mentioning dark-horse candidates, the media ignores Paul.

I’m starting to wonder if they are calling Paul “He-Who-Must-Not-Be Named” in newsrooms all over the country. I can understand CNN and NBC not liking Paul, but the Fox News black-listing him makes no sense to me.

They should love this guy; he’s all for smaller government, less taxes and civil liberties. The conservative’s dream, right? Apparently, he isn’t. It could have something to do with his staunch opposition to the wars in the Middle East.

I think it goes deeper than ideology and Paul not being considered a front-runner. He’s one of the few politicians that aren’t owned by big corporations or interest groups. For the last 30 years he has stuck to his core beliefs and his voting record clearly matches them.

Paul may be crazy to a lot of people, but he’s no patsy. His message stays consistent no matter who he is speaking to. And it’s not like the media hasn’t given crazy politicians airtime in the past. Sarah Palin continues to get it, and she isn’t even running.