Why the mainstream media should cover Ron Paul

Watching the campaign of Ron Paul has been very interesting so far. The most frustrating part is seeing, despite his incredible success on the campaign trail and on the Internet, the mainstream media continue to downplay his importance. It leaves most of us wondering if there really is some sort of conspiracy between the major political parties and the media.

I'd prefer the explanation to be plain old capitalism: that the media simply wants to cover the candidates they think people want to hear about. And most of the mainstream polls show Dr. Paul as a long-shot to win the nomination (Yes, I think, as many people do, that those polls are flawed, but that's a story for another day).

But I'd like to suggest that the media could benefit from covering Ron Paul more enthusiastically because he's where the really interesting stories are. The other candidates are more of the same stuff we've been hearing for the last few decades. Politics as usual. How can that be what we really want to read & watch?

I think people would tune in again and again to see the classic underdog story: Ron Paul as someone who no one thought had much of a chance who now is climbing in polls and contributions while the other candidates slip. His ideas are interesting, much more than anything proposed by the others. I'll even give you a few story ideas:

"Can an Honest Man Succeed in Washington?" about how Ron Paul might manage to work within our current corrupt politics.

"America without an Income Tax" about how Paul's plan to eliminate the income tax would affect the typical family. Could also be titled, "50% Raise for all Americans?"

"Can a Man be both Pro-Life and Pro-Choice?" about how Paul is personally pro-life (based on his experiences as a doctor) but that he also believes the Federal government has no business in this area and that we should return this subject to the individual states to decide, actually increasing our available choices in this matter.

"The Ron Paul Military" about what our military would look like once it's not spread around the world.

"World Opinion on Staying Away" about world opinion on Ron Paul's noninterventionist philosophy.

"Homeless Government Workers?" about how current government workers would adjust to being unemployed under a Paul administration (presumably it would be a boost to the economy once they find jobs in the private sector).

"Does an End to Play Money Make Sense?" about returning to a gold standard for currency, why it should be considered, whether that's practical today, and what effect it would have on the typical person.

Mainstream media, instead of just marginalizing Ron Paul's campaign, why not use it to your benefit and turn his compelling ideas into truly interesting stories?