Ron Paul hasn't gotten much attention at recent GOP debates and, as Politico's Dylan Byers reports, that streak may well continue at CNN's next square-off, where he'll be situated at the podium on far right side of your TV screen in Santorum nowhereland. Which won't do much to quell ceaseless suspicion from Paul followers that there's some sort of media blackout on their candidate. 

Usually, debate sponsors position the highest polling candidates in the center of the stage, which makes it convenient for viewers to see them sigh and glare at each other in real-time. As Byers noted, CNN's placement may be technically fair because Perry's overall national polling is better than Paul's, which means the Texas governor deserves the center stage grouping along with Romney, Cain and Gingrich. 

But, the reason why Byers said Paul got "screwed" is that the libertarian does better than Perry in overall polling in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two caucusing and voting states. Which seems like an unfortunate break for Paul, whose top adviser is counting on early state momentum. At least he can take solace that he might outraise Rick Perry in campaign donations.

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Erik Hayden