Forum Post: Newt not on top, but nowhere near the top.

I know OWS is not about party politics (very good), and this post does not intend to support anybody's party politics, but rather I'd like to pass on this bit of news to highlight a frailty and fallibility of our election system here in the U.S.A. : Newt Gingrich will not be on the Republican primary ballot in Virginia. He failed to garner the ten thousand signatures needed to be on the Virginia ballot. Only two contenders succeeded in getting the requisite ten thousand signatures; Mr Romney, and Mr. Paul. Newt is protesting saying that he should be allowed on the ballot so that the people can vote for the person they "really want to vote for." (as if not getting enough signatures is not already enough message.) What makes this bit of news so interesting is, say if similar situations exist in other states, that Newt is probably not all as popular as the media polls make him out to be. In reality he probably is not on top of the Republican primary. More likely he is no where near to top. That leads to the suggestion Newt's electoral quality is being pumped up; probably being pumped up by the "1%". Problem is that there is such a thing as "reflexivity" in politics (as there is a reflexivity in economics); that is if a perception for something can be created, and people start to think it, believe it, then it can be made to happen.