Comedian Jon Stewart said Ron Paul is "the real deal."

"All that small government, grassroots business, he planted that grass," said Stewart.

"Ron Paul is the real deal...He's the one guy in the field - agree with him or don't agree with him - that doesn't go out of his way to regurgitate talking points or change what he believes to fit the audience," added Stewart.

Despite his authenticity and obvious appeal, evidenced by his second place finish in the Ames Straw Poll, the main stream media does not give him fair coverage, alleged Stewart.

He played the following clips from multiple media organizations to illustrate his point:

- the listing of Michele Bachman, Mitt Romney, and Rick Perry as the top-tier candidates

- the mentioning of Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman as the non-top-tier candidates with the best shot of winning

- the skipping over of Ron Paul when referencing ordered lists

Meanwhile, the results of the Ames Straw Poll, a prominent GOP poll and widely watched indicator, showed that Paul came very close to finishing first ahead of Bachmann and dominated Santorum and Huntsman.

(Votes)

1 Michele Bachmann - 4,823

2 Ron Paul - 4,671

3 Tim Pawlenty - 2,293

4 Rick Santorum - 1,657

5 Herman Cain - 1,456

6 Rick Perry (write-in) - 718

7 Mitt Romney - 567

8 Newt Gingrich - 385

9 Jon Huntsman - 69

"How did Libertarian Ron Paul become the 13th floor in a hotel?" said Stewart, referencing his allegation that the media pretends "Ron Paul doesn't exist."