Challenging the status quo: Dangerous in politics, de rigueur in product testing

Congressman Ron Paul has been making news of late precisely because he hasn't been making news. Even though the Texas Republican came in a close second out of nine in the Iowa straw poll, Paul was the dominant newsmaker in just 27 campaign stories between January 1 and August 14—well behind Mitt Romney (120), Michele Bachmann (108), and Donald Trump (94), according to an analysis on the Pew Research Center website. The congressman has accused the press of being "frightened by me challenging the status quo and the establishment."

Late night satirist Jon Stewart lampooned the media this week for ignoring Paul's second place finish. "How did libertarian Ron Paul become the thirteenth floor in a hotel?" he asked. But for Consumer Reports, challenging the status quo is all part of judging products fairly. Just look at our latest refrigerator Ratings. We gave the Maytag MFX2571XE[W] a favorable rating, even though it has four doors when most others have two or three. We're also big fans of many new induction cooktops, which trump conventional gas and electric models at delivering high and low heat.

Of course, change for change's sake doesn't get a free pass. Take some of the latest countertop materials. Bamboo and paper composite may look unique, but they're both very susceptible to stains, scratches, and dents. If our countertop ratings were the Iowa straw poll, these unorthodox materials would be more John Huntsman (69 votes) than Ron Paul (4,671 votes), whose second-place finish aligns with hard-wearing granite, at least by our estimation.

Lest you think we can't laugh at ourselves, check out Stephen Colbert's visit to the Consumer Reports headquarters in Yonkers, New York.

—Daniel DiClerico